Every month I read four or five mysteries and select the best of those for my Murder of the Month review.

Fer-de-Lance--the first Nero Wolfe mystery by Rex Stout--was published by Farrar & Rinehart way back in 1934.

What in the world is a Fer-de-Lance? Good question. I looked it up. A Fer-de-Lance is a highly venomous pit viper from Mexico/South America. It has a broad triangular head and is usually about 4 to 7 feet long. (credit Britannica.com) Best of all, the Fer-de-Lance plays a pivotal role in the mystery.

But there is much to love about this novel. Rex Stout went on to write a total of seventy-four Nero Wolfe novels, novellas, and short stories from 1934 to 1975. After reading Fer-de-Lance, I know why readers flocked to buy each new story in the series.

In Fer-de-Lance, a woman hires Nero Wolfe to find out what happened to her missing brother. This case, which is of mild interest to Nero at first, soon leads to a much larger mystery that involves the murders of the missing brother and a highly prominent educator.

As a hero, Nero Wolfe is endlessly fascinating--articulate, eccentric, obese, and a self-proclaimed genius. He drinks six quarts of beer a day, employs a full-time gardener to tend to his exotic flowers, and occasionally loses all interest in the case before him.

This is perhaps the best part: Wolfe solves the case without ever leaving his brownstone on West 35th Street, New York City.

Of course, Nero needs a leg man, and this part is played by his loyal but at times skeptical employee, Archie Goodwin. At Nero’s direction, Archie drives around in his roadster to carry out errands, interview persons of interest, and threaten the District Attorney of White Plains. Along with the tension, there’s plenty of humor in this mystery.

Wolfe’s lifestyle is not cheap, and it is satisfying to watch him parlay the small case that begins the story into a victory for justice and a large monetary award for himself.

I consumed this book in a few days and will be tempted to reach for another in the series anytime my TBR list grows short. If you care to stretch your mind a bit with your next mystery, I highly recommend Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout. Read it right now.

The black and white image above is called The murder of William the Silent from The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, 1921.