"And Four to Go"

Rex Stout's novels about Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are generally good-to-excellent. Rex Stout's novellas, as a general rule, are as good or better than the novels. Stout was a master of the novella, the elongated short story format, and some of Nero Wolfe's most memorable cases come in those stories.

And so we are presented with the collection of four novellas called "And Four to Go," our book reviewed today on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the full review by clicking here. "And Four to Go" is an excellent group. It begins with a deadly "Christmas Party," attended by Archie Goodwin, where all the signs point to an anonymous Santa Claus as being the most likely killer. Only there's a problem with that theory - and I'll leave it at that.

Next, there's a murder at New York's "Easter Parade" down Fifth Avenue - and, naturally, Archie Goodwin is on the scene, attempting to carry out a rather secretive errand for Nero Wolfe. So, once again, the irascible and overweight genius finds himself forced to solve the murder in order to keep some things secret that, in his opinion, should remain secret.

Murder is on the menu at a "Fourth of July Picnic" - and, once again, it takes place practically in the presence of Wolfe and Archie - and Wolfe has plenty of reason to regret having left his house for a very rare public appearance.

And finally, in "Murder is No Joke," there's no holiday - but a murder which may have taken place while Wolfe and Archie were on the phone with the victim. Things are never quite as simple as they seem, of course.

Four stories, all written in the mid- to late-1950s. Four opportunities to enjoy Wolfe's genius tempered by Archie's wit. The inclusion of "Christmas Party" makes it particularly appropriate for this time of year. If you want to give yourself a present, "And Four to Go" will give you some good reading for a cold winter's evening.

Comments

[John Fisher]

There are so many of us Nero Wolfe fans, has anyone ever considered a private printing of the canon. Many of mine are paperback and fragile. I like to reread the canon every two years and I am afraid they won't last with that much use. I could really use large print editions like the ones I find in my local library.

[Les Blatt]

John, Bantam has been reissuing "2-fer" volumes of some of the early books as inexpensive paperbacks - Fer-de-Lance and League of Frightened Men in one volume, for example. Also, a lot of the Bantam paperbacks of all the Rex Stout books, most with introductions by other mystery authors, from the 1990s still seem, for the most part, to be readily available. They seem reasonably sturdy, for paperbacks! Amazon has a lot of them, and you might find what you need there.

[TomCat]

Over the past few years, I made it a tradition to read one or two Christmas themed mysteries (or ones that have a lot of snow in them), but this year I only have one book lined up: And Four to Go. This review has put me in the mood to pull this collection off the shelves now! It has been too long since I visited the Brownstone anyway.

Thanks for another wonderful review, Less!

[Les Blatt]

TomCat, a visit to the brownstone is always worthwhile. On the other hand, going to events with Archie Goodwin can be hazardous to a character's health... ;-)