Archie Meets Nero Wolfe: A Prequel to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries

Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries #8

by Robert Goldsborough

An “excellent” novel that goes back to 1920s New York to reveal how the famed detective first met his incomparable sidekick (Publishers Weekly, starred review). In 1930, young Archie Goodwin comes to New York City hoping for a bit of excitement. In his third week working as a night watchman, he stops two burglars in their tracks—with a pair of hot lead slugs.   Dismissed from his job for being “trigger-happy,” he parlays his newfound notoriety into a job as a detective’s assistant, helping honest sleuth Del Bascom solve cases like the Morningside Piano Heist, the Rive Gauche Art Gallery Swindle, and the Sumner-Hayes Burglary. But it’s the kidnapping of Tommie Williamson, the son of a New York hotel magnate, that introduces Goodwin to the man who will change his life.   Goodwin knows there’s only one detective who can help find Nero Wolfe, the stout genius of West Thirty-Fifth Street. Together, they’ll form one of the most unlikely crime fighting duos in history—but first Goodwin must locate Tommie and prove that he deserves a place by Wolfe’s side.   In this witty story about the origin of a legendary partnership, Robert Goldsborough gloriously evokes the spirit of Nero Wolfe’s creator, bestselling author Rex Stout, and breathes new life into his beloved characters. 

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Detective, Historical, Crime, Historical Mystery

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2012

About the author

Robert Goldsborough is an American author of mystery novels. He was born in 1937 and grew up in the Chicago area. Although he worked for 45 years for the Chicago Tribune and Advertising Age, he first came to prominence in the 1980s with the publication, with the approval of the estate of Rex Stout, of his Nero Wolfe mystery Murder in E Minor. Written privately for his mother back in 1978, shortly after the death of Stout, creator of the Wolfe stories, the novel received a Nero Award.

Six other Nero Wolfe books followed from Goldsborough, all favorably received. However, more recently he has turned his attention to creating books with his own characters, beginning with Three Strikes You're Dead, a novel set in pre-war Chicago, and starring Steve Malek, a reporter for the Tribune.

Series:
* Nero Wolfe Novels by Robert Goldsborough
* Snap Malek Mystery

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course Robert Godsborough isn't Rex Stout

By Charles van Buren

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

I had previously read Mr. Goldsborough's Murder in E Minor which I enjoyed. I then read Stop the Presses which was not very good. I therefore paid particular attention to the negative reviews before I decided to purchase Archie Meets Nero Wolfe. My opinion of those reviews was that the complaints mostly concerned small details. After reading the book, I think that most of the negative reviews are from people unhappy that Goldsborough has the temerity to even attempt to write Nero Wolfe stories. If you are a hard-core Nero Wolfe fan who obsesses over detail, you may very well not like this book. I suggest that you carefully read the negative reviews.

For the rest of us, this isn't Rex Stout, but it is good. Stout's daughters cooperated with Goldsborough in writing the book. One specific complaint I will address. At least one reviewer complained that PI Del Bascom gets a lot of ink in this novel even though he is scarcely mentioned in Rex Stout's novels and stories. I think this was a wise decision on the part of Mr. Goldsborough. No details in the originals for him to get wrong in his pastiche.

Overall this is a good story and a pretty good Rex Stout pastiche. Many of those suffering from Nero Wolfe deprivation will welcome it.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This 8th book in the 'Nero Wolfe Mysteries' is a prequel.

*****

Rex Stout's "Nero Wolfe" books - set in the middle years of the 20th century - are among my favorite light mysteries.



Wolfe is an eccentric, obese private detective who lives in a brownstone in New York City; almost never leaves his house; spends four hours a day tending his orchids; has a chef who prepares delicious gourmet meals; loves beer; and employs Archie Goodwin as his assistant, legman, and gadfly.



After Rex Stout died, the series was continued by Robert Goldsborough, who stayed true to Stout's formula. This Goldsborough book is a bit of a departure, being a prequel that harks back to the depression, when nineteen-year-old Archie first arrives in New York City from Chillicothe, Ohio.



The depression makes employment hard to find, and Archie's first job is night watchman for the Moreland Import Company docks. Soon after Archie starts, two thugs try to steal a shipment of Swiss watches and clocks, and - after the goons shoot at Archie - he returns fire and kills them. This leads to Archie's dismissal for being 'trigger happy', but Archie's determination and smarts get him a position with Del Bascom's private detective agency.....which results in his meeting Nero Wolfe.

Wolfe, a private detective who sees clients in his home on 34th Street, is hired by hotel magnate Burke Williamson. Williamson's eight-year-old son Tommie was kidnapped from the family's front lawn and a $100,000 ransom has been demanded, with a warning NOT to call the police. Williamson hires Wolfe to help deliver the money and retrieve the boy.



Wolfe calls in his usual free-lance operatives, Saul Panzer;



Fred Durkin;



and Orrie Cather.



For extra manpower Wolfe also hires Bill Gore and Del Bascom - who totes Archie along to help. Archie proves himself invaluable to the operation, and - by the end of the book - is hired to be Wolfe's assistant.



It's interesting to see Archie as a very young man, and fun to observe his decision to buy a dictionary, so he can look up the 'hard' words that make up Wolfe's everyday conversation.

In addition to the series' recurring PI characters, we meet belligerent stuttering Lieutenant Rowcliff - who's continually enraged by Archie's wisecracks and Wolfe's arrogance;



cigar-chomping Inspector Cramer - who gets annoyed with Wolfe's interference in (what Cramer considers) police matters;



and Sergeant Purley Stebbins - who's usually on hand to arrest the perps.



Wofle's personal chef, Fritz Brenner, is present as well....



.....and he prepares a Cassoulet de Castelnaudary. Archie skips eating it though because (in those early days) Archie 'was unsure as to what kind of grub this was.'



Of course fans of the series know that Archie becomes quite the gourmand later on.

This is a fun prequel, recommended to readers who like the series and fans of cozy mysteries.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most mystery aficionados know Rex Stout and his marvelous Nero Wolfe novels.

They are intelligent, witty and well-written whodunits with one of the most lasting heroes of the genre: the eccentric gourmet, orchid-growing private detective and his tough sidekick, Archie Goodwin.

Apparently, since the 1980’s this author has brought back the series to life and has intimately captured Stout’s style. Not always an easy thing to do.

But, what makes this one fun, is it gives back story to his beloved assistant Archie and answers many fans questions, especially: How did Archie and Nero meet?

If you are a fan of Nero Wolfe, and Archie Goodwin, you will most likely enjoy this much younger and less experienced version of Archie.

It is also fun to take a wild ride into old time detective work before DNA and police procedurals, and all sorts of crime scene technology became part of modern day mysteries.

[Otto Penzler · Rating 4 out of 5]

All mystery aficionados know Rex Stout and his marvelous Nero Wolfe novels. They are intelligent, witty and well-written whodunits with one of the most lasting heroes of the genre: the eccentric gourmet, orchid-growing private detective and his tough sidekick, Archie Goodwin. Since the 1980s, beginning with Murder in E Minor, Robert Goldsborough has brought the series back to life and has intimately captured Stout’s style. Goldsborough’s newest novel, Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, the prequel to the series, answers many of the questions that any fan would love answered, especially: How did Archie and Nero meet? After a failed attempt as a night watchman, Archie gets a job with Del Bascom, an honest PI. Before long, Wolfe hires Del and Archie to help him find the young son of a hotel tycoon who was kidnapped. Archie is introduced to Wolfe but, before they can team up, Archie must prove his worth.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The origin tale of the Archie Goodwin/Nero Wolfe pairing. Archie's a young man trying to become a private eye in the depths of the depression, While Nero Wolfe is already established in the brownstone.

Archie is a detective's assistant, who just happens to be one of those Wolfe calls when needed, along with Saul, Orrie, and Fred. There's a kidnapping, and Wolfe has to handle the ransom payment, and find out who is the kidnapper.

The story was okay, but lacked the elegance of the best of Stout.

[Kathy Via · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will stick to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe and Archie. Something was missing in both Wolfe's and Archie's characterizations. These weren't the guys I know and love.

[Lady Wesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of the audiobook narrated by L. J. Ganser.

Very satisfactory.

I possess every book in Rex Stout’s superb Nero Wolfe mystery series. Over the years, I have read each one several times. I’ve memorized the layout of Wolff’s home/office and feel like I’m personally acquainted with Wolfe, Archie, Inspector Cramer, and the gang of freelance operatives who sometimes help out our heroes.

Rex Stout’s last book was published in 1975, and he died in 1978. Goldsborough, then a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, wrote a pastiche solely for his mother’s enjoyment, and eight years later the Stout estate authorized its publication under the title Murder in E Minor. It won a Nero Award from The Wolfe Pack, the literary society devoted to Stout’s creation, which struck me as an impressive accomplishment.

Fifteen more books followed, but for some unknown reason I was never interested in reading them. The other day I noticed this title in the Audible Plus catalog and (given that it was free) decided to give it a try. Honestly, I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed it. As it is a prequel to the series, the setting is New York City in the late 1920s. It introduces the reader to Wolfe and Archie along with the other recurring characters in the series. In my view, Goldsborough did not set a foot wrong — characters, place, and tone are just right.

I believe that any fan of Nero Wolfe would enjoy this book. So it’s no surprise that right now I’m listening to Murder in E Minor.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Goldsborough Returns to Nero Wolfe after nearly 20 years and plays it fast and loose with the characters.
As a Nero Wolfe story this was a miss but as a pulpy hard boiled crime noir this was a good time and I found myself enjoying this regardless of its flaws.

[Bret · Rating 2 out of 5]

After 19 years, Robert Goldsborough returns to the Nero Wolfe universe with this prequel novel concerning Archie Goodwin's first meeting (and case) with Nero Wolfe. Although it read OK, much of the prose felt stilted, and the mystery, concerning a young boy's kidnapping and subsequent return, lacked the sparkle and urgency of Stout's best works. The plot starts off too quickly, burning through Archie's first job as a dock patrol and then easily (too easily) solving his first case as an assistant to Del Bascom.

A large part of the problem is the stiff characterizations; the author apparently felt constrained to "hit the bases" of each character, which has the unfortunate effect of making them cardboard cutouts, rather than flesh-and-blood people. Most of the novel is spent among the presence of "side men" who Rex Stout never bothered to flesh out, and here, Goldsborough doesn't seem to have the talent to infuse much personality into them either.

But worst of all, Nero Wolfe in particular spouts phrases which are unbearably stiff and formal, lacking the abruptness and boorishness Stout brought to him.

In the end, it read as too pat, too rushed, and without the suspense or humor of Rex Stout.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://speedyreadercom.wordpress.com...

My grandma collected mysteries. Most of them were by Agatha Christie, but once I had read all of those, there was another sizable chunk by this author, Rex Stout. Their covers were different, often featuring a woman in distress on the cover, but they sounded interesting. I don't remember which book I started with, but I wound up reading them too.

This one is what is called fan fiction today - a tribute by author Robert Goldsborough. It's an imagining of the first time Archie Goodwin, smart ass and tough guy, meets the cerebral genius of Nero Wolfe. In the first book by Stout, Fer-de-Lance, the two are already working together. But how did it all start? When and why did Archie come to New York? And why are the police always so willing to give him a hard time?

I really liked this one. Not only did he get the setting right - early Depression era, jobs are scarce, society very stratified - but the characters are less defined versions of themselves. Which is exactly right, I think. Wolfe is still himself, with his fascination with orchids, his profoundly sedentary lifestyle, his gourmet taste. Even his office looks the same. And Archie is a much younger and less experienced version of himself, but it's apparent what he will become.

I'm giving this one a solid 4 stars and a recommendation. However, if you haven't already read a Rex Stout book, you might not enjoy it as much as I did, so start by reading Fer-de-Lance and then see if you like the style.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read a few of the Nero Wolfe stories by Rex Stout so far, so really it was a bit early to go on to a prequel by another author. However, I was intrigued by the premise of this one, as I've found myself wondering how Archie and Wolfe ever got together. (Archie promises in the first book that he'll let the readers know all about it some time, but apparently he never did.) I was also tempted because this book was available on Kindle Unlimited in the UK, and I've got a free trial at the moment.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this story, which starts with a 19-year-old Archie arriving in New York from Ohio and working as a nightwatchman protecting a pier - but getting fired after he shoots two criminals and is regarded as 'trigger-happy'. He then becomes a private eye, and finds himself caught up in a kidnap case involving Nero Wolfe. Robert Goldsborough's style and feel seem amazingly close to Stout, although I do think he brings Archie alive better than he does with Wolfe. Somehow his version of Wolfe, in this book anyway, is less spiky, irascible and unpredictable than Stout's version. But the main thing to say is that I could hardly put this down and it has made me want to read more of the original stories - and eventually more of the sequels too. There were also quite a few sweet one-liners which had me laughing out loud.

I was interested to see a note at the end explaining how Goldsborough based the story on some references in 'canon' Wolfe stories by Rex Stout.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book. As a long time Rex Stout/Nero Wolfe fan and having read Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series several times, I wondered if another could take Stout's place.

I shouldn't have worried. Robert Goldsborough writes like the master - in a sense, Archie Meets Nero Wolfe is even more of a compelling read than the Rex Stout novels and novellas; you should be prepared to stay up all night, call in sick at work, or make excuses to your mate - you will want to finish this as soon as you can when you read the first few pages.

Archie Meets Nero Wolfeis an excellent addition to the Rex Stout canon - now to read Robert Goldsborough's earlier Nero Wolfes!

[Noah Goats · Rating 2 out of 5]

A not particularly interesting plot, stupid crime investigation methods, and wooden dialogue. Still, somehow good enough for me to read to the end without resorting to skimming.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I totally enjoyed getting to know how Archie met the famous Nero Wolfe and came to live at the old brownstone on west Thirty-fifth street.

[Hobart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Goldsborough's first couple of Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin books, but thought they dropped off in quality quickly and far. So why did I pick up Archie Meets Nero Wolfe? Well, it'd been eighteen years -- so for Goldsborough to come back, there had to be a good reason -- a story he cared about. He had time to get the voice right, the details "just so." I was more than a little curious, too, just how did he see this initial meeting?

Oh, and, fine -- I'll be honest. You put out anything with the label "Nero Wolfe" on it and I'll read it.

But, I did put it off for months. Take that, Goldsborough.

But I had hope. And that hope was buttressed after a few pages when I read:

...I got grilled by a surly lieutenant named Rowcliff, who had bulging eyes and a snarling voice that broke into a stutter when he got excited, which seemed to be much of the time.
He kept trying to get me to say that I fired at the robbers first. I was nervous, but when I wouldn't budge off my story, his stuttering got worse, which would have been funny under different circumstances.

. That was a nice character moment. I looked forward to more of them. Even had Evernote ready to capture them like that one. That's the only quotation I bothered grabbing.

There are two things you have to have (at this point) for an acceptable (if not good) Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin book. You need the characters we know and love and an interesting plot. Here, Goldsborough falls short on both counts.

To be fair(-ish), I thought he got Saul Panzer and Fred Durkin fairly close to right. Fritz and Rowcliff were pretty dead-on (and not really that present), maybe Stebbins, too. Cramer, Orrie and Bill were off. It was nice to spend some time with Del Bascom -- and given how little time we spend with Bascom in the books, you can't really judge how Goldsborough did with him.

Archie's a tough one to peg -- he's new to New York at this time, fresh out of Ohio -- so we can understand he's not the detective we meet in Fer-de-Lance yet. He has to learn the city, learn more about being a detective -- especially doing it Wolfe's way, and essentially grow up. Sure, there's traces of our man here -- his attitude, his smart-mouth, his ability to handle himself in a moment of crisis. We see Archie's appreciation for non-gourmet, but well-prepared, food -- and a palate ready for education once he comes into Fritz' influence. I don't remember him being so fixated on coffee, either. I think there's enough of Archie there to give Goldsborough credit for his characterization, but something's holding me back.

I didn't buy Wolfe at all -- this is the big one. The others are seen in different lights than we normally are exposed to them, which can explain away a lot of the weaknesses of their portrayals -- but you have to nail Wolfe or the whole thing is a waste of time. And beyond the beer, the dramatic entrance, his provision for guests . . . it was just a fat guy in a suit playing a part.

And as for plot? Pfui. This wasn't much of a mystery, the bad guys do most of the work. Saul does almost everything commendable (and yes, you could make the argument that this is often the case) -- Wolfe himself doesn't solve much at all. He still holds the big gathering in his office -- pretty much because he has to.

A lot of the attitudes expressed -- say, for the child's emotional well-being following the kidnapping, for example -- seemed anachronistic. As did the language the characters used to describe that and similar ideas. I'd stopped caring by the point I noticed these piling up, so I didn't take notes.

Lastly, I don't buy at all the explanation Wolfe gives for hiring Archie. It's just we're at the end of the book, and it has to happen, so he makes up an excuse with no real justification behind it.

In the end, I've got to call this one unsatisfactory.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this early look at Archie and thought the author did a good job of keeping the Rex Stout characters in character. Mostly. I would like to try one of his Snap Malek series but the libraries don't have any copies and I'm not inclined to buy one so I guess I will try another of his Wolfe/Goodwin stories.

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm wondering if I read the same book as some of the other reviewers here! I thought this book was monumentally poor, with no real flavor at all for the "real" Archie and Nero (yes, there were stabs at mimicking the two main characters' distinctive voices, but on the whole they were very unsuccessful -- and the more minor characters blended together into complete inseparability). Dialogue was painful at points -- in fact, I wonder if the author has ever tried to read his dialogue aloud, because so much of it sounds like nothing anyone would ever say (this is far more obvious with minor characters, who apparently serve no point other than to recite exposition, which is why characters say things like: "The Concourse is a broad boulevard with a grassy, tree-lined median strip separating the opposing lanes. During the building boom leading up to the crash, modernistic, streamlined-style apartment buildings with glass-block windows and curved corners, some of them fifteen stories or more, got put up all along the thoroughfare..." Nobody talks like this!) The story-telling wasn't particularly successful either, more like a recitation of a series of events than one comprehensive, engrossing tale.

All in all, it felt like a lengthy piece of fanfiction by a writer in desperate need of a beta. Thoroughly disappointing.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throughout the Nero Wolfe books, we've been given snippets of information about how Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe first met, enough to make most fans of Rex Stout's mystery series want more. Now at long last the story is told of Archie long before he became the suave and knowledgeable man we all came to love and admire. To think it all started with a dockside shooting, Black Mask magazine, and a kidnapping.

Robert Goldsborough was originally chosen by Rex Stout's estate to continue writing the adventures of Archie and Wolfe. It was a weighty responsibility, one Goldsborough ably fulfilled for seven great books before moving on to his own series. I was thrilled to see him return for another adventure.

To be honest, this would've been a great episode for Tim Hutton's NERO WOLFE series if it hadn't been so nastily dropped by A&E while it was still successful. My only complaint about the book was the size, only a little over 200 pages. And it seemed like the ending was a bit quick, I would've like more interaction between Archie and Wolfe.

[Una Tiers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like noir fiction and Bob Goldsborough does a fine job at it whether it's Nero or Snap Malek. Good pace, fun language.

[Paul Gesting · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dialog is all wrong. That is what made Rex Stout so good and it is just off here.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the age of the remake, the reboot, the rehash, writers from the Golden Age of mystery novels have been turned into corporations, allowing complete strangers to use the authors' characters to "continue" the series--and, I imagine, allow their descendants to continue to reap the financial rewards of their husband/grandmother/aunt/whoever's hard work. I read the ebook of Goldsborough's Silver Spire a few years back and he almost had me convinced I'd missed one, until I tripped and fell flat over Fritz using a food processor! At least no one yet has tried to out-Shakespeare Shakespeare.

Set in Prohibition, this "prequel" (an invented word I abominate and Wolfe would too, but that's by the way) tells the story of the kidnapping of Tommy Williamson. The first part resonated strongly with Christie's "The Kidnapping of Johnny Waverley", which may indeed have served as partial inspiration. It's obvious that the author knows the Stout canon very well, but it does colour his characterisations. You can tell Goldsborough already hates Orrie Cather, though he and Archie were good enough friends until the end. Sure, Orrie wanted Archie's job, but he knew he couldn't have it and Archie treated him with friendly contempt. Goldsborough also cops out by giving Archie "total recall" instead of remembering that he mentions several times in the canon how he trained himself over time to remember conversations verbatim. (How could he "not be an honour student" if he had total recall of all the lessons he read in his books, as he says he did?) Of course that's because he wants Archie to be perfect for Nero to hire, not remembering that in the earliest books Archie mentions that Wolfe basically took him in off the streets when he was unemployed and hungry. And of course because Goldsborough has no idea how Archie actually trained himself to do that.

And then there's the question of style. If you're going to pretend to reproduce Stout's world, you would do well to study his style and try to use it. For fully half the book, Saul talks like Wolfe--formal and pompous. Even Archie, a small town boy from the country, catches it from time to time, to the point of not using contractions in his speech. Suddenly halfway through the novel, they loosen up, and it's noticeable. On the other hand, Swiss Fritz is far too informal in his greeting to Del Bascom and Archie the very first time they come to the house, in spite of the fact that the canon is clear on Fritz' treatment of strangers, whether clients or others. Again, I must ask authors who write period fiction to please study the idiom of the period. There are several turns of phrase in conversation that appeared much later than the 1930s; in particular I barked my shins sharply on the phrase "Having said that..." which didn't really become popular until the 1980s.

However, it was a nice summertime read.

[Diane Shearer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of the original Nero Wolfe mysteries. I own several collections of the various editions. I’ve read them all multiple times. I also own the tv series on dvd, for those of you old enough to remember what those are. I started collecting orchids 15 years ago (when I first discovered Rex Stout) because of Nero Wolfe. I’m ashamed to say I never knew these Goldsborough books existed! What a mistake on my part. I started with this prequel, though it is book 8 in the series, and now I must listen to them all. I’m so excited to be back in the brownstone, drinking illegal beer, admiring orchids (ten thousand orchids!)and eating Fritz’s fabulous cooking! This novella is as good as if Rex Stout himself had written it. I can’t wait to read the rest, then I must read the originals again. So much fun!!

[Ken Mattes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book #8, published in 2021, and is the continuation of the Nero Wolfe character ensemble, created by Rex Stout, and is being authored by Mr Goldsborough.
I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator, Mr Ganser, has a significant impact on the appreciation of the story, if one is familiar with the original series narrated by Mr. Prichard.
Worth taking the time to appreciate the new authors writing style and narrator.

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that Robert Goldsborough has taken the Nero Wolfe mantle from the deceased Rex Stout and provides we fans with additional Nero Wolfe mysteries. This adventure deals with how Nero and Archie met on a kidnapping/murder case and events that led to Archie becoming employed by Mr Wolfe. Perfectly plausible explanation that Mr Stout didn't provide in the original novels plus a fast paced, well-written mystery. Nero Wolfe and Archie seem like old friends and I love that we fans are treated to new Nero Wolfe mysteries from Mr Goldsborough!!

[Mª João Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Policial que narra a história da associação entre Nero Wolfe e o seu assistente Archie. Tem todos os ingredientes deste tipo de histórias: investigação, suspeitos, pistas. No entanto, já alguns muito mais interessantes (como o fantástico "A montanha negra"). Li muito mais depressa do que pensava...

[Margarida · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[Michael Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's no Stout, but it was an enjoyable story that gets the characters right.

[Delia Binder · Rating 4 out of 5]

::3-1/2 stars::

Rex Stout's death in the late 1970s left us with a long-running series of murder mysteries featuring The Great Detective Nero Wolfe and his snarky-but-loyal sidekick (and narrator of all the books in the series), Archie Goodwin. Balancing the divide between the Eccentric Genius popularized in the 19th Century by Sherlock Holmes with the then-growing audience for hardboiled man-of-action detectives who spoke and wrote in a stylized vernacular, the series navigated the Twentieth Century in over thirty novels and thirteen novella collections (usually trilogies), going from mid-Depression Era America to The Seventies, all with Archie in his early Thirties and Wolfe in undefined Middle Age. There were also motion picture, radio and television series featuring the characters over the years, with varying levels of fidelity to the source material.


MEET NERO WOLFE, based loosely on Stout's first novel Fer-de-Lance, was a Thirties B-movie starring Edward Arnold as Wolfe, and Lionel Standler(!) as Archie

I've been a fan of this series since I was ten or eleven, when Mom would share her library books with me once she was done reading them. There's something a bit ironic in that, given Wolfe's household in a New York City brownstone is all-male (Wolfe's domestic chores are handled by French/Swiss chef Fritz Brenner, and his orchids are tended by seldom-seen horticulturalist Theodore Horstmann), and Wolfe dislikes women for the most part. While Archie likes women just fine, he's inclined to play the field and the closest he has to a "steady girl", socialite Lily Rowan, is more on the order of A Friend With Benefits decades before the term existed.


Introduced in the novel Some Buried Caesar, Lily initially seems shallow, flakey and something of a marplot - we later see she's an intelligent, perceptive young woman with too much time and money, and too little constructive to do

The reason for this lengthy preamble is to establish my bona fides - and to point out why I've always been less than completely pleased with journalist/ad man Robert Goldsborough's taking over the Nero Wolfe series in the mid-Eighties. While he does a decent enough job with the stories, it always feels like a pastiche rather than a continuation - Archie's narrating voice, and his observations, are so distinctly his that something always feels a bit off to me with Goldsborough's Archie. This "a bit off"-ness is emphasized in this story, supposedly detailing the circumstances under which Archie Goodwin came to be Nero Wolfe's full-time Confidential Assistant.

The Archie here is a reader of Black Mask, a popular pulp fiction magazine of the 1920s and 1930s,



Wonder if I would have been a fan myself if I'd lived then? :)

who learns to be a PI working for down-on-his-heels detective Del Bascom after being fired from his night watchman's job after preventing a robbery by shooting both the robbers. (Bascom is an often-mentioned but never seen owner of a large detective agency in the "Corpus", as Stout's Nero Wolfe series is called by fans). Proving himself a reasonably-capable Trainee Private Eye working for Bascom, young Archie meets a few of Bascom's other Operatives like Saul Panzer and Fred Durkin, who he quickly becomes friends with, and Orrie Cather, who he - doesn't.

[Vic Lauterbach · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could give Mr. Goldsborough three stars for a noble effort, but I have to give this prequel only two as a mystery. Stout's estate commissioned it, so fans must have asked for it. If it made them happy, all is well. For me, it's a mixed bag. It's trimmed with details from the original stories. Some are silly, like keeping Wolfe's fake Heron car, but most are innocuous. The period setting is fairly well done (although all Fords were not delivered black in 1930). The bigger picture is the problem. Do we need a whole novel to find out how Archie met Wolfe? No, we don't, so this is "Archie's first case with Nero Wolfe." Unfortunately, the case is dull and Wolfe underused. Had Goldsborough thought up a great plot then set in 1930 to fit the 'first case' premise, this novel would be justified, but what he produced has no spark. Those who wanted a back story could read Baring-Gould's Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street (which Goldsborough used for Archie's age and the year he started working for Wolfe). Sticking with Baring-Gould's "biography" might have made for a better book. He had Wolfe hiring Archie when he started his private detective business, not after he was already a famous sleuth. (Forget Baring-Gould's convoluted explanation why Archie said he'd worked for Wolfe for seven years in Fer-de-Lance.) Any 'first case' novel makes us aware of time, yet it's the timeless quality of Stout's stories that makes them great. It's all about the puzzle, the clever way Wolfe solves it and the witty way Archie relates it. Wolfe and Archie are just a means to an end, the chess pieces the game is played with. That's why the series is still popular. I read the last Wolfe novel the year it came out because my father got it from the library. Even to a teenager, it was obvious that Wolfe's brownstone was not in the real New York of 1975 and equally obvious that it didn't matter.

[Rinnerl · Rating 4 out of 5]

In „Archie meets Nero Wolfe“ written by Robert Goldsborough the to-be „Partners in Crime“ meet and work together for the very first time.

Archie Goodwin, 19 (NINETEEN!!!! :D years old and fresh from Ohio meets Nero Wolfe, orchid lover, gourmet and New Yorks best and most famous private investigator.

An occasion to behold!

Spoiler! Spoiler! A little. Maybe.



The abduction of an 8 year old boy brings Archie and with him some well known (and loved) characters of other books (Saul, Fred, Orrie) to the old Brownstone as eyes and ears for Nero Wolfe, who seldom leaves his house at all and almost never for a job. The boys wealthy father hired him to bring back his child unharmed and to leave the cops out of it.

When somebody ends dead in the Bronx and shots are fired while delivering the ransom for the boy, Inspector Cramer (charming as ever) from the NYPD get’s involved …..

Can young Archie proof his worth to the famous and eccentric Nero Wolfe? Well, the outcome is not exactly a secret, but the why and how is expertly written by Robert Goldsborough.

I really liked that a lot of the characters I knew from other (later) Nero Wolfe books made an appearance in this one and though much younger, I always recognized them as the persons they will become in later stories.