Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Nero Wolfe, Nov 14 2003
Having read just about all of the Nero Wolfe series, I have to say, this one contains all of the elements that make Rex Stout's detective novels wildly entertaining, without most of the elements that make some of them maddening
In this mystery, the utterly unswashbuckling Wolfe is revealed, in his younger, svelter days, to have been quite a romantic. Not only did he fight on the anti-Imperial side in Montenegro during the Great War, but he adopted and may even have actually sired a young girl.
To his shock, this young Yugoslav maiden--whom he had lost track of--reappears in his life, up to her neck in a particularly messy, intricate affair that may or may not include missing diamonds, a dead body or two, international intrigue, and a bellboy's uniform. For all of the peeks into Wolfe's previously unsuspected soul, he remains as crumudgeonly and as immovable as ever. Archie Goodwin, of course, remains the wisecracking, milk-drinking sidekick, flirting with anything in a skirt and even giving a Nazi agent a black eye just for the fun of it.
The joy of these books is their marriage of the American gumshoe attitude and the British cozy focus on character. Where they generally fall short is their plotting. This entry in the series is, without a doubt, the most successfully rounded out of the lot. Stout manages to keep the mystery truly mysterious, and yet never manages to confuse the reader so thoroughly that s/he can't find the exit. The plot actually ends on the last page--many of the Nero Wolfe mysteries fizzle out, wrapping up a chapter or two before the end, leaving nothing but rumination and grumbling for the final pages. Others seem never quite to wrap up all the loose ends. Here, the conclusion is both inevitable and unexpected--utterly satisfying.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Presenting...Wolfe's Daughter???, April 10 2002
'Over My Dead Body' finds a young lady who arrives at Wolfe's door claiming to be Wolfe's daughter. Wow! What a way to start the book! Things begin to heat up even more when the young lady is suspected of a murder in a fencing studio. This is the seventh entry in the Wolfe series, and it is an entertaining one. Wolfe is in his usual beer-drinking, orchid-loving form, using that brilliant mind of his to sort out any difficulty. In this book, we begin to see a little more depth in two of the recurring minor characters in Wolfe's employ: First, Fred Durkin, the lumbering, bumbling guy who is not too bright, but is always there when Wolfe needs him. Second, Saul Panzer, who is probably just as good a detective as Archie (well, almost), but is completely no-nonsense. (And Archie thinks he's better looking than Saul.) I'd give the book 4.5 stars if I could. The only problem is Wolfe says a few words and lines that really aren't in character for him. This would only distract readers who have read a lot of the books. Since this book is still fairly early in the series, Stout can be forgiven. 'Over My Dead Body' is definitely a Wolfe book not to be missed.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Life with father, Mar 20 2002
By A Customer
Imagine having Nero Wolfe as your dear old dad. That's one of the delicious premises of this book. The mystery is a very good one. But even more entertaining is the glimpses into Wolfe's early life, when he was "lean," and his long-ago adventures in Europe. Archie is terrific, as always. The police go from adversaries to allies, and there's plenty of action to keep us on our toes.
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