"The Red Box"

It was only because of a trick that Nero Wolfe was persuaded to get involved in the case of Molly Lauck. That unfortunate young woman, a fashion model, had made the mistake of opening a brown box of candy and taking a piece - a piece which turned out to have been laced with cyanide. The police really had nothing to go on. But a young man named Llewellyn Frost managed to get a number of prominent orchid growers to sign a letter begging Nero Wolfe to get involved in the case. And so he did. And he discovered that in addition to that brown box of deadly chocolate, the case would hinge on another box - a mysterious - and missing - red box, whose contents, although still unknown, could move someone to murder. It happens in The Red Box, by Rex Stout, originally published in 1937 and only the fourth recorded case for Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. The Red Box is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.

It doesn't take Wolfe long to begin to suspect that the wrong victim may have died by eating that poisoned candy. For that matter, it really doesn't take him long to determine the probable culprit - but there is, as he says repeatedly, no proof. There will be more deaths before Wolfe (with the active help, for once, of Inspector Cramer of Homicide) stages one of his most daring office confrontation scenes in order to solve the mystery of the red box and its contents.

As always, the story is narrated by the irrepressible Archie Goodwin, which guarantees a fast, funny delivery, full of wisecracks, with plenty of first rate quotes from Nero Wolfe as well, who is, as always, irascible and sharp. At one point, for example, while talking to a wealthy client, he observes, “Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.” Stout really was a marvelous writer; I don't think most readers would put up with Wolfe's mammoth ego for very long if it weren't for Archie's narration.

At the moment, The Red Box appears to be in print as part of a paperback collection which also contains Stout's The Rubber Band. It's also available in e-book format. It is very much worth your reading time.

The 2015 Bingo Challenge

This week, we're back to another entry in the 2015 Vintage Mystery Bingo challenge being presented by Bev Hankins at her marvelous "My Reader's Block" blog. The Bingo card has 36 squares to be filled by reading a book appropriate to each square's instructions. The Red Box is my entry for the first square - top row, left-hand column ' calling for a color in the title or cover color.

Comments

[Margot Kinberg]

Glad to see you featuring a Rex Stout story, Les. I've always felt that the Wolfe/Goodwin partnership was particularly well-written. And this story's no exception.

[Les Blatt]

I've reviewed a lot of them, Margot, and there are links on the backlist page. I would have to say that Stout is my favorite American author of the period - the stories are well written, funny and genuinely clever, and I suspect most of us who read the books do so for the regular characters, who feel like part of our families.