Fer-de-Lance [Mass Market Paperback]

The Nero Wolfe novels are pure mystery classics. I love the characters, the development of the story line, and everything else that comes with these books. Fer-de-Lance is a great example of a Stout novel.

First Sentence: There was no reason why I shouldn't have been sent for the beer that day, for the last ends of the Fairmont National Bank case had been gathered in the week before and there was nothing for me to do but errands, and Wolfe never hesitated about running me down to Murray Street for a can of shoe-polish if he happened to need one.

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin's first published case becomes one of two parts; a young woman hires Wolfe to find her missing brother, and a college president has been murdered on the golf course. The link: a golf club.

The fun of reading Nero Wolfe is not the plot, although this one did have a good twist to it, but for the characters. On one hand, you have Wolfe, the corpulent, beer drinking, gourmand who has orchids cultivated in his attic conservatory. He is well-read, well-spoken, often difficult to deal with yet a brilliant deductive and intuitive thinker.

On the other hand is Archie, orphaned as a child, lives in Wolfe's brownstone, uses common English, and drinks milk. The two characters are complete opposites but one immediately senses the underlying respect and affection which goes beyond a working relationship.

It is the dialogue, as well as the relationship of these two characters, that make the book, and series, work. An interesting aspect to this book is that we meet the characters seven years in, so references to previous cases abound. In most cases, this would annoy me as there would be that sense of something missing.

Stout, however, is so adept in his writing and his characters are so well developed, the previous case references simply become historical notations. Stout was writing in present time, now history to us. Because of that, we are presented a living sense of time, place, social mores and behavior. There were certain expressions, common at the time. They are objectionable to us today and serve as a reminder of our advancement from the past. One element with which I did have a problem, was some of Archie's slang. There were times I had to re-read sentences or paragraphs to understand what he was saying.

It was fun to go back and re-visit Nero and Archie, but not so much as to make me want to reread all the books. However, if you've never read Rex Stout, I do recommend picking up at least a few of his books.

FER-DE-LANCE (Pri Inv-Nero Wolf/Archie Goodwin-New York City-Golden Age/1934) ' Good
Stout, Rex ' 1st in series
Bantam Books, ©1934, US Paperback ' ISBN: 0553278193

The quality of Rex Stout's writing is unique in its blend of mystery and detective techiques whereas some mystery/detective authors use only one method. The stories of Nero Wolfe are entertaining, well written, and full of colorful, eccentric characters. This story is well written with the small details and descriptions fleshed out nicely. The story is about two murders, initially unconnected until Nero Wolfe sniffs out the truth. Read several of the Nero Wolfe stories and you will feel right at home in the Brownstone on 35th Street. Fer-De-Lance might be the first of the Nero Wolfe series, but it is a wonderful first book. The rotund Nero Wolfe does the thinking and Archie Goodwin does the 'legwork' with a sweet, sarcastic nature. I strongly recommend this story and many others in the Nero Wolfe series to all mystery and detective story lovers.