Triple Zeck

Nero Wolfe #13, 15, 17

by Rex Stout

502 pages Viking Adult (May 22, 1974) English

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Detective

502 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Rex 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.

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Rex Stout books about the eccentric genius Nero Wolfe, the world's greatest detective. This book is a compilation of three stories which involve the only man that Wolfe fears, Arnold Zeck. They are all compelling but the last one is the best as Wolfe acts totally out of character to finally end the saga of Mr. Zeck.
I find these book "comfortable", and feel at home reading about the great brownstone house and its occupants. The A&E series aired during the early part of the 21st century with the perfect casting of the late Canadian actor Maury Chaykin as Wolfe (he probably wasn't fat enough though) and Timothy Hutton as the breezy Archie help to build on the mental picture of the characters and the setting. This is a re-read for me since I have read the three stories in stand-alone editions but it was worth it. Rex Stout deserves his position as an icon of the American mystery story.

[Jo Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rex Stout blows me away. When I am looking for a book that will transport me but not make too many demands of me, Rex seems to be the man that I go to. He seldom disappoints (there are times when it feels somewhat formulaic, but I never seem to tire of Archie no matter what) and he often amazes -- even when I have read a story a few times before. This collection of stories that include reference to Arnold Zeck are particularly well done. "And Be Villain" relates the tale of a radio guest being killed on Madeline Fraser's very popular TV show. Stout skillfully sets up a most plausible blackmail scheme (how can he figure these things out?) which leads to Zeck. Happily, in this story, Zeck and Wolfe are on the same side and we just have an introduction to a very serious threat to the happiness and self-satisfaction of our favorite genius. "The Second Confession" is the second of the trio of stories which I have already reviewed. It is in "In the Best of Families" that Wolfe and Zeck collide. Wolfe tells this story so well that I am sure I have now read it at least four times -- with undiminished pleasure. I enjoy the subtle introduction of the threat and the slow building through the first two stories -- but it is not overdone. I am also impressed with how un-dated the story telling seems, even though Wolfe started telling these stories in a very different era from our present. Only occasionally does he use terms that cause me to cringe (eg "spiggoty" referring to Hispanics) and so often his awareness and concerns agree with my 21st century outlook. He really is one of my favorite authors.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection contains three mystery novels from 1948-1950.
Archie Goodwin and his boss, Nero Wolfe, are up against a master criminal -- Arnold Zeck -- in these charming and witty stories. In “Be A Villain" a cyanide poisoning is committed during a live radio show. In "The Second Confession” a wealthy businessman hires Wolfe to investigate his daughter's boyfriend whom he suspects of being a Communist. The boyfriend is killed by being run over with Archie's car and Wolfe’s beloved "Plant Rooms” are blown up. "In the Best Families" has Wolfe hiding and incognito as he tries to take down his nemesis -- Zeck -- who blew up the plant rooms and tried to gas their house. This novel features Archie's gal pal Lily Rowan. The dialogue is snappy, the characters are interesting, plots have twists (not all of which are believable) that only a genius -- Nero -- can figure out. The quick pace keeps the reader eagerly turning pages. Oh -- and Fritz's menus!!

[Lisa Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a mystery novel geek. When I was still in grade school, my mother (also a mystery novel geek) introduced me to Rex Stout and his altar ego, Archie Goodwin, the narrator of all 50-gazillion Neto Wolfe novels written from 1929 'til the late '70s when Stout died at the age of, I think, 82.

At the core, you have an eccentric, obese, genius recluse (Nero Wolfe) who lives in a three-story NYC brownstone with a french chef named Fritz and his aide de campe, Archie. Archie is the best gumshoe in New York and has that classic, Sam Spade toughness and sarcasm with some added sensitivity.

Since Wolfe stays in the confines of his home, either in the kitchen helping Fritz concocts eccentric gourmet delights, in the plant rooms sniffing orchids, in his office behind his immense desk or in bed donning bright yellow silk pyjamas, Archie is his eyes and ears. Armed with a pistol, street sense, wit, charm and a notepad, he investigates, oftentimes breaking and entering and badgering witnesses/suspects and every now and then, getting arrested. The police hate Wolfe because he's a genius private detective who makes them look like buffoons, with pleasure.

Nero Wolfe is not a nice man. He is strange, petulant, eogmanical, lazy, stubborn and has a terrible phobia of women, causing him to ignore them until he is forced to deal with one. He bellows at the top of his lungs when he meets opposition and barks orders. Only Archie can handle him, with much effort.

The plots of many of the mysteries are your typical whodunit fare, similar to Agatha Christie or Ngaio Marsh. The main draw of Stout's novels is the New York atmosphere, Archie's clever descriptions and encounters with people during cases and his battles both with the cops and his own boss.

But some of the books transcend the formula to add suspense, history and real danger. For at some point in the 40's, Wolfe meets his nemesis, Arnold Zeck, a crime boss of the worst kind. Triple Zeck is a collection of all three novels where Wolfe and Archie meet with the seedy underworld. Mysteries + gangsters = happy Lisa.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my third time reading this and I never tire of it.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This omnibus contains the three stories in which Arnold Zeck (a master criminal, a sort of Moriarty to Nero Wolfe) appears.
And Be a Villain
A guest on Madeline Fraser's radio talk show is poisoned with cyanide when drinking a glass of Hi-Spot furnished by one of her sponsors. Fraser's assistant asks Nero Wolfe to take a hand. Of course Inspector Cramer hears of it and wants to know everything Wolfe finds out. It turns out that Miss Fraser's husband had also died from cyanide poisoning some years before. When they get a phone call from Arnold Zeck 'advising' them not to get involved in the case, Wolfe tells Archie to forget that he even knows the man's name, because he is incredibly dangerous. Of course, Wolfe refuses to drop the case, and figures that someone involved in it is part of Zeck's far-flung operations. When another cyanide death occurs from eating a new sponsor's candy, the fur starts to fly. Fortunately, when Wolfe solves the case, Zeck compliments him, as their interests have now coincided.

The Second Confession
James Sperling, a wealthy chairman of the board, wants Wolfe to prove that his daughter's boyfriend, Rony, is a Communist. Wolfe insists that it is not possible, but offers to reach Sperling's real objective - to get his daughter to give up the idea of marrying Rony. Wolfe gets a call from Zeck, telling him to stop inquiring into Mr. Rony or suffer the consequences. Of course Wolfe refuses, and Zeck gives him one day to drop it. The consequences, when they occur, consist of blasting Wolfe's rooftop orchid house, destroying the glass and a lot of the orchids. So they both go to Sperling's house. When Archie, finds Rony's body run over in the road after the daughter calls Rony to come to her, they are now investigating a murder. The State cops and the White Plains county cops suspect Archie when it turns out that Wolfe's car is apparently the one that ran Rony down. Sperling talks one of his guests, a leading economist, into signing a confession that it was he who borrowed the car and accidentally ran over Rony. Of course Wolfe doesn't believe it for a moment. The story continues with several twists and turns, and in a final clever twist, Wolfe solves it by calling in a couple men high in the local Communist party. Again they get a call from Zeck, congratulating him on solving Rony's murder. The next day, they receive a package containing $15,000, the amount it cost to fix the damage to the orchids.

In the Best Families
Mrs. Rackham, a very wealthy woman, wants Wolfe to find out how and where her husband is getting his money, since he no longer asks her for any. She comes to his office with her cousin Calvin. The next day when an expected package of sausage is delivered to the house, it proves instead to be tear gas when it is opened. As they are airing out the house, they get a phone call from Zeck telling them to withdraw from Mrs. Rackham's case and leave Rackham alone, and Wolfe hangs up on him. Archie goes to the Rackham home, and discovers that Mrs. Rackham's cousin, Calvin, raises doberman pinschers, one of which starts to attack Archie as he gets out of the car. The dog is recalled by Annabel Frey, Mrs. Rackham's daughter-in-law. Some time later, Archie hears a dog whimpering, calls Calvin, and they discover Mrs. Rackham's dog dying on the doorstep with a knife in its side. With another dog, they follow its trail and find Mrs. Rackham dead, also stabbed. He calls Wolfe to bring him up to date, and spends the next several days dealing with the local police and DA Archer. When he is finally allowed to go home, he finds the door open and Wolfe gone. Arrangements have been made for Fritz (the cook) to go to work at Marko Vukcic's restaurant, and for Theodore to go to Mr. Hewitt with the orchids and care for them. A note tells Archie not to look for Wolfe. Archie realizes that Wolfe has decided it is time to take down Zeck, and has gone to ground. Vukcic has been given a power of attorney so he can pay Archie's salary, and he is also supposed to sell the house. Until then, he says Fritz and Archie can continue to live there. After dithering for some time, Archie decides to set up in business for himself, rents office space and buys secondhand furniture. He wants to earn his own money instead of taking salary checks from Vukcic. I won't even try to describe the rest of the story. Archie eventually is tapped to work in Zeck's organization, but all is not as it seems. Archie gets Lily Rowan involved in it too, which is rather humorous. This was the most exciting of the three, primarily because of Wolfe's disappearance.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Widener barcode HN5R6Y. Three three three books in one.

I did not enjoy these much. I didn't like the fact that it focuses on a hero in a battle of wits/wills with the only criminal mastermind who is his intellectual match. I read mysteries for snappy dialogue and atmosphere, not morality. So these were pretty annoying. I especially hate the end, in which they finally defeat the evil Zeck by setting up a situation where they sort of lure another person into shooting the crime boss and taking the fall. I guess that guy deserved to get set up, because he a had a criminal past himself? I can't tolerate that, it is obviously wrong for your crime-fighting plan to depend on a third party being morally weak and taking the action you predict, which will then cause him to deserve his downfall, which you have also predicted. Also, how can you be so sure that both the crime boss and this stooge deserve to die? Oh right, because due process would be a waste of time in this case, which you know because you are so smart and righteous. The whole thing is too smug for me. Also all the heavy-handed anti-communist stuff. But these stories are post WWII, so I guess this is all somewhat expected. Alas...I may be done prematurely with Nero Wolfe if this disappointing trend keeps up.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great characters. Great stories. Nero Wolf and Archie Goodwin are simply America's most captivating detective team, perhaps because they are the two extremes we would like to be. Mr. Wolf indulges in a sedentary life of fine food, plenty of beer, his own orchid greenhouses, while being smarter, more articulate, and as least as ethical than anyone. Mr. Goodwin is his man-of-action assistant: capable, quick-witted, an excellent dancer, flirtatious, amorous, and flip. In these three novels Mr. Wolf and Mr. Goodwin risk everything to outwit their most dangerous adversary.

[Morgan Alreth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zeck is to Nero Wolfe what Moriarty is to Holmes. Except that Zeck is more cold-blooded. In these three stories Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin lock horns with For Zeck, the master criminal three times, and finally end it all in a fight to the death. If you think you know something about Nero Wolfe, think again. Zeck is one enemy that got him up out of his chair, and out of his house. For the final battle, Wolfe takes up arms with his own hands.

[Flossie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The formidable and creepy Arnold Zeck!

[Jennifer Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! Loved seeing Wolfe's Sherlock go up against Zeck's Moriarty.

[William Dury · Rating 3 out of 5]

“There are two reasons why your message will not get to Mr Wolfe. First, he is to me as Zeck is to him. He’s out of my reach. I don’t know where he is.”
“Oh, keep it up.”
“I will. Second, I don’t like the message. I admit I have known Mr Wolfe to discuss Arnold Zeck. I once heard him tell a whole family about him, only he was calling him X. He was describing the difficulties he would be in if he ever found himself tangled with X for a showdown, and he told them he was acquainted with, more or less, with some three thousand people living or working in New York, and there weren’t more than five of them whom he could say with certainty that they were in no way involved in X’s activities. He said none might be or that any might be. On another, I happened to be inquiring about Zeck of a newspaperman, and he had extravagant notions about Zeck’s payroll. He mentioned, not by name, politicians, barflies, cops, chambermaids, lawyers, private cops, crooks of all types, including gunmen—maybe housewives, I forget. He did not specifically mention police inspectors.”
“Just forgot, perhaps.”
-In The Best Families

“He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed-the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defense. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught-never so much as suspected. This was the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devoted my whole energy to exposing and breaking up”-
The Final Problem

It was nothing shattering. [Homicide Inspector] Cramer merely asked to speak to Wolfe, and asked him:
“Who’s paying you on the Orchard case?”
“No one,” said Wolfe curtly.
“No? Then Goodwin drives your car up to Seventy-eighth Street just to test the tires?”
“It’s my car Mr. Cramer and I help pay for the streets.”
And Be A Villain, p 16

The chief difference between any two advertising executives is that one goes to buy a suit at Brooks Brothers in the morning and the other one goes in the afternoon.
And Be A Villain, p 24

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually like some of the three novels better than others; I'm at the end of my rereading binge for now.

While it is always fun to spend time with Nero, Archie, and the crew, and you can re-read them often, binge reading does tend to highlight some of the flaws and stock situations that are also part of the series.

This is not where I'd start, but it's a good collection, though Mr. Zeck will remind you a lot of Professor Moriarty if you're a Sherlock fan.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Zeck Trilogy (1974) (also known and published as Triple Zeck) (and yes, you can get this in one large volume or as separate volumes) is comprised of And Be a Villain (1948), The Second Confession (1949), and In the Best Families (1950). # 13, 15, and 17 of the Nero Wolfe detective series by Rex Stout.

I read and reviewed them separately. Many people view them as the highlight of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series, and yes, you can read them out of order. I don't usually do that, but in the case of this series, I read 6-7 out of order that I had been recommended, and The Best of Families, was my favorite, but I would read the Zeck trilogy in order. The combo of super fat, super smart, super arrogant, super erudite Wolfe and playboy, wise-cracking assistant Archie Goodwin is entertaining.

[Gail Mathers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zeck

The Zeck trilogy is really great. I think you can read it separately but it's nice to read in grouped together. The books are full of suspense and fun,wit,and typical Wolfe And Archieisms. I don't know if it's a word or not .The books are linked but can be read at different times. Very good stories and interesting plots. I loved it and highly recommend it.

[Adrian Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my uncle, who it seems has unloaded his entire Nero Wolfe library on me, to my great delight. Nero Wolfe has one consistent nemesis, and all three of the books that include him are in this anthology. I love the final solution that Wolfe and Archie use to defeat him.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read a Nero Wolfe story that I haven't liked. Rex Stout tells a great story with great characters.

[Kitkat18 · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love the who dunnit detective stories you cannot go wrong with Nero Wolfe. This 3 books in 1 is a great read.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an omnibus of three full-length Nero Wolfe books, each features his arch nemesis, Arnold Zeck. I have only read one Nero Wolfe Rex Stout book before, so that needs to be taken into context. In my opinion, each book got better and better, from "And Be a Villain" to "The Second Confession" to "In the Best Families". While I liked "And Be a Villian", I felt that it didn't have the pace, suspense, dialog and twists that I had hoped and expected. As each book progressed, Zeck's role became more prominent, Archie Goodwin had a bigger role and the pace, creativity and plot twists really stepped up, all while keeping Wolfe's talents squarely in focus. Furthermore, each book had a distinctly different personality - I didn't feel that I was reading a formulaic series. Kudos to Rex Stout!

This is a great collection. I definitely recommend it to anybody that enjoys this genre.

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume contains three Nero Wolfe mysteries, "And Be a Villain", "The Second Confession", and "In the Best of Families", all featuring the almost-not-to-be named nemesis Zeck, although he features prominently only in the last.

If you're a Nero Wolfe fan and you haven't read the novels, I recommend it highly. If you just enjoy a slightly old-fashioned mystery novel, well written, with fun characters, I recommend it highly. If you like social significance, not so much--stick with the Swedes.

[Thannasset · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever liked even one Sherlock Holmes story, meet Arnold Zeck.

[R.K. Goff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yum. Yum. Yum!

This omnibus is a must for anyone who loves Nero Wolfe. Holmes had Moriarty, and Wolfe had Zeck. It was an absolutely beautiful thing.

[Molly Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of stories that include Arnold Zeck -- Nero's arch nemesis.

[Ann]

This book is three novels bound together. Do I get extra credit?

[Rita Gorra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still the best. Many authors, had I never read Nero Wolfe novels, would have received a better rating. Very unfortunate for them. I hope to live long enough to reread them one more time.

[Matthew Lusk · Rating 5 out of 5]

That woman reviewer is amoral and hysterical! Get that woman out of here! ARCHIE!