"Too Many Cooks"

As any regular reader of Rex Stout's novels about Nero Wolfe can assure you, it takes a great deal to move the sedentary gourmand out of his brownstone house on West 35th Street in New York City. The prospect of a great meal, however, may do the trick. That is why, in Too Many Cooks, we are treated to the spectacle of Wolfe, assisted by Archie Goodwin, traveling by train - horrors! - to West Virginia, for a banquet prepared by some of the world's finest chefs, Les Quinze Maitres - the fifteen masters.

But Wolfe's dinner plans are interrupted when somebody sticks a knife into one of the chefs, right in the middle of a sort of taste-testing contest. The police believe the culprit is one of Wolfe's friends. So it is partly to clear his friend's name - and also from some ulterior motives of his own - that Wolfe and Goodwin must solve this murder.

First published in 1938, Too Many Cooks was the fifth book to feature Wolfe and Goodwin, and it is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the entire review by clicking here. Nero Wolfe, taken outside his comfort zone (quite literally), is fascinating as he grumbles his way to a surprising solution. I think this is one of the best of the early Wolfe books, and I recommend it highly.

The Challenge

As part of my continuing commitment to the Vintage Mystery Bingo Reading Challenge under way at the My Reader's Block blog, I am submitting this to cover the Bingo square calling for one book that features food/cooks in some way. For details about the challenge, and what I'm doing for it, please click here.

Comments

[Margot Kinberg]

Les - I like this one very much too. Not so thrilled about the racism in it, but then, it was the product of its times. That aside, I really do like the premise, the building tension and of course the solution.

[Les Blatt]

Margot, I think Stout used the racism that does exist in the book as a way to attack racism; the only character who really spouts racist nonsense - the local sheriff, as I recall - is portrayed as an ignorant buffoon. Wolfe's speech on the subject is really quite well done, I think. And, as you say, the premise the tension and the solution are all very well handled.

[Bev Hankins]

Les, I read this one earlier this year and really enjoyed. It's one of the few where Wolfe leaves the brownstone that I do like. I agree with you on the use of racism--Wolfe's interactions with the staff is well done, indeed.

[Les Blatt]

Bev, I think the Wolfe-Goodwin partnership really hits its stride in this one. I'm glad you like it as well.