#CF Rex Stout
CF: crime and thrillers, both of which
have been granted something of a literary pass in recent years.
Popular formule: male protagonist has some personal issues
Nero Wolfe …never leaves the house to investigate a crime!
NW: orchid fancying ‘enfant terrible’
NW: eccentric/maverick who doesn’t follow the rules
NW: drinks beer and saves the bottle caps (why?)
NW: sidekick = Archie Goodwin optimistic-cynical dogsbody
I enjoyed this book….many suspects have secrets that create
unexpected twists and turns in the plot!
Feedback @Tracy Bitter Tea and Mystery
Tracy, I’m having great fun discovering all the crime fiction can offer! Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout did not disappoint!! I’ve never really ready many CF…thinking I have to rend NF (politics, news) or classics. But there is an art to creating a riveting plot, false clues, believable characters and snappy dialogue! The humor Agatha Christie inserts in Hercule Poirot novels is delightful. I feel like a kid with a box of candy…open he cover and which one shall I choose now? You will see I’m often prowling around your blog (archive) and and loving 2013 From CF to Film and the ABC of CF. My reviews are short b/c I know there are so many experts who can supply us with insightful comments. I’m just happy to enjoy the experience “riding on your CF coattails!”
NancyElin.blog 
I am so glad you enjoyed Fer-de-Lance. I am so fond of the characters I can read the books over and over. Especially Archie.
My impression is that Wolfe saves the bottle caps so he can keep count of how many beers he has drunk in a day, because of his weight. I remember that coming up in the last Nero Wolfe book I read (The Red Box, #4 in the series) but I cannot remember the context.
Tracy, I’m having great fun discovering all the crime fiction can offer! I’ve never really ready many CF…thinking I have to rend NF (politics, news) or classics. But there is an art to creating a riveting plot, false clues, believable characters and snappy dialogue! The humor Agatha Christie inserts in Hercule Poirot novels is delightful. I feel like a kid with a box of candy…open he cover and which one shall I choose now? You will see I’m often prowling around your blog (archive) and and loving 2013 From CF to Film and the ABC of CF. My reviews are short b/c I know there are so many experts who can supply us with insightful comments. I’m just happy to enjoy the experience “riding on your CF coattails!” :)
The series is a lot of fun! He never leaves his house…except Archie is always finagling a way to get him to leave to solve some case.
Good series….after just one book, but don’t feel the urge to read any more of Rex Stout at the moment. The book felt ‘dated’. Prefer a bit more upbeat, like Walter Mosely.