Customer Reviews
Wolfe and Archie fight racism - By: Thomas Paul, 05 Oct 2007 
Paul Whipple doesn't want his son to marry outside of his race. It's not that he doesn't like white people, but a black man marrying a white woman in 1964 is trouble. Whipple wants Nero Wolfe to help him find a way to break up their engagement. Wolfe would normallly reject job like this but he owes a debt to Whipple because of an incident that had occurred in the distant past when Whipple helped him solve a case.
So off Archie goes to Racine, Wisconsin to dig up some dirt on Susan Brooke but after a fruitless search that finds not a trace of scandal, Archie gets a calll from Wolfe. Return to New York... Susan Brooke has been found beaten to death in her apartment. And when Whipple's son is arrested for the crime, the case changes into a hunt for the real killer.
The book was written in 1964 at the same time the debate over the Civil Rights Act was going on. Stout covers what was controversial material at the time, reminding us that attitudes in 1964 were not the same as they are today. But this book also reminds us that we haven't come as far as we might like to think. The n-word is used in the book, but only in dialog when Stout uses it to reveal something about the character of the person who says it. Wolfe & Archie never use it, & as Archie says, "I have felt superior to plenty of people but never because of the color of my skin."
As to the the mystery itself, it is one of the best I have read so far. I didn't have the slightest idea who the killer might be & yet when it was revealed I wanted to smack myself for not getting it.
Wolfe on Race - By: , 03 Aug 1999 This comes from the golden period of Wolfe stories, alongside Too Many Clients, Gambit, The Doorbell Rang etc. The household on 35th Street, with its regular outriders, is fully developed & faces the brave new world (in this case, our topical theme is civil rights) with wit & equanimity. A typical Wolfe solution of this period, spotting the odd little fact no-one else considers. Strong plot.
Good story but with revolting protagonist - By: , 23 May 1998 
In some ways, this is a very well-written mystery. It holds the reader's interest & the ending is anything but predictable. But, there are some facets that are insultingly unrealistic. Most notably, the great Nero Wolfe can summon alll of the potential suspects to his home for interrogation, & they alll willingly come! My biggest problem, though, is with Wolfe himself. He is pompous, obtuse, ungreatful, arrogant. I can only marginallly enjoy a mystery if I dislike the investigator; that is the case with this book. In fact, knowing now how the Wolfe character is developed, it is highly probable that I will not read any more of the series. But, if you can get past the traits of Wolfe that I describe, I feel confident that you would enjoy this book, & probably alll entries in the series. END
