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Nero Wolfe #5
Too Many Cooks
When the greatest chefs in the world gather for a meeting, Nero Wolfe is their honored dinner guest. It is a rare vacation for the gourmet sleuth—until a four-star killer serves a side dish of murder. Then the half-baked local law cooks up an unappetizing entree, and corpulent Wolfe and sidekick Archie begin mixing the ingredients for their inimitable souffle of detection and deduction, while the killer decides that Wolfe's prix should be permanently fixed…and that his last meal should be his just desserts.
237 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 17, 1938
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About the author
Rex Stout
831 books1,028 followersRex Todhunter Stout (1886–1975) was an American crime writer, best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the detective genius from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975 (A Family Affair).
The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century.
The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 421 reviews
December 2, 2021
An early Nero Wolfe novel which is also one of the best. As much as Wolfe hates to leave home he accepts an invitation to give a speech to the fifteen chefs named the greatest in the world. That doesn't sound like enough incentive to get Wolfe to leave home but he has an ulterior motive. He wants a particular recipe from one of the chefs.
Of course murder intervenes and the entire event goes off the rails. Wolfe and Archie find themselves embroiled in the investigation. Great premise for a great novel.
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: July 9, 2010
Publisher: Bantam
Language: English
ASIN: B003V4BPTC
205 pages
This is an early Nero Wolfe novel, the fifth which Rex Stout wrote. It seems to me that Stout had yet to hit his stride and fully develop Nero Wolfe's potential. However in some ways this novel is one of his most entertaining. However, that's my opinion.
Agatha Christie wrote,
"I have enjoyed a great many of his books. Archie is a splendid character to have invented and his first person remarks and descriptions are always most entertaining to read. I must also reveal that greed and the general enjoyment of food is one of my main characteristics and the descriptions of the meals served and prepared by Nero Wolfe's cook have given me a lot of pleasure and a great wish to have occasionally tasted these suggestions myself. Perhaps for that reason, I particularly liked Too Many Cooks."
I have read reviews and critics which call this novel and Rex Stout racist because of its portrayal of black men and its use of slang and derogatory words. I think that is an oversimplification. The slang is not used by Nero Wolfe, though Archie uses quite a bit. Nor does Wolfe display the racist attitudes of some of the other characters. Rex Stout may have been deliberately drawing attention to the unpleasant attitudes of the day (1938) and contrasting them with Wolfe's more enlightened attitude. Well, enlightened for 1938. I do know that Rex Stout did not normally display extreme racism in his writing.
Of course murder intervenes and the entire event goes off the rails. Wolfe and Archie find themselves embroiled in the investigation. Great premise for a great novel.
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: July 9, 2010
Publisher: Bantam
Language: English
ASIN: B003V4BPTC
205 pages
This is an early Nero Wolfe novel, the fifth which Rex Stout wrote. It seems to me that Stout had yet to hit his stride and fully develop Nero Wolfe's potential. However in some ways this novel is one of his most entertaining. However, that's my opinion.
Agatha Christie wrote,
"I have enjoyed a great many of his books. Archie is a splendid character to have invented and his first person remarks and descriptions are always most entertaining to read. I must also reveal that greed and the general enjoyment of food is one of my main characteristics and the descriptions of the meals served and prepared by Nero Wolfe's cook have given me a lot of pleasure and a great wish to have occasionally tasted these suggestions myself. Perhaps for that reason, I particularly liked Too Many Cooks."
I have read reviews and critics which call this novel and Rex Stout racist because of its portrayal of black men and its use of slang and derogatory words. I think that is an oversimplification. The slang is not used by Nero Wolfe, though Archie uses quite a bit. Nor does Wolfe display the racist attitudes of some of the other characters. Rex Stout may have been deliberately drawing attention to the unpleasant attitudes of the day (1938) and contrasting them with Wolfe's more enlightened attitude. Well, enlightened for 1938. I do know that Rex Stout did not normally display extreme racism in his writing.
February 2, 2020
A fine Nero Wolfe, in which the great detective is invited to the annual meeting of a society of the greatest chefs of the world where--of course--a murder occurs.
One unfortunate flaw: this novel was published in 1938, and its treatment of the black characters--all servants of course--contains stereotypes that will seem racist to most 21st century readers.
Still, Nero Wolfe himself treats them with dignity and even courtesy, and his attitude goes a long way toward redeeming the book.
September 29, 2010
Having spent the better part of my summer on a detective-novel binge, I'm still amazed that I had never heard of Rex Stout or his famous detective Nero Wolfe until this point. Turns out, they're Kind of a Big Deal. As my professor put it: "Nero Wolfe's fans are the detective fiction equivalent of Trekkies." There are Nero Wolfe websites. Nero Wolfe fan clubs. Nero Wolfe cookbooks. (I am not joking about that last one) He's basically to America what Miss Marple and Poirot were to England, and just learning about the phenomenon was fascinating.
As for the book itself, it didn't disappoint. It takes place in the '30s in West Virginia, where the fifteen best chefs in the world (Les Quinze Maitres) have gathered for their annual meeting. One of them is Laszio, who is despised by no less than three of the other chefs present. (Three guesses who gets murdered.) Luckily, when Laszio is found dead with knife in his back, it just so happens that Nero Wolfe is also at the gathering, and somewhat reluctantly decides to find the killer. Along for the ride is Wolfe's Watson, a snarky detective/bodyguard/secretary named Archie Goodwin. Archie is our narrator, and he is delightful. Wolfe is fantastic as well, but I should admit my own bias and say that any enormously fat man who overuses the exclamation "Confound you!" will always be on my good side.
Not that the book is perfect. Nero Wolfe doesn't like women, and is quite upfront about it, but at least there's one good female character in the story to prove that he's probably wrong. I took off a star in my rating based purely on white guilt, because goddamn is this book racist. There's a Chinese character, who everyone says will be suspected by the police because she's Chinese; Archie throws around some slurs to describe the European chefs; and by the time I got through with this book the n-word barely even phased me anymore. The characters in this book are hella racist, which I guess is historically accurate, but here's the good news: all the good character (Wolfe, Archie) are at least aware of their own prejudices and try to overcome them. Wolfe has a great speech, right before he starts interviewing all the (African-American) waiters at the hotel that basically goes, "I've already made assumptions about all of you based on your race, and you've all made assumptions about me based on my race, so what we're going to have to do is just put our prejudices aside for one night and cooperate with each other so I can figure out who killed Laszio." It's not going to win any tolerance awards, but it's a welcome relief from Philip "Fag Party" Marlowe. The jackass.
Read for: Social Forces in the Detective Novel
As for the book itself, it didn't disappoint. It takes place in the '30s in West Virginia, where the fifteen best chefs in the world (Les Quinze Maitres) have gathered for their annual meeting. One of them is Laszio, who is despised by no less than three of the other chefs present. (Three guesses who gets murdered.) Luckily, when Laszio is found dead with knife in his back, it just so happens that Nero Wolfe is also at the gathering, and somewhat reluctantly decides to find the killer. Along for the ride is Wolfe's Watson, a snarky detective/bodyguard/secretary named Archie Goodwin. Archie is our narrator, and he is delightful. Wolfe is fantastic as well, but I should admit my own bias and say that any enormously fat man who overuses the exclamation "Confound you!" will always be on my good side.
Not that the book is perfect. Nero Wolfe doesn't like women, and is quite upfront about it, but at least there's one good female character in the story to prove that he's probably wrong. I took off a star in my rating based purely on white guilt, because goddamn is this book racist. There's a Chinese character, who everyone says will be suspected by the police because she's Chinese; Archie throws around some slurs to describe the European chefs; and by the time I got through with this book the n-word barely even phased me anymore. The characters in this book are hella racist, which I guess is historically accurate, but here's the good news: all the good character (Wolfe, Archie) are at least aware of their own prejudices and try to overcome them. Wolfe has a great speech, right before he starts interviewing all the (African-American) waiters at the hotel that basically goes, "I've already made assumptions about all of you based on your race, and you've all made assumptions about me based on my race, so what we're going to have to do is just put our prejudices aside for one night and cooperate with each other so I can figure out who killed Laszio." It's not going to win any tolerance awards, but it's a welcome relief from Philip "Fag Party" Marlowe. The jackass.
Read for: Social Forces in the Detective Novel
July 3, 2018
E quindi, è possibile anche pensare ad un romanzo di genere come ad un classico, sotto certe condizioni: la scelta dei curatori della collana Oscar Classici Moderni di inserire Rexs Stout e Nero Wolfe ha questo significato, e mi ha fatto ovviamente molto piacere.
Il grande bon vivant tanto antipatico quanto geniale è stato mio assiduo compagno di letture nelle estati solitarie della mia infanzia, che passavo in montagna nei periodi di (doveroso) riposo assoluto della mia famiglia; era normale che mi lasciasse un affettuoso ricordo.
Reincontrarlo dopo quasi trent'anni mi ha fatto un certo effetto. L'idea di fondo è molto buona, il libro è di facilissima leggibilità e soprattutto ha un piacevole equilibrio tra il giallo tradizionale alla Agatha Christie e lo hard boiled di un Ed McBain (senza scomodare Raymond carver che non pare il caso): tale equilibrio è rappresentato dal gustosissimo rapporto tra l'obeso e gaudente Nero Wolfe ed il suo principale collaboratore Archie Goodwin,scattante e pugnace. Pensando a questa coppia, è facile pensare che anche Perry mason abbia pescato da qui.
Probabilmente è stato proprio Rex Stout nei primi anni trenta ad aprire il filone del romanzo di genere hard boiled, e quindi è giusto mettere almeno una sua opera all'interno di una collana di classici. Forse, anche se il romanzo resta piacevolissimo, "Alta cucina" non è un'opera abbastanza rappresentativa, perchè una delle caratteristiche principali della narrativa dello scrittore americano è l'unità di luogo e di personaggi in tutti i suoi romanzi, che proprio in capitoli come questo viene rotta (non ci troviamo tra le famose orchidee di Nero, e mancano personaggi importanticome Orre Cather o Fred Durkin), ma in fondo è solo un dettaglio, ed il piacere di aver incontrato qualche vecchio amico dopo tanti anni rimane invariato.
Il grande bon vivant tanto antipatico quanto geniale è stato mio assiduo compagno di letture nelle estati solitarie della mia infanzia, che passavo in montagna nei periodi di (doveroso) riposo assoluto della mia famiglia; era normale che mi lasciasse un affettuoso ricordo.
Reincontrarlo dopo quasi trent'anni mi ha fatto un certo effetto. L'idea di fondo è molto buona, il libro è di facilissima leggibilità e soprattutto ha un piacevole equilibrio tra il giallo tradizionale alla Agatha Christie e lo hard boiled di un Ed McBain (senza scomodare Raymond carver che non pare il caso): tale equilibrio è rappresentato dal gustosissimo rapporto tra l'obeso e gaudente Nero Wolfe ed il suo principale collaboratore Archie Goodwin,scattante e pugnace. Pensando a questa coppia, è facile pensare che anche Perry mason abbia pescato da qui.
Probabilmente è stato proprio Rex Stout nei primi anni trenta ad aprire il filone del romanzo di genere hard boiled, e quindi è giusto mettere almeno una sua opera all'interno di una collana di classici. Forse, anche se il romanzo resta piacevolissimo, "Alta cucina" non è un'opera abbastanza rappresentativa, perchè una delle caratteristiche principali della narrativa dello scrittore americano è l'unità di luogo e di personaggi in tutti i suoi romanzi, che proprio in capitoli come questo viene rotta (non ci troviamo tra le famose orchidee di Nero, e mancano personaggi importanticome Orre Cather o Fred Durkin), ma in fondo è solo un dettaglio, ed il piacere di aver incontrato qualche vecchio amico dopo tanti anni rimane invariato.
July 1, 2009
Not just vintage Wolfe but classic Wolfe. Aside from being a first-rate murder mystery, this novel from 1938 is remarkable for its handling of issues of racial prejudice. The setting is a resort hotel in South Carolina where the waiters and cooks are black, though the managers and guests are white -- all perfectly typical for America in the 1930s. However, invisible as the service staff would ordinarily be, merely assumed as part of the social landscape, in this story our attention is drawn to them first because the hotel detective describes them with the racial epithet "nigger," jarringly offensive to the modern reader; but then this gaucherie is gently undercut by our narrator Archie Goodwin (irrepressible sidekick to genius detective Nero Wolfe) who just a bit pointedly uses the term "Negro," certainly polite in 1938 even though "African American" may be preferred today.
The intention is clearly one of mutual tolerance and understanding, though the follow-through is odd to the modern ear. Archie himself refers to "dagoes" and "shines" as the story progresses, racial characterizations that may have seemed witty in the past but certainly would not pass muster today.
Nevertheless the approach Wolfe takes when he needs a witness from among the waiters and cooks is man-to-man and turns into quite a discourse on mutual respect. From here comes the statement, if you delve deeply into the Wolfe canon (and by all means you should), that he'll hear quoted back to him in a later novel.
But the moment that flipped this story, excellent in so many ways, from a 4-star to a 5, for me was when Archie has a quick conversation with one of the switchboard operators at the hotel. She's working for a living in a low-status job, and she knows it and he knows it, but they have an exchange of witty repartee that establishes the mutual respect of man to woman, despite the status divide, just as persuasively. The scene is more convincing because it seems incidental, not staged.
Rex Stout was a great writer because he gave us great, believable characters -- not just the villains and the leads, but switchboard operators, too. And of course these great mysteries and the wonderful tricks to solve them gotten up to by Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. This is a great series and Too Many Cooks is one of its high-water marks.
The intention is clearly one of mutual tolerance and understanding, though the follow-through is odd to the modern ear. Archie himself refers to "dagoes" and "shines" as the story progresses, racial characterizations that may have seemed witty in the past but certainly would not pass muster today.
Nevertheless the approach Wolfe takes when he needs a witness from among the waiters and cooks is man-to-man and turns into quite a discourse on mutual respect. From here comes the statement, if you delve deeply into the Wolfe canon (and by all means you should), that he'll hear quoted back to him in a later novel.
But the moment that flipped this story, excellent in so many ways, from a 4-star to a 5, for me was when Archie has a quick conversation with one of the switchboard operators at the hotel. She's working for a living in a low-status job, and she knows it and he knows it, but they have an exchange of witty repartee that establishes the mutual respect of man to woman, despite the status divide, just as persuasively. The scene is more convincing because it seems incidental, not staged.
Rex Stout was a great writer because he gave us great, believable characters -- not just the villains and the leads, but switchboard operators, too. And of course these great mysteries and the wonderful tricks to solve them gotten up to by Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. This is a great series and Too Many Cooks is one of its high-water marks.
May 24, 2019
A neat mystery with Wolfe and Archie away from the NYC brownstone. Wolfe and Archie are away from the brownstone in the next book in the series as well.
October 8, 2018
Questo libro mi ha fatto addormentare più di una volta. 😥
Mi è piaciuta molto la voce narrante di Archie Goodwin, sarcastica e divertente al tempo stesso, che prende continuamente in giro Wolfe, e facendo questo dimostra di volergli bene.
Per quanto riguarda la trama, devo dire che avevo adocchiato il colpevole già da un po’. Ciononostante, mi sono divertita a vedere i movimenti cervellotici di Wolfe e del suo segretario. Molto carini i siparietti tra i due, mentre ho trovato un po’ noiosa la parte che riguarda tutta l’alta cucina. Non è un tema che mi affascina particolarmente, e quindi il libro non mi ha preso più di tanto.
Il primo incontro con Nero Wolfe e Archie Goodwin è andato bene: può essere un buon inizio per una frequentazione più assidua con i libri di Rex Stout. Vedremo.
Libro letto con il titolo di Alta cucina, scelto per il gruppo di lettura del mese di ottobre 2018, parola: cucina. 📚
Mi è piaciuta molto la voce narrante di Archie Goodwin, sarcastica e divertente al tempo stesso, che prende continuamente in giro Wolfe, e facendo questo dimostra di volergli bene.
Per quanto riguarda la trama, devo dire che avevo adocchiato il colpevole già da un po’. Ciononostante, mi sono divertita a vedere i movimenti cervellotici di Wolfe e del suo segretario. Molto carini i siparietti tra i due, mentre ho trovato un po’ noiosa la parte che riguarda tutta l’alta cucina. Non è un tema che mi affascina particolarmente, e quindi il libro non mi ha preso più di tanto.
Il primo incontro con Nero Wolfe e Archie Goodwin è andato bene: può essere un buon inizio per una frequentazione più assidua con i libri di Rex Stout. Vedremo.
Libro letto con il titolo di Alta cucina, scelto per il gruppo di lettura del mese di ottobre 2018, parola: cucina. 📚
August 4, 2019
Nero Wolfe rarely leaves his brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City. In the fifth book in the series he has promised to be the keynote speaker at a gathering of top chefs, Les Quinze Maitres, at the Kanawha Spa in West Virginia. Of course he would not make such a journey without his assistant Archie Goodwin. The opening scene is quite humorous with Archie standing on the platform smoking a cigarette and Wolfe bellowing at him to get back on the train, fearful that the train will leave without him.
Of course there has to be a murder. This is a Nero Wolfe story. In this story it is one of the chefs, Phillip Laszio, a man with many enemies. The chefs decide to have a contest. Laszio is in a dining room. The other chefs enter the dining room, one at a time, to sample sauces. During the contest Laszio is murdered. Whodunit?
At first Wolfe wants nothing to do with finding the murderer. He is on holiday and he just wants to eat meals prepared by world-renowned chefs, give his speech and get back home. And if possible persuade one of the masters to divulge his recipe for saucisse minuit. When the sausage maker chef, Jerome Berin, is arrested for Laszio's murder Wolfe agrees out of a sense of friendship and obligation as a guest to prove that Berin could not be the murderer. Once that obligation is fulfilled he wipes his hands of the matter. Until someone takes a shot at him as he is is rehearsing his speech. Now it is personal. Now he plans to expose the murderer. But, he has to do it quickly as he doesn't plan on missing his train home.
This book was written in 1938 and the setting is West Virginia. There have been many comments about the treatment of blacks and there is language that may be offensive. I found that Rex Stout, through his character of Nero Wolfe, treated blacks with respect and courtesy. I saw few comments on the status of women in 1938 but in this story women apparently did not serve on juries. At least in West Virginia. There is a scene where Archie has a conversation with a switchboard operator. The woman is working for a living at a low level job but the exchange between her and Archie shows respect.
Overall this was a fine whodunit that will keep the reader guessing ... and at times laughing at Nero Wolfe traveling by train and away from meals prepared by Fritz Brenner and twice daily sessions with his orchids.
Of course there has to be a murder. This is a Nero Wolfe story. In this story it is one of the chefs, Phillip Laszio, a man with many enemies. The chefs decide to have a contest. Laszio is in a dining room. The other chefs enter the dining room, one at a time, to sample sauces. During the contest Laszio is murdered. Whodunit?
At first Wolfe wants nothing to do with finding the murderer. He is on holiday and he just wants to eat meals prepared by world-renowned chefs, give his speech and get back home. And if possible persuade one of the masters to divulge his recipe for saucisse minuit. When the sausage maker chef, Jerome Berin, is arrested for Laszio's murder Wolfe agrees out of a sense of friendship and obligation as a guest to prove that Berin could not be the murderer. Once that obligation is fulfilled he wipes his hands of the matter. Until someone takes a shot at him as he is is rehearsing his speech. Now it is personal. Now he plans to expose the murderer. But, he has to do it quickly as he doesn't plan on missing his train home.
This book was written in 1938 and the setting is West Virginia. There have been many comments about the treatment of blacks and there is language that may be offensive. I found that Rex Stout, through his character of Nero Wolfe, treated blacks with respect and courtesy. I saw few comments on the status of women in 1938 but in this story women apparently did not serve on juries. At least in West Virginia. There is a scene where Archie has a conversation with a switchboard operator. The woman is working for a living at a low level job but the exchange between her and Archie shows respect.
Overall this was a fine whodunit that will keep the reader guessing ... and at times laughing at Nero Wolfe traveling by train and away from meals prepared by Fritz Brenner and twice daily sessions with his orchids.
January 13, 2015
You know, I don't really care all that much about the mystery part of any Nero Wolfe mystery. Some are good, some are better, some tease, some deliver, some succeed, a few fail. I don't care cause a couple hundred pages of Archie and Nero going back and forth is always, always worth it. Archie with his easy going wise-guy banter and Nero with his prickly erudite blustering, fussing over his orchids, salivating over his supper, sipping his beer, closing his eyes, twitching his lips. Well, that part in and of itself is enough to keep coming back. The mystery? well that's just some icing on an already good cake.
And, on this particular cake? I gotta say, the icing tasted pretty damn good.
And, on this particular cake? I gotta say, the icing tasted pretty damn good.
December 5, 2020
5 Stars. No lower it to 3 stars for the distasteful language and thoughtlessness portrayed. The "N" word abounds, but so do "coloured" and disparaging remarks against Chinese Americans. Collectively, among the worst for this I have read or experienced. There's even a blackface episode. In audio, the first use of the "N" word hits the listener like an unexpected sledgehammer. Nero Wolfe, a minor offender in comparison to Archie and a sheriff from West Virginia, turns the tables on the major ones by carefully gathering crucial information from the black waiters at an exclusive resort. Segregated? Not stated. His innovative technique? Treat people with respect and listen closely to what they have to say. The case does have interesting points. Wolfe, a gourmand, has left his lair in New York to give the featured speech at a gathering of Les Quinze Maîtres, a collection of the world's top 15 chefs. While he is at Kanawha Spa, one of the more disliked of the lot succumbs to a knife attack. So many suspects, including a friend of Wolfe who just can't pull himself free of suspicion. What does one do about shameful period pieces like this? Especially the really good ones? (December 2018)
December 21, 2023
It takes an extraordinary event to draw Nero Wolfe willingly out of his comfortable Manhattan brownstone and into the wider world. The quadrennial meeting of Les Quinze Maitres, a select group of the world’s finest chefs, is just such an event. As their guest of honor, Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin travel by train to the luxurious Kanawha Spa in West Virginia, where they find themselves in the midst of an assortment of proud professionals and tangled personal relationships. When one of them is found dead, however, Wolfe resists the requests to investigate – only to find himself drawn in when the murderer decides to target Wolfe himself.
As I delve further into Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series, one of the things I am most interested in learning is how the author sustained his series over the 33 novels he wrote featuring the famous fictional detective. This story suggests one factor was his willingness to break away from his familiar New York setting and draw Wolfe outside of his well-established comfort zone. This leads to amusing scenes as the rigid Wolfe copes with his fear of train travel and his need to adapt to unfamiliar setting. It also allows Stout to insert Wolfe more directly into the investigation, as his on-scene location allows him to conduct personally many of the activities he usually sends Goodwin out to perform. It’s a nice mix of the familiar and the new that suggests why Stout was able to produce so many novels over the decades without his subject’s adventures getting stale.
As I delve further into Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series, one of the things I am most interested in learning is how the author sustained his series over the 33 novels he wrote featuring the famous fictional detective. This story suggests one factor was his willingness to break away from his familiar New York setting and draw Wolfe outside of his well-established comfort zone. This leads to amusing scenes as the rigid Wolfe copes with his fear of train travel and his need to adapt to unfamiliar setting. It also allows Stout to insert Wolfe more directly into the investigation, as his on-scene location allows him to conduct personally many of the activities he usually sends Goodwin out to perform. It’s a nice mix of the familiar and the new that suggests why Stout was able to produce so many novels over the decades without his subject’s adventures getting stale.
August 2, 2015
Published in 1938, this is the fifth book in the Nero Wolfe series and the second one I have ever read, the first being The Red Box.
Too Many Cooks was another enjoyable foray into the idiosyncratic world of the irascible, inscrutable, quirky, larger-than-life Wolfe as narrated by his able assistant, the world weary, hard bitten, cynical and slyly humorous Archie.
Whilst another supremely enjoyable read, I thought Too Many Cooks was slightly less successful than The Red Box. Whilst following the machinations of the plot is not essential, I confess I found it difficult to keep track of the various gourmet chefs and exactly who was who.
The repeated racial epithets, which were par for the course back in 1938, particularly with a West Virginia setting, jar for a modern reader. That said, it is clear that Rex Stout is trying to highlight the stupidity of prejudice and racial intolerance through the conduct of Wolfe and Archie when compared with some of the local law enforcement officers.
If I could give it 3.5 I would. It is another great Wolfe tale which inspires me to read more of this clever and beguiling series.
Too Many Cooks was another enjoyable foray into the idiosyncratic world of the irascible, inscrutable, quirky, larger-than-life Wolfe as narrated by his able assistant, the world weary, hard bitten, cynical and slyly humorous Archie.
Whilst another supremely enjoyable read, I thought Too Many Cooks was slightly less successful than The Red Box. Whilst following the machinations of the plot is not essential, I confess I found it difficult to keep track of the various gourmet chefs and exactly who was who.
The repeated racial epithets, which were par for the course back in 1938, particularly with a West Virginia setting, jar for a modern reader. That said, it is clear that Rex Stout is trying to highlight the stupidity of prejudice and racial intolerance through the conduct of Wolfe and Archie when compared with some of the local law enforcement officers.
If I could give it 3.5 I would. It is another great Wolfe tale which inspires me to read more of this clever and beguiling series.
March 1, 2023
3.5*
Nero Wolfe leaves his brownstone in NYC to attend a gastronomical gathering as the guest of honor. During the event, one of the chefs is murdered and Wolfe gets chivvied into investigating.
Nero Wolfe leaves his brownstone in NYC to attend a gastronomical gathering as the guest of honor. During the event, one of the chefs is murdered and Wolfe gets chivvied into investigating.
September 30, 2018
Wolfe speechifying saves the day! I always enjoy Wolfe being forced to leave the house, and this is a good one.
November 10, 2021
It’s a truism about Nero Wolf that he doesn’t like to leave his house even though he does leave it in two of the first four novels. This time, the whole book takes place outside the Brownstone and the reader gets to see just how strong a phobia being out of his own controlled environment is for the detective. We also get to see the extra burden this places on Archie Goodwin.
This is one of the very best Nero Wolfe novels. The event that gets Wolfe out of his house is the invitation to give a speech to the fifteen greatest chef’s in the world on the wonders of American cooking. But that’s just the excuse, the real reason—and it so Wolfe—is that one of the chefs has cooked a dish of sausages that was one of the great culinary treats of Wolfe’s life and he wants to try and get the recipe out of him so he can enjoy it in his own home. Keep that motivation in mind, because his desire for that recipe—plus his absolute need to get back on the scheduled train to return to NYC as soon as his speech is finished, is Wolfe’s driving motivation throughout the whole story.
And what a story it is. Just about every chef in attendance has a reason to hate one of their number—a truly despicable man who has stolen one’s wife, one’s job, and one’s assistant, plus a recipe from just about everyone else. So it’s a cinch that he’s going to be killed because there are so many possible murderers. And when that happens, it’s both a pleasure and a horror, because the men most likely to be the killer are people we like. Wolfe is trying hard to stay out of it (remember, he wants nothing to interfere with his train ride home to NYC) but when the chef with the sausage recipe gets charged with the murder, Wolfe sees a chance to obtain a treasure money literally cannot buy.
So Wolfe takes on the task of clearing the chef and this leads to the single best chapter I have read to date in all of Rex Stout’s books. In chapter eleven, he works with a—let’s call them a skeptical audience of African American waiters and chefs’ assistants—and slowly draws out startling revelations that totally break all of the reader’s preconceived notions of the case. Any one of these revelations would have been wonderful, but the totality is awesome. After which, Wolfe, having achieved his objective of clearing the chef, is ready to quit the case again without discovering the murderer, because staying on might cause him to miss his ride home. But then the murderer makes a particularly egregious error and this excellent novel gets kicked up another notch as we barrel toward the conclusion.
A final note about this book, it seems impossible to not mention the extraordinary and intricate planning Stout must have undertaken to make this book work. First there is the food. I’m not a foodie—pizza or hamburgers generally keep me happy—but Stout knows his cuisine and as the reader, you will believe that the greatest chefs in the world are preparing these meals. But what is even more impressive, Stout must have mapped out what every waiter and assistant cook did in bringing these meals to life as well, because the details just keep flowing at appropriate moments, that so-and-so served this, and so-and-so prepared that, in a way that makes the entire environment both mystifying and totally believable.
This may well be Stout’s single best Nero Wolfe novel.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
This is one of the very best Nero Wolfe novels. The event that gets Wolfe out of his house is the invitation to give a speech to the fifteen greatest chef’s in the world on the wonders of American cooking. But that’s just the excuse, the real reason—and it so Wolfe—is that one of the chefs has cooked a dish of sausages that was one of the great culinary treats of Wolfe’s life and he wants to try and get the recipe out of him so he can enjoy it in his own home. Keep that motivation in mind, because his desire for that recipe—plus his absolute need to get back on the scheduled train to return to NYC as soon as his speech is finished, is Wolfe’s driving motivation throughout the whole story.
And what a story it is. Just about every chef in attendance has a reason to hate one of their number—a truly despicable man who has stolen one’s wife, one’s job, and one’s assistant, plus a recipe from just about everyone else. So it’s a cinch that he’s going to be killed because there are so many possible murderers. And when that happens, it’s both a pleasure and a horror, because the men most likely to be the killer are people we like. Wolfe is trying hard to stay out of it (remember, he wants nothing to interfere with his train ride home to NYC) but when the chef with the sausage recipe gets charged with the murder, Wolfe sees a chance to obtain a treasure money literally cannot buy.
So Wolfe takes on the task of clearing the chef and this leads to the single best chapter I have read to date in all of Rex Stout’s books. In chapter eleven, he works with a—let’s call them a skeptical audience of African American waiters and chefs’ assistants—and slowly draws out startling revelations that totally break all of the reader’s preconceived notions of the case. Any one of these revelations would have been wonderful, but the totality is awesome. After which, Wolfe, having achieved his objective of clearing the chef, is ready to quit the case again without discovering the murderer, because staying on might cause him to miss his ride home. But then the murderer makes a particularly egregious error and this excellent novel gets kicked up another notch as we barrel toward the conclusion.
A final note about this book, it seems impossible to not mention the extraordinary and intricate planning Stout must have undertaken to make this book work. First there is the food. I’m not a foodie—pizza or hamburgers generally keep me happy—but Stout knows his cuisine and as the reader, you will believe that the greatest chefs in the world are preparing these meals. But what is even more impressive, Stout must have mapped out what every waiter and assistant cook did in bringing these meals to life as well, because the details just keep flowing at appropriate moments, that so-and-so served this, and so-and-so prepared that, in a way that makes the entire environment both mystifying and totally believable.
This may well be Stout’s single best Nero Wolfe novel.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
September 4, 2022
The fifth novel in the Nero Wolfe series finds Wolfe and his secretary/chauffer Archie Goodwin on a rare trip away from the brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City. Beyond his detective work, Wolfe is also something of a foodie. Given his girth and exuberance for eating, this is not surprising. Here, his culinary know-how earns him an invitation to a gathering of fifteen of the world’s most famous chefs. And of course, there will be a murder. This time, it’s one of the attendees, an irascible man who is literally stabbed in the back, likely by one of his peers.
A side note: The story is set in 1938, a time of less-than-palatable racism. It can be an uncomfortable reading experience from today’s perspective, but readers must recognize the times for what they were. I’ve heard more than once that these novels, in general, are racist but I think it’s important to differentiate an accurate depiction of the era from purposeful prejudicial writing. In fact, the author, Rex Stout works to demonstrate how wrong these prejudices truly are, as evidenced by this comment from Nero Wolfe:
“The ideal human agreement is one in which distinctions of race and color and religion are totally disregarded; anyone helping to preserve those distinctions is postponing that ideal…”
I’ve been wanting to read more of this series ever since I read book number one, Fer-de-Lance. I thought that one was OK but felt it was probably not the best of what the series had to offer. I searched through various top-10 lists and found that this one, Too Many Cooks was listed on every single one. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has made me a fan of Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and of course Rex Stout. The mystery elements were excellent, as expected, and those who enjoy brilliant detectives should like it too. Happily, there is a nice amount of humor sprinkled throughout, as well.
And so, another lengthy series has been added to my ever-growing TBR list… Sigh.
A side note: The story is set in 1938, a time of less-than-palatable racism. It can be an uncomfortable reading experience from today’s perspective, but readers must recognize the times for what they were. I’ve heard more than once that these novels, in general, are racist but I think it’s important to differentiate an accurate depiction of the era from purposeful prejudicial writing. In fact, the author, Rex Stout works to demonstrate how wrong these prejudices truly are, as evidenced by this comment from Nero Wolfe:
“The ideal human agreement is one in which distinctions of race and color and religion are totally disregarded; anyone helping to preserve those distinctions is postponing that ideal…”
I’ve been wanting to read more of this series ever since I read book number one, Fer-de-Lance. I thought that one was OK but felt it was probably not the best of what the series had to offer. I searched through various top-10 lists and found that this one, Too Many Cooks was listed on every single one. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has made me a fan of Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and of course Rex Stout. The mystery elements were excellent, as expected, and those who enjoy brilliant detectives should like it too. Happily, there is a nice amount of humor sprinkled throughout, as well.
And so, another lengthy series has been added to my ever-growing TBR list… Sigh.
April 6, 2025
Nero Wolfe’s grumpy under the best of circumstances, so imagine how grumpy the dour detective is in the wilds of West Virginia without his orchids, his personal chef, the niceties of his brownstone on West 35th Street! Wolfe was snarling from the moment he entered the train from New York to Kanawha, W.V., for a weekend with Les Quinze Maîtres, the finest chefs in the world. Needless to say, one of them will end up murdered — there wouldn’t be a detective novel otherwise, would there? — and Wolfe reluctantly agrees to discover who killed Philip Lazio, the reprobate who stole one chef’s wife, another chef’s job and, more or less, inspired hatred from the other top chefs.
I don’t know what it is about Nero Wolfe out of his element, be it this or The Black Mountain (where he goes to Yugoslavia), that makes the novels not as good as the ones set in New York City. (Incidentally, restauranteur Marko Vukcic, Wolfe’s bestie, from this novel also appears in The Black Mountain.) But I found Too Many Cooks to drag quite a bit until Lazio’s murdered, and drag after Lazio’s stabbed in the back, although much less than before. Not as good as author Rex Stout’s usual fare, but still better than most authors routinely publish.
I don’t know what it is about Nero Wolfe out of his element, be it this or The Black Mountain (where he goes to Yugoslavia), that makes the novels not as good as the ones set in New York City. (Incidentally, restauranteur Marko Vukcic, Wolfe’s bestie, from this novel also appears in The Black Mountain.) But I found Too Many Cooks to drag quite a bit until Lazio’s murdered, and drag after Lazio’s stabbed in the back, although much less than before. Not as good as author Rex Stout’s usual fare, but still better than most authors routinely publish.
August 20, 2019
The fifth Nero Wolfe book should probably come with a warning for modern readers. Of course, it's not fair to apply modern sensibilities to previous generations, although that is fairly common to do. But because of modern sensibilities there are going to be many readers who will be shocked at the causal use of, now derogatory, terms for Asians, various Europeans, and African Americans, that can be found in this book.
I recommend you read it anyway and substitute whatever words you find appropriate inside your head.
This is a rare Nero Wolfe story that does not take place in New York City. This one takes place in the wilds of West Virginia, which to me sound park like, but I live in Utah and anything back East is easy to imagine as over populated and over built up. The interesting part about this being set in an unfamiliar location is that the story becomes much more of a character story as Nero and Archie delve into the mystery before them.
The cast of characters is extremely varied. The premise is that a group of famous chefs have created a sort of club of the 15 best chefs in the world. Every four years they meet to have talks, take care of club business, and cook and eat things. Also they argue. And they all bring guests. This time Nero Wolfe is invited to be a guest speaker to this club on the contributions of American cuisine to the world.
Along with the use of terms no longer acceptable, it was also interesting to see how the various characters in the story approached each of these various groups. The local law enforcement were depicted as uniformly dismissive of African Americans, to the point of insisting that they not be called by Mister, but by boy. Archie takes a more urban view, but still considers the foreigners and African Americans somewhat as lesser people, and he frequently uses derogatory terms, especially when frustrated.
The approach of Nero was quite egalitarian though, and it was very refreshing to see. Nero, of course, is a romantic and cherishes intellectual ideals. When confronted by Archie and locals regarding his treatment of those from foreign countries, and those with different colored skin he states: "The ideal human agreement is one in which distinctions of race and color and religion are totally disregarded; anyone helping to preserve those distinctions is postponing that ideal; …."
The interplay of Archie and Nero in this book is much more balanced giving both of them chances to display their own distinct areas of skill and the final resolution of the mystery was both subtly telegraphed and satisfying to see. I would also like to note that this is the first book that delves into the relationship between Nero and his long time friend and chef, a member of these 15 best chefs, Marco Vukcic. They were not entirely friendly in this book but the interplay gave some interesting views into Nero's youth and formation of the reclusive genius he becomes.
I recommend you read it anyway and substitute whatever words you find appropriate inside your head.
This is a rare Nero Wolfe story that does not take place in New York City. This one takes place in the wilds of West Virginia, which to me sound park like, but I live in Utah and anything back East is easy to imagine as over populated and over built up. The interesting part about this being set in an unfamiliar location is that the story becomes much more of a character story as Nero and Archie delve into the mystery before them.
The cast of characters is extremely varied. The premise is that a group of famous chefs have created a sort of club of the 15 best chefs in the world. Every four years they meet to have talks, take care of club business, and cook and eat things. Also they argue. And they all bring guests. This time Nero Wolfe is invited to be a guest speaker to this club on the contributions of American cuisine to the world.
Along with the use of terms no longer acceptable, it was also interesting to see how the various characters in the story approached each of these various groups. The local law enforcement were depicted as uniformly dismissive of African Americans, to the point of insisting that they not be called by Mister, but by boy. Archie takes a more urban view, but still considers the foreigners and African Americans somewhat as lesser people, and he frequently uses derogatory terms, especially when frustrated.
The approach of Nero was quite egalitarian though, and it was very refreshing to see. Nero, of course, is a romantic and cherishes intellectual ideals. When confronted by Archie and locals regarding his treatment of those from foreign countries, and those with different colored skin he states: "The ideal human agreement is one in which distinctions of race and color and religion are totally disregarded; anyone helping to preserve those distinctions is postponing that ideal; …."
The interplay of Archie and Nero in this book is much more balanced giving both of them chances to display their own distinct areas of skill and the final resolution of the mystery was both subtly telegraphed and satisfying to see. I would also like to note that this is the first book that delves into the relationship between Nero and his long time friend and chef, a member of these 15 best chefs, Marco Vukcic. They were not entirely friendly in this book but the interplay gave some interesting views into Nero's youth and formation of the reclusive genius he becomes.
February 3, 2018
This series continues to amuse. Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe continue to needle each other with an affection that neither would admit to if pressed. There are two issues worth mentioning.
First, there are a *lot* of characters. There are all the cooks, and then all of the cooks have brought guests. There are also characters who are neither cooks nor guests and who also are not employees of Nero Wolfe. Their names also needed to be logged. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to keep them straight, but I soon found that only a few were major enough to keep an eye on and I did fine.
The other issue is that the setting is about as startling as can be. Nero Wolfe is such an eccentric that it is well known he does not leave his house except perhaps once a year to attend the orchid show. Much to my surprise, this opens with Wolfe lodged in a Pullman car about to take a journey out of New York City into the wilds of West Virginia. Did the earth move on its axis?
My top rating for this genre is 4-stars, and that only for a truly exemplary mystery. This does not rise to that level, but I should remember that my 3-stars for a mystery is quite respectable.
First, there are a *lot* of characters. There are all the cooks, and then all of the cooks have brought guests. There are also characters who are neither cooks nor guests and who also are not employees of Nero Wolfe. Their names also needed to be logged. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to keep them straight, but I soon found that only a few were major enough to keep an eye on and I did fine.
The other issue is that the setting is about as startling as can be. Nero Wolfe is such an eccentric that it is well known he does not leave his house except perhaps once a year to attend the orchid show. Much to my surprise, this opens with Wolfe lodged in a Pullman car about to take a journey out of New York City into the wilds of West Virginia. Did the earth move on its axis?
My top rating for this genre is 4-stars, and that only for a truly exemplary mystery. This does not rise to that level, but I should remember that my 3-stars for a mystery is quite respectable.
November 28, 2017
AMAZING. Laughed out loud multiple times. Highly recommend this to any mystery fans- the best Nero Wolfe book of the series so far!
January 14, 2025
Non avevo mai letto un romanzo della serie di Nero Wolfe e devo dire che sotto certi aspetti è stata una sorpresa, a cominciare da Nero Wolfe stesso; ovviamente ne conoscevo già i tratti più caratteristici quali la stazza imponente, l'amore per la cucina e la sedentarietà, ma lo immaginavo come un deus ex machina o una macchietta; invece è un personaggio a tutto tondo, eccentrico ma con un carattere ben definito e non sempre piacevole: anzi è misogino (ai limiti del sessista), scostante e cinico. Il suo inseparabile assistente Archie Goodwin è forse anche più interessante di lui: funge da narratore e tutto quel che accade è filtrato da quell'umorismo disincantato e sornione così tipicamente americano. La particolarità del romanzo è proprio questa, unire il giallo classico all'inglese con la spregiudicatezza tipica dei loro cugini d'oltreoceano. Il mix che ne viene fuori è indubbiamente originale, l'unica pecca è che il mistero vero e proprio viene messo in ombra da tutto il contorno e spesso si perde il filo dell'investigazione, arrivando alla fine senza una gran curiosità: peccato, perchè le premesse erano intriganti e la soluzione è perfettamente logica e coerente (forse un tantino prevedibile per i più smaliziati).
E' stata una lettura spiazzante ma molto piacevole; non posso ancora dire che Stout mi abbia conquistato, ma sono più che disposta ad approfondirne la conoscenza.
E' stata una lettura spiazzante ma molto piacevole; non posso ancora dire che Stout mi abbia conquistato, ma sono più che disposta ad approfondirne la conoscenza.
June 10, 2013
As a big Nero Wolfe fan, I expected to find this one a very enjoyable read. I read a lot of older stuff, and I am accustomed to overlooking certain racist and sexist language we find appalling today. But this book is so full of objectionable words that it really takes away from the reading experience. I just cringed when I read the casual references to coons and shines, not to mention the frequency of the N word. It is fractionally redeemed by a scene with Nero Wolfe speaking to some black male staff at a resort in a very forthright and untypical manner.
So, if you love Nero, read ahead. It's a fair mystery. But there are plenty of better examples out there and if I had it to do over again, I'd skip this one.
So, if you love Nero, read ahead. It's a fair mystery. But there are plenty of better examples out there and if I had it to do over again, I'd skip this one.
March 1, 2022
“Too many Cooks” should be retitled “Too Many Slurs.” The story takes place at a fancy resort hotel in rural West Virginia. And the locals and Archie insist on using words for the African-American cook and porter staff that folks don’t say anymore. For the first half of the book, it was at a rate of one slur per chapter.
Of course Nero Wolfe treats everyone civilly, because he’s a mensch. Which somehow makes it worse that Rex Stout knew exactly what he was doing with the slurs.
The story is fairly weak. Lots of vaguely named characters. The murder mystery isn’t bad, but it can’t save the disappointment of racist language. If the n-word wasn’t used, this would be three stars.
Of course Nero Wolfe treats everyone civilly, because he’s a mensch. Which somehow makes it worse that Rex Stout knew exactly what he was doing with the slurs.
The story is fairly weak. Lots of vaguely named characters. The murder mystery isn’t bad, but it can’t save the disappointment of racist language. If the n-word wasn’t used, this would be three stars.
abandoned
February 11, 2021Too racist, too many characters + confusing dialog at times.
October 9, 2020
Yes, there’s a mystery, and yes, there are great characters here, and yes, there’s a fascinating lecture on North American cuisine. There is excellent Wolfe and Archie interaction, including a scene where Archie undresses Wolfe while comparing himself to the heroine of a gothic novel. But this is all not so much overshadowed as obliviated by the racism.
If you’re interested in how Nice White Liberals thought in the 1930s, this is the book for you. Stout was certainly a white liberal, and he definitely tried to be ... not horrible in this book, but oh my god how he failed. And at the end of the day, I read these books for Wolfe and Archie. I want to be able to like them, and I absolutely cannot do that when Archie is being hideously racist. So, as always, I’m rating this for the amount of fun I had reading it, which was essentially no fun at all. I was too busy recoiling.
If you’re interested in how Nice White Liberals thought in the 1930s, this is the book for you. Stout was certainly a white liberal, and he definitely tried to be ... not horrible in this book, but oh my god how he failed. And at the end of the day, I read these books for Wolfe and Archie. I want to be able to like them, and I absolutely cannot do that when Archie is being hideously racist. So, as always, I’m rating this for the amount of fun I had reading it, which was essentially no fun at all. I was too busy recoiling.
May 10, 2024
The hook is set seeing Nero's discomfort traveling in modes considered quite reasonable to the average person, but it's the subtle comments on the powerful contributions to U.S. culture originating in Black America that bring your attention to shore.
April 4, 2021
This was an excellent and baffling mystery with a nice twist. In addition, it provided a fascinating, albeit disturbing, look at the casual use of racist terms without any hint that disdain was intended in 1938 when the book was published.
July 6, 2019
This is one of the best, and certainly one of the most unique, installments in the Nero Wolfe canon. Wolfe actually leaves his sancta sanctorem and travels to a West Virginia resort for a meeting of gourmet chefs. After one of the sumptuous dinners, the gourmets taste nine versions of Sauce Printemps (which, if I recall my high school French, means Spring Sauce?) which contains nine herbs and seasonings; in each version, one seasoning is omitted. The tasters enter the dining room, one at a time, and take a single taste from each dish of sauce, on roasted squab, and write on a card which herb is missing from each dish. When it is Wolfe’s turn, he discovers the body of that evening’s chef, with a knife in his back. The murderer man was hated by several of the chefs present, and several had openly talked about killing him. He was considered a thief, having stolen recipes from them, and from one he had “stolen” the man’s wife.
Wolfe has no intention of getting involved, because he is determined to return to New York City on schedule; however, when the wrong man is arrested, he realizes he must find the real killer.
Wolfe is famous for being a gourmet AND a gourmand, not to mention his other eccentricities of never leaving his home and his passion for growing orchids. In this book, the focus is all on food. We all love food, don’t we? YouTube has hundreds, probably thousands, of food vlogs. (My favorites are the food and travel ones.) So the appeal of this book is obvious, not to mention the mystery is a pretty good one of what’s called the “locked door” variety, meaning that opportunity would appear to be the strongest indicator of the murderer.
I said in the opening that this is one of the best of the Nero Wolfe series, but there is one aspect that really spoils it. The story was published in 1937, and is set in West Virginia; most of the employees at the resort are young black men, and the book is simply littered with racial epithets. The county sheriff is completely reprehensible - I have no doubt he was a member of the KKK. The DA isn’t much better. Rex Stout, in Archie Goodwin’s voice, casually uses racial and stereotypical terms. He could be said to be an equal opportunity offender, however; he describes everyone, whites included, in terms of stereotypes (a Scot has a “face like a sunset preserved in alcohol; someone named Lawrence Coyne is “as white as a snow bank”). Even the venue itself, called the Pocahontas pavilion, he describes as “all Indian as to decorations” (“dark woolen things with colored rugs and stuff”).
The sole bright spot is Nero Wolfe himself. He is convinced that one or more of the waiters (all young black men) must have seen or heard something. He asks them to meet with him and he confronts the issue of prejudice head on.
Wolfe addressees each man individually, by name; i.e. Mr. Whipple, Mr. Crabtree, Mr. Brown, etc. Eventually, this approach allows Wolfe to obtain the information he was seeking; Mr. Whipple and Mr. Moulton saw the murderer, although they were unable to identify him because he was in blackface.
I do think it is interesting that the only reasonably enlightened character was Wolfe, who, as he says, is not a native-born American (Wolfe was born in Montenegro). While I believe that our current culture often takes political correctness way too far at times, (and I’m writing this review only a couple of days removed from the kerfuffle over Nike’s Betsy Ross flag shoes) this book has reminded me how am truly grateful I am that we have come a long way from the type of prejudice exhibited by the characters in this book.
Wolfe has no intention of getting involved, because he is determined to return to New York City on schedule; however, when the wrong man is arrested, he realizes he must find the real killer.
Wolfe is famous for being a gourmet AND a gourmand, not to mention his other eccentricities of never leaving his home and his passion for growing orchids. In this book, the focus is all on food. We all love food, don’t we? YouTube has hundreds, probably thousands, of food vlogs. (My favorites are the food and travel ones.) So the appeal of this book is obvious, not to mention the mystery is a pretty good one of what’s called the “locked door” variety, meaning that opportunity would appear to be the strongest indicator of the murderer.
I said in the opening that this is one of the best of the Nero Wolfe series, but there is one aspect that really spoils it. The story was published in 1937, and is set in West Virginia; most of the employees at the resort are young black men, and the book is simply littered with racial epithets. The county sheriff is completely reprehensible - I have no doubt he was a member of the KKK. The DA isn’t much better. Rex Stout, in Archie Goodwin’s voice, casually uses racial and stereotypical terms. He could be said to be an equal opportunity offender, however; he describes everyone, whites included, in terms of stereotypes (a Scot has a “face like a sunset preserved in alcohol; someone named Lawrence Coyne is “as white as a snow bank”). Even the venue itself, called the Pocahontas pavilion, he describes as “all Indian as to decorations” (“dark woolen things with colored rugs and stuff”).
The sole bright spot is Nero Wolfe himself. He is convinced that one or more of the waiters (all young black men) must have seen or heard something. He asks them to meet with him and he confronts the issue of prejudice head on.
’You know, gentlemen, I have had very little experience in dealing with black men. That may strike you as a tactless remark, but it really isn’t. It is certainly true that you can’t deal with all men alike. It is popularly supposed that in this part of the country whites adopt a well-defined attitude in dealing with the blacks, and blacks do the same in dealing with the whites. That is no doubt true up to a point, but it is subject to enormous variation, as your own experience will show you...
But even more fundamental than the individual differences are the racial and national and tribal differences. That’s what I mean when I say I’ve had limited experience in dealing with black men. I mean black Americans. Many years ago I handled some affairs with dark-skinned people in Egypt and Arabia and Algiers, but of course that has nothing to do with you. You gentlemen are Americans, much more completely Americans than I am, for I wasn’t born here. This is your native country. It was you and your brothers, black and white, who let me come here to live, and I hope you’ll let me say, without getting maudlin, that I’m grateful to you for it.’
Wolfe addressees each man individually, by name; i.e. Mr. Whipple, Mr. Crabtree, Mr. Brown, etc. Eventually, this approach allows Wolfe to obtain the information he was seeking; Mr. Whipple and Mr. Moulton saw the murderer, although they were unable to identify him because he was in blackface.
I do think it is interesting that the only reasonably enlightened character was Wolfe, who, as he says, is not a native-born American (Wolfe was born in Montenegro). While I believe that our current culture often takes political correctness way too far at times, (and I’m writing this review only a couple of days removed from the kerfuffle over Nike’s Betsy Ross flag shoes) this book has reminded me how am truly grateful I am that we have come a long way from the type of prejudice exhibited by the characters in this book.
February 5, 2016
Yksityisetsivä Nero Wolfe on ärtyisällä päällä joutuessaan junamatkalle Kanawha Spahan, Länsi-Virginiaan. Hän ei yleensä poistu kotoaan, vaan keskittyy orkideojen hoitoon, herkutteluun ja asiakkaidensa istuttamiseen toimiston punaiseen nahkanojatuoliin. Tällä kertaa voiton vie kuitenkin huippukokkien maailmankonferenssi, jonne Nero Wolfe matkustaa apulaisensa Archie Goodwinin kanssa. Maistelukilpailu päättyy kuitenkin siihen, että kilpailun tuomari saa puukon selkäänsä. Odottamattomista vastoinkäymisistä entistä ärtyisämmäksi muuttunut Nero Wolfe haluaa selvittää tapauksen nopeasti, jotta lähtö paluumatkalle ei viivästyisi yhtään enempää, kuin on välttämätöntä.
Liian monta kokkia on Rex Stoutin varhaisimpia Nero Wolfe -dekkareita eikä yllä kirjailijan parhaan tuotannon joukkoon. Samantyyppisiä henkilöitä (kokkeja) on aivan liian paljon, joten lukijan on hankalaa pysyä kärryillä, kuka kukin on. Myöskän juoni ei yllä sille tasolle, jota kirjailijalta on lupa odottaa. Jotkin sanavalinnat saattavat pöyristyttää kireäpipoisinta lukijaa, ellei ymmärrä kirjan tapahtumien sijoittumista 1930-luvulle.
Kirjan lopussa on 17 sivua pelkkiä ruokaohjeita, joissa on niin kummallisia valmistusaineita, mm. suokilpikonnan lihaa, piikkisikaa ja täpläsillin mätiä, että valmistus tulee kotioloissa tuskin kyseeseen. Reseptivalikoimaan sisältyy myös tarkkaan varjellun saucisse minuit’n (keskiyön makkaran) valmistusohje.
Antaisin kaksi ja puoli tähteä, mutta koska puolikkaita ei jaeta, tyydyn kahteen.
Liian monta kokkia on Rex Stoutin varhaisimpia Nero Wolfe -dekkareita eikä yllä kirjailijan parhaan tuotannon joukkoon. Samantyyppisiä henkilöitä (kokkeja) on aivan liian paljon, joten lukijan on hankalaa pysyä kärryillä, kuka kukin on. Myöskän juoni ei yllä sille tasolle, jota kirjailijalta on lupa odottaa. Jotkin sanavalinnat saattavat pöyristyttää kireäpipoisinta lukijaa, ellei ymmärrä kirjan tapahtumien sijoittumista 1930-luvulle.
Kirjan lopussa on 17 sivua pelkkiä ruokaohjeita, joissa on niin kummallisia valmistusaineita, mm. suokilpikonnan lihaa, piikkisikaa ja täpläsillin mätiä, että valmistus tulee kotioloissa tuskin kyseeseen. Reseptivalikoimaan sisältyy myös tarkkaan varjellun saucisse minuit’n (keskiyön makkaran) valmistusohje.
Antaisin kaksi ja puoli tähteä, mutta koska puolikkaita ei jaeta, tyydyn kahteen.
March 31, 2012
There are few pre-modern American crime writers that can reasonably be counted among the "classics". Rex Stout and his Nero Wolfe are certainly amongst those.
Here, Wolfe travels to a meeting of the "quinze maîtres", the 15 best cooks in the world, to save the honour of the American cuisine. Unsurprisingly, he becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. If he wants to catch his train in time he will have to solve this mystery - and fast.
This is Stout at his very best. Archie Goodwin is witty and acerbic, Nero Wolfe bad-tempered and fully his hedonistic self and the descriptions of both characters and setting are very well done. It might be that I'm partial to the setting (high-level chefs preparing excellent meals), but I enjoyed this book immensely.
A single warning: the book was written in '38 and while Wolfe adopts a very modern outlook for his time, the general attitude towards blacks displayed by all other characters is still rather patronizing.
Summary: Good characters, beautiful setting and a recommendation by Dame Christie herself. What more can you ask for?
Here, Wolfe travels to a meeting of the "quinze maîtres", the 15 best cooks in the world, to save the honour of the American cuisine. Unsurprisingly, he becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. If he wants to catch his train in time he will have to solve this mystery - and fast.
This is Stout at his very best. Archie Goodwin is witty and acerbic, Nero Wolfe bad-tempered and fully his hedonistic self and the descriptions of both characters and setting are very well done. It might be that I'm partial to the setting (high-level chefs preparing excellent meals), but I enjoyed this book immensely.
A single warning: the book was written in '38 and while Wolfe adopts a very modern outlook for his time, the general attitude towards blacks displayed by all other characters is still rather patronizing.
Summary: Good characters, beautiful setting and a recommendation by Dame Christie herself. What more can you ask for?
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