Rex Stout's "Nero Wolfe" books - set in the middle years of the 20th century - are among my favorite light mysteries.
Wolfe is an eccentric, obese private detective who lives in a brownstone in New York City; almost never leaves his house; spends four hours a day tending his orchids; has a Swiss chef who prepares delicious gourmet meals; loves beer; and employs Archie Goodwin as his assistant, legman, and gadfly.
After Stout's death Robert Goldsborough continued the series. In this 12th book from Goldsborough, Nero Wolfe looks into a murder on Broadway. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
As the story opens Nero Wolfe has just collected a large fee from a satisfied client, and is planning to take a break from detective work. Wolfe is convinced to abandon his 'vacation' by millionaire orchid collector Lewis Hewitt. Hewitt offers Wolfe a rare Madagascan orchid.....
.....to meet with his friend, Broadway impresario Roy Breckenridge, who's worried about his new play.
Wolfe agrees to the meeting, during which Breckinridge laments about friction among the actors and stage manager in his new production, Death at Cresthaven. Breckenridge wants Wolfe to sniff out problems that might derail the play. To accomplish this Wolfe sends his assistant Archie Goodwin - posing as a Canadian journalist - to interview the people involved.
At the theatre, Archie interviews the actors and stage manager, one by one. These are:
Ashley Williston - an aging, but still beautiful, leading lady who desperately wants to win a Tony award. Ashley has a reputation for pursuing younger men.
Brad Lester - a handsome Hollywood star who's been imported from Tinseltown to glamorize the play. Brad's name is above Ashley's on the marquee, which the actress resents.
Steve Peters - a good-looking young actor who's just Ashley's type.
Melissa Cartwright - a pretty young ingénue who catches Peters' eye.
Max Ennis - an octogenarian actor with a stellar reputation on Broadway.
Teresa Reed - an irascible actress who's known to speak her mind.
and Hollis Sperry - the stage manager, who admits to scolding the actors as needed.
While he's at the theater, Archie takes the opportunity to watch both the matinee and evening performances of Death at Cresthaven. During the latter show a murder occurs, and Archie hustles away before the police arrive. Soon afterwards a suicide attempt adds to the drama.
Wolfe is hired to investigate the murder, and gets each person of interest to come to his brownstone to be questioned. Archie makes himself scarce during the interviews, since all the actors think he's a Canadian journalist. Moreover, each actor expresses the suspicion that the 'journalist' committed the murder. (This is pretty entertaining. 😊)
Recurring characters in the story include:
Lon Cohen - a REAL journalist with the New York Gazette, who exchanges information for scoops;
Saul Panzer - a private operative who often does freelance work for Wolfe;
and Inspector Cramer - a cigar-chomping police detective who has a 'frenemy' relationship with Wolfe.
As always in this series, Archie and Wolfe have scrumptious meals, such as brioches and ham; omelets with apricot marmalade; veal cutlet casserole; shad with herbs; and so on. Wolfe also has his usual friendly skirmishes with chef Fritz Brenner about which spices to use, etc.
In the end, Wolfe uses his genius to solve the crime, and gathers all the suspects to expose he murderer....whom Inspector Cramer arrests. These books have always been comfortably formulaic, and Goldsborough diligently follows the program.
Wolfe and Archie are among my favorite fictional characters, and I enjoyed visiting with them. That said, I felt like their 'voices' were a bit off and the plot was less than riveting. Still, the book is a pleasant enough way to pass a few hours.
Rating: 3 stars
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