Черни Орхидеи

Nero Wolfe #9

by Rex Stout, Рекс Стаут, Слави Радославов (Translator)

Голямата атракция на Изложението на цветята в Гранд Сентръл Палас са единствените в света черни орхидеи. Ниро Улф нарушава принципа си да не напуска никога своя дом и отива там, обзет от завист и желание да ги притежава. Пред очите му се извършва убийство, в което неволно е въвлечен асистентът му Арчи Гудуин. Сега за гениалния детектив се открива златен шанс. За да спечели черните орхидеи, той трябва да разкрие убиеца.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Detective, Crime, Audiobook, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 21, 1942

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

[Robin Hobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very late to the audio book fan club. Part of my dislike was that I'd mostly tried to experience them in a gymnasium while on a tread mill. With headphones. And noisy machines all around me. Then I tried them on my phone, and found the sound quality so poor that I couldn't stand to listen to it. (Yes, I'm all about that bass when I listen to anything!)

Now that I've invested in a pretty little Altec Lansing blue tooth speaker, my life has changed! Ta-da! And even more so because I can lie in my bed and check out an audio book from my local library via my Libby app, and never pay a late fine again!

For my first foray into this wonderful new world, I chose an old favorite. Black Orchids by Rex Stout. Nero Wolf and Archie Goodwin. My good old friends. This audio book had obviously been updated from a cassette, as at inervals the narrator would instruct me to 'reverse or turn over the cassette'. It was oddly charming.

The story held up well to the passage of time. It takes place in the 1940's, with the language of that era. One thing that made me smile was when Nero was forced to used the pronoun 'he' to indicate one person of a mixed group of suspects and he lamented that the pronoun excluded the female suspects. Obviously Rex Stout ws a writer well ahead of his time.

It's a good solid mystery. And I really enjoyed it when one of the characters referred to Archie as a 'two bit Clark Gable'. And Archie's further ruminations on that epithet.

I had several lovely afternoons with my old friends. I hope you'll want to make their acquaintance. If you enjoy them, you probably have a whole winter of reading ahead of you. Rex Stout wrote quite a series of their adventures. You can follow them through the decades.

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two long Nero Wolfe novellas. The title story--with Archie attending the flower show--is very good. The other--involving a high society event planner and a chimp--is less successful. But both are fun.

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. Worthy of a smile. How did Nero Wolfe persuade his outspoken sidekick Archie Goodwin to attend a flower show three days running? With little complaint? We know Wolfe's love of orchids, the more exotic the better. The immovable one, one of Archie's many names for his boss, read in the Sunday paper that a selection of extremely rare black orchids was being shown. He wanted a detailed report from Archie. "I didn't really resent it," Archie noted. You are right to be suspicious. In reality, Archie had 'fallen in love' with a young woman, this time the lovely Anne Tracy at the Rucker and Dill flower display. She and a young man, Harry Gould, were pretending to be having a picnic in front of the booth. He napping and she dabbling her pretty feet in an artificial pond - a sensation in the early 1940s! On Archie's fourth visit, with Wolfe reluctantly in tow to see the orchids, Gould was found dead of a bullet to the brain. That's when Archie and Nero's real work began. I loved it. PS. The book contains 2 novellas; this review is for "Black Orchids." My review of "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" can be found elsewhere in Goodreads. It's even better! (Jun2023/Mar2024)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two novellas, originally published in 1942, to entertain you.

Black Orchids:

Anyone who is familiar with Nero Wolfe knows that he rarely leaves his brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City. The only exceptions are for food and orchids. In this case it is the latter. Black orchids to be exact.

Initially Wolfe dispatches his able assistant and legman, Archie Goodwin, to report on the rare plants on display at a flower show. Archie it would appear is more interested in the legs of a model than any orchids so on fourth day of the flower show Wolfe has to see for himself. Of course there has to be a murder. Right in the middle of the flower show and in full view of everyone.

For Wolfe it is an opportunity to get his hands on those black orchids. This was a very entertaining story. Rex Stout at his wittiest. Wolfe leaving his home, women in the house ... including one in the kitchen teaching Wolfe and Fritz how to cook corned beef hash! Wolfe and Inspector Cramer locking horns. And in the end Wolfe will expose the identity of the murderer and earn his black orchids. An enjoyable read.

Cordially Invited to Meet Death.:

The story opens with a famous New York party organizer asking Nero Wolfe to play a detective in a party game. Wolfe is naturally offended and refuses to be the center of such entertainment. Some time passes when she calls on Wolfe again. Clients have been getting poison pen letters. She believes she know who is responsible and wants Wolfe to prove it. Reluctantly Wolfe agrees to take the case and dispatches his assistant and legman, Archie Goodwin. His client dies and at first it appears to be an accident but where Nero Wolfe is there are no accidents. Of course it is murder and it is up to Wolfe to prove it.

What ties these two stories together is black orchids. You will have to read the stories to find out how. Very entertaining and nostalgic. A trip back to a different era.

[Una Tiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so love the manners of the 1940s and the digs by Archie on Wolfe.

The second story had one redeeming line: A scream is a scream.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might never tire of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. They are the perfect foil for each other. Lawrence Block says in the Intro to the edition I read: ... those of us who reread Rex Stout do so for the pure joy of spending a few hours in the most congenial household in American letters, and in the always engaging company of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. The relationship of these two men, Wolfe and Goodwin, genius and man of action, is endlessly fascinating. I am not generally a re-reader, but I haven't yet gotten to the end of this series, so who knows?

There are actually two mysteries in this. The first half is the title story, Black Orchids, while the second is called Cordially Invited to Meet Death. The first tells how Wolfe came into possession of black orchids. The second tells the story of a society woman who has been receiving anonymous letters. Simple on their faces, but murder lurks everywhere.

I try not to overestimate the value of murder mysteries. They are usually three-stars because I want books higher than that to have some literary value. Are superb characterizations enough to qualify for "literary value"? The more I read of this series makes me see that those professionals who write about the pleasure of this series can feel that Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are so very fully fleshed. It is true here which allows me to have this cross over the 3-/4-star line.

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the more far fetched stories in the Nero Wolfe corpus, or at least the second part is. The book is divided into two unrelated stories. The first has to do with the NY Flower Show and the black orchids bred by Lewis Hewitt, Wolfe's orchid growing nemesis. While at the show, a murder happens and Wolfe and Archie are right in the middle of it.

But is is the second story that brings down my usual five star rating to four. Of course there is a murder but the murder weapon and all the planning it would take to pull off this murder hardly seem worth the effort. But, as usual, it is the interaction of the characters that is the beauty of this story, as it is with all of the Wolfe novels. I still recommend it.

[Alan Tomkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book actually contains two novella length Nero Wolfe mysteries. They are great fun to read. The well developed characters and the dialogue peppered with snappy patter and 1940's slang are what create the magic in these stories; the puzzle of the mystery can almost take a back seat. I'm really enjoying Rex Stout's writing, and I definitely recommend Black Orchids for any fans of the mid twentieth century mystery genre.

[Steven Walle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an other great Nero Wolfe novel by the master story teller Rex Stout. This book features two investigations by the way overweight master armchair detective Nero Wolfe and his smart assed, lady killer assistant Archy Goodwin. Both investigations concern murder and are very intreagueing to the reader.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 9th entry in the Nero Wolfe series is actually 2 separate (but connected) novellas: Black Orchids and Cordially Invited to Meet Death. The paperback cover of this one is so familiar to me that I thought I must have read it at some point (even though this is one of the books missing from my Stout collection). But these 2 novellas were both new to me!

In Black Orchids, we learn how Wolfe managed to obtain these rare flowers for his collection (it is his fee!). The murder case has some interesting twists & an unexpectedly macabre ending. 4*

Despite the publisher's blurb, Cordially Invited to Meet Death occurs after a long time has passed. The connection to the first story is tenuous but it is there. The woman who hires Wolfe is an event planner (not a society widow!) whose clients have been getting poison pen letters which all say that she (the party planner) is the source of the information. Regardless of whether the information is true or false, the idea that she is indiscreet would drive away most of her business. A good solid entry in the Wolfe series. 3*

Now a word about the audiobook. Michael Pritchard does a good narration -- not the best I have ever heard, but I have no problems with it. However, this edition of the audiobook had some technical flaws (well, annoyances more than actual flaws). The most irritating one was that there were often long pauses at the end of a section (20-30 seconds) - long enough that I would think that the app had crashed and have to fumble with my phone while driving to see if I needed to restart it. Eventually I figured out that I just had to wait but until I did, it was very annoying! Secondly, this digital audiobook was copied from audio cassettes and the publisher hadn't bothered to edit out the "This is the end of tape 1, please insert tape 2 to continue this audiobook"-type comments. While I would prefer not to have these, I would rather have them than no digital audiobook at all. But these issues made my ultimate rating lower than it would have been.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is the ninth in Rex Stout's series of Nero Wolfe book, it is the first that consists not of a single novel-length story, but a pair of novellas. Learning of this dampened my enthusiasm a little, yet when I read them I found that I enjoyed the easier digestibility of the two tales. In the eponymous first novella, Wolfe's frustration with the limits of studying the black orchids on display at a local flower show through Archie Goodwin's descriptions drives him to break his supposed iron rule against leaving his brownstone in order to see the rare flowers for himself. This allows Goodwin to focus his attention on the beautiful young woman performing in an ongoing display by a nursery, only for him to become the unwitting participant in a murder. The resulting investigation is one that the on-scene detective is willing to participate in — for a unique price.

The second novella, "Cordially Invited to Meet Death," is more of a traditional Wolfe tale, albeit with a twist. When a society hostess employs the detective to investigate who is attacking her reputation, he sends Goodwin to collect information at her Long Island estate. There, amid the colorful surroundings, a seemingly trivial occurrence results in the death of their client. Yet when that death proves to be intentional, the now-unemployed Wolfe claims no interest in investigating, leaving it to Goodwin to seek out the responsible party. Though the list of suspects proves to be more limited than a reader might expect in a Wolfe tale, as with the previous novella the shorter length of the work helps to maintain the mystery right up to the inevitable reveal. In the process, both demonstrate Stout's mastery of his craft, as he proves capable of writing mysteries just as entertaining in shorter forms as they are in his novels.

[Bryan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book with multiple stories in it. Later on in the series you get a clue of that from the title. We'll see that as we go along. Sometimes the multiple stories have a common element tying them together. In this one the common element are black orchids. Each is introduced by a little note from Archie.

The first story tells how Nero got the only known black orchids in existence. They were grown by a rival grower but fortunately for Nero the owner needed help that only Nero and Archie could provide. The fee was the black orchids. This story was the stronger of the two. Archie is in prime form at teasing Nero, and in spite of the badgering he does Nero appreciates it and that is made clear in this story.

The second story tells of the first time any black orchids were seen at a funeral. I felt this story was rushed, and I was disappointed that Archie didn't follow up on a clue earlier in the story. The clue was actually used as a plot element in the resolution of the mystery so if Archie had followed up they could have fixed this up pretty easily.

[EuroHackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 interconnected novellas, of a sort.

The first, "Black Orchids," tells the story of how Nero Wolfe came to own some of the most exclusive orchids in the world. He ventures out of his townhouse to attend a local flower show, because he's desperate to see the infamous trio of truly black orchids. While ogling the flowers, he finds himself roped into the ugly murder of a man shot dead in the middle of a crowded room. He trades the explanation of the murder for the orchids (much as he does in Too Many Cooks) and of course he gets his way.

The second story is "Cordially Invited to Meet Death." Wolfe had at one time been approached by society party planner Beth Huddleston to attend one of her parties as the detective in residence for a murder mystery weekend. Wolfe had balked, and he doesn't have much interest when she comes to him again a couple of years later as the victim of poison pen letters. Someone is writing to her wealthy clients claiming she knows juicy society secrets, which of course would ruin her reputation as an exclusive party planner. Archie does a bit of background legwork at her estate, but the case doesn't really interest Wolfe - at least not until Miss Huddleston winds up dead from tetanus. Wolfe even sends some of his black orchids to her funeral (which he doesn't attend). Everyone in Huddleston's circle has a motive to kill her, and everyone proclaims innocence - so its up to Wolfe to devise a very clever trap for the killer, even if he places the lives of everyone in his household at risk in inviting the murderer to his own home.

I enjoyed these stories quite a bit; they are a throwback to the lighter novels at the beginning of the series. I adore seeing Wolfe in his element with his precious flowers, and I love Archie's narration of the cases.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

“It would take an extremely unattractive person to think of that."
--Nero Wolfe, on the plot of "Cordially Invited to Meet Death" by Rex Stout, p. 159 of 192”


“I got the address from her, and by good luck it wasn't Bucyrus, Ohio, but merely Brooklyn. Whatever else you want to say about Brooklyn, and so do I, it does have one big advantage, it's close.”
--Archie Goodwin

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

3.5/5
Two average Nero Wolfe stories are still better than most mysteries written by other authors.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of the Bantam reprints of the Nero Wolfe books has an introduction by a mystery author, and this one is by Lawrence Block, an author I haven’t yet dipped into — oh-so-many-books-so-little-time. In the intro, Block says: “...those of us who reread Rex Stout do so for the pure joy of spending a few hours in the most congenial household in American letters, and in the always engaging company of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

This edition contains two novellas, Black Orchids and Cordially invited to Meet Death. Rex Stout, as Archie, puts it this way:

I don’t know how many guesses there have been in the past year, around bars and dinner tables, as to how Nero Wolfe got hold of the black orchids... so here in this book are two separate Nero Wolfe cases, two different sets of people. The first is the low-down on how Wolfe got the orchids... and what do you suppose he did with them? ... I mean a bunch of the blossoms. I saw them myself there on a corner of the casket, with a card he had scribbled his initials on, “N.W.” . . . I put this case here with the other one only on account of the orchids.

In Black Orchids, Wolfe sends Archie to a big Flower Show to look at a special hybrid of black orchids being displayed by its developer named Hewitt. In fact, Wolfe sends Archie to look at the orchids every day, to see if they show any wilt. Eventually, Wolfe has to go see for himself.

Of course, a murder occurs while they are there. Wolfe has been talking to Hewitt, trying to get one or more of the orchids from him, when it’s discovered Hewitt’s cane was used as an instrument in the murder. Wolfe pounces — he will solve the mystery and clear Hewitt’s name in return for the orchids, all three of them.

He does. Cramer gets the last word on the orchids, though:

’They’re pretty,’ Cramer said politely, turning to go. ‘Kind of drab, though. Not much color. I like geraniums better.’

As for the second story — wow. Has Wolfe had any other client who was murdered before he solved their case? He was hired by a woman named Bess Huddleston, a party planner to Society to find out who was sending poisoned pen letters about her. An interesting detail but only minorly relevant, is that Miss Huddleston owned a large estate in the country and kept a menagerie of both human and non-human animal species. The humans included a brother, a nephew and two assistants; the non-humans consisted of a chimpanzee, two bears and an indeterminate number of alligators.

Anyway, Miss Huddleston contracted tetanus from a cut; she wasn’t given a tetanus shot in time, and thus died quite horribly before Wolfe had determined who had wielded the poisoned pen. It was to her funeral that Wolfe sent the black orchids. After the poisoned pen/murderer was exposed, Archie makes these notes about the remaining mystery of why Wolfe honored her with the precious orchids:

1. He knew I would go to the funeral, and he sent that bunch of orchids purely and simply to pester me.
2. Something from his past. When he was young and handsome, and Bess Heddleston was ditto, they might have been – uh, acquainted. As for her not recognizing him, I doubt if his own mother would, as is. And there’s no doubt he has fifteen or twenty pasts; I know that much about him.
3. He was paying a debt. He knew, or had an idea, that she was going to be murdered, from something someone said that first day... he felt he owed her something, so he sent her what? Just some orchids, any old orchids? No, sir. Black ones. The first black orchids ever seen on a coffin anywhere on the globe since the dawn of history. Debt canceled. Paid in full. File receipted bills.
4. I’ll settle for number three.
5. But it’s still a mystery, and when he catches me looking at him a certain way he knows darned well what’s on my mind.

The first one was okay, but the second was really good, so overall 4+stars.

[Judy Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is really hard to chose my favorite Nero Wolfe story because every one of them has something that makes me glad I read it. This one, though, has some of my favorite things: Wolfe leaving the old brownstone, Wolfe playing "chicken" with one of his oldest acquaintances; women on the premises - office, kitchen, dining room, bedroom. Holy Cow, how did Wolfe survive?

It began with Archie appreciating the view of a woman's very fine legs. First published in 1942, this story has Wolfe sending Archie to a flower show to look at some black orchids on display - naturally, according to Wolfe, they couldn't possibly really be black. While he's there Archie is only one of many people who stop by a display from a nursery which features a sunny glade with a man and woman enjoying the plants and the water feature. At a specific time each day the crowd builds as the woman removes her shoes and dips her toes into the bubbling stream while the man naps in the background. Archie is smitten and declares he will marry the fair damsel. As the story unfolds Wolfe finds a way to solve a case and reap his idea of the perfect reward.

This whole series is highly recommended. Start anywhere you like because Rex Stout wrote the books so there is no chronological order. This one is rather sweet with the exposure of naked toes being swirled in the water enough to cause a stir.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the shorter Nero Wolfe mysteries even more than I do the full-length novels. They’re obviously more compact and that makes me feel like I can digest them more quickly and that deludes me into thinking I have a better chance to figure out who committed the crime—not that I came anywhere close to doing that in either of the two mysteries in this volume.

The heart of the first story is the black orchid of the title—someone has bred a perfectly black orchid and Nero Wolfe wants it. He is so obsessed that he actually leaves his home to go to the flower show and try to wrangle the flower from the owner. So Wolfe is on the scene when the murder happens and he is finally motivated to solve the crime when he figures out that his payment can be the orchids he so desires.

In the second, a woman is being libeled to the harm of her business and she wants Wolfe to put an end to it. Once again, Stout comes up with a great plot that would have been interesting even without the murder that always occurs somewhere in a Wolfe case. The clues were all there, but I didn’t come anywhere close to solving this one either—not that that dampened my enjoyment. It’s watching Wolfe work that makes this series so special.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Sean O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two mysteries, linked by the eponymous Black Orchids.

In the first mystery, Archie and Wolfe discover a murder at the New York Flower Show. The fee is three black orchid plants, paid for by Wolfe's orchid-nemesis.

In the second mystery, a woman hires Wolfe to expose a strange blackmail attempt. When she dies unexpectedly, Wolfe sends black orchids to the funeral.

The second mystery is better than the first, but it's a bizarre mystery. The first mystery is less good, but the killer manages does get just desserts.

I love how Stout has built a full world. And most of it is firmly in place by book 9.

[Janice Slay · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Rex Stout novels starring Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are so spectacular that at 77 years of age, they are wonderful all over again! I have read these novels many times, but by the time I reread them, they’re new all over again. I’m caught up in the magic that is these characters brought to life by Rex Stout! Magnificent!!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rare outing for Nero Wolfe finds him at a murder scene playing sycophant to the grower of rare black orchids which he absolutely must have. Archie Campbell, his chief gofer, gets embroiled with the cast of suspects, as usual, running circles around the hapless Inspector Cramer. An all around satisfying read. I didn't ferret out the murderer from the clues given. But much like the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, you don't know all Nero Wolfe knows until he tells you as he's relating his reasoning in determining the identity of the criminal. I don't find that too objectionable. As always, the story is told from the view of Archie Campbell, and as he doesn't do all the fact gathering for Nero Wolfe, he can't know everything Nero Wolfe knows anyway.

[cool breeze · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains two novellas: Black Orchids and Cordially Invited to Meet Death. The latter story is 3 stars, about the same quality as Nero Wolfe 3 – 8. Black Orchids, however, is remarkably good, 4 stars, about the same as Nero Wolfe 1 – 2. It is quite unusual both in what Wolfe does with the guilty party (kills him with elaborate premeditation, which he justifies by saying “it might have been difficult to convict him”, and that a trial would have embarrassed three people: his client, Archie, and a witness) and, considering that it was written at the height of Nazi power around 1942, how he does it (a gas chamber and poison gas).

[♪ Kim N · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two stories in this book are loosely connected by some rare black orchids. The first tells how Wolfe manages to obtain them, and the second how he uses them in one of his cases. I like the first story best.

Black Orchids
A man is murdered in plain sight at a flower show and the person responsible turns out to be Archie Goodwin!

Cordially Invited to Meet Death
Wolfe sends black orchids to the funeral of a well-known party planner with an eccentric household.

[Mereda Hart Farynyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy oh boy did I enjoy this.

I always prefer Stout’s full length mysteries to his shorter stories, and that held true with this book of two shorter stories, but they were just so delightful nevertheless. I laughed out loud multiple times and was smiling almost constantly.

I love the relationship between Wolfe and Archie so much (and between them and Cramer, come to think of it), and I didn’t find either story predictable!

A thoroughly enjoyable read 👏🏻

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I updated my stars to five on this story. I listened to the audio again last night. This story really is one of the funniest ones I have heard! Archie's comments are over the top.

Nero actually goes out and attends a flower show. He has done it before, but Archie has never been so acerbic.

[Martin O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even great authors sometimes struggle to come up with satisfactory endings to some of their best books. That's not the case here. Rex Stout sticks the landing with one of the best finishes that I've ever read.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reread this for The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group Dec. 2019 monthly read. Please join us. I am glad I did. I forgot a lot in the 45 years since I read it last including who did it.

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin in 1940 and Black Orchids are in both short stories. I liked both of them.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. As if these stories weren't already short enough, this book is split into two cases of roughly equal length. Both are connected by the presence of Black Orchids although the flowers bear little other relevance.

These cases both present the method of murder as established fact right from the outset, and the story then requires Nero to deduce which character has committed the act based on the information he collects from Archie's errand work.