Book Review #19 – “Fer-de-Lance” by Rex Stout (this post is incomplete and in process at this time)
Book Review #19 – “Fer-de-Lance” by Rex Stout; published 1934, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publ.
An Amazing Detective Series of Murder Mysteries. If you’re fan of crime thrillers/murder mysteries/detective stories, this is the book review for you! Let this article serve as an introduction to one of the premier crime series ever written… the Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout. This particular book being reviewed was the first one of over 70 in Rex Stout’s famous detective stories, and SPOILER ALERT, maybe you won’t want to read my synopsis of this story a little later in this review. But the joy of reading Rex Stout is one that can be repeated time and again even if you know what is going to happen. Every Nero Wolfe novel can be reread with great pleasure because of the personalities involved, the characters being portrayed, the clever plot lines, the unexpected strategies for solving the crimes, and the unpredictable interactions between all the principal players in the drama. So if your local library doesn’t have any Nero Wolfe books, complain, sign a petition, do whatever it takes to inspire the librarian to order every novel in the series and display them near the front door, right next to Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, and Agatha Christie.
Brief Bio of Author Rex Stout (1886-1975). Born in Indiana into a Quaker family, Rex was a celebrated “early learner” when he was but a child. He was a prodigy in mathematics and had read completely through the Bible twice before he was only four years old. After a stint in the Navy and then a successful business career, he decided to devote full-time to writing. Rex Stout ended up writing over 70 novels, novellas and short stories. He was most famous for his Nero Wolfe detective novels, but he didn’t write his first Wolfe story, Fer-de-Lance, until he was 44 years of age. Once he started inventing Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin stories, he couldn’t stop, averaging one novel per year from 1934-1966. During that time, Stout won the Grand Master Award for Mystery Writers, several Silver Dagger Awards for best crime novel, and was nominated for both Best Mystery Series and Best Mystery Writer of the Twentieth Century. And believe it or not, his first draft was always his final draft. He never needed an editor, because after he thought through the story in his head, he just sat at his typewriter and composed it straight through, with nary a word change needed. When he died at 88 years old, he had just finished his last Nero Wolfe novel, A Family Affair, which of course turned out to be a big hit.
The Two Main Characters of this Famous Detective Series:
Nero Wolfe. He was a one-of-a-kind fictional character with a larger-than-life personality. He was a middle-aged immigrant from Yugoslavia, and was noted for his substantial girth at 5’11” and at least 300 pounds. But what made him memorable were his unusual idiosyncrasies.. his unwavering daily schedule that had to include his sacred time up in his orchid nurseries in the top floor of his house in New York City, from 9-11 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. without fail; his love of exquisite meals prepared by his live-in world-class French chef, and an absolute rule that business is never discussed while enjoying the food; his times reserved for daily business was invariably 11 a.m.- 1:15 pm and 6 p.m. to the midnight hours; he refused to leave his home for any business reason or job-related duties; his library full of books, a 3′ in diameter globe, and a clever waterfall picture on the wall that had a secret opening so he could spy on what was going on from the hallway outside his office; his daily quenching of thirst with 5 quarts of beer; his dependence on using the in-house elevator to go upstairs, absolutely never using the stairways. Nero Wolfe was a self-professed genius who could be cranky, impatient, dismissive, unable to be intimidated, ill-mannered, surprisingly (to most everyone) brilliant, and thought of himself as someone who was successful in making detective work an art form. He once said, “I have no talents; I have genius or nothing.”
Archie Goodwin. He might appear to be a secondary character after reading about his boss Nero Wolfe, but most lovers of this series consider Archie the main character. He was in his thirties, 6′ tall, and 180 lbs of well-proportioned muscle, and unafraid to use those muscles if the situation demanded it. Archie is Nero’s live-in primary assistant in all the detective work, Nero’s private investigator who actually does all the work while Nero sits in his office and thinks. Nero and Archie are a Thought-and-Action team, with Archie providing all the action in order to get the job done. He is a confident, often cocky, wise-cracking, shrewd sleuth who faithfully follows Nero’s orders and is able to report back what he has done and what has been said flawlessly verbatim from memory. If Archie is wondering what to do next, which isn’t often, Nero’s standing orders are for him to use his good judgment guided by experience. Archie is much more that Nero’s handy sidekick, since nothing would ever get done without him. Nero would starve if it weren’t for Archie. The fact is, Nero couldn’t even begin to function in any productive way without Archie’s unique skills, and they both know it. But the fun begins and ends with the ongoing interchange between the two, their creative brainstorming, their abrasive conversations, their usual grudging respect for each other that underlies an apparent disrespect. The sparkling chemistry between Archie and Nero are always worth the price of the book.
The Basic Storyline of “Fer-de-Lance.” This first and longest Nero Wolfe novel doesn’t begin with much of a bang, but the ending of the story has as much bang as anyone would want. This is a mystery that involves a duel between an ingenious murderer who has the unfortunate destiny of matching wits with the genius detective Nero Wolfe. Because all the main characters of the entire series is introduced as fully-developed characters, with the main background of all 70 novels laid out for all to see, this novel has been deemed “one of the most influential works of mystery fiction ever written.” A stranger walks into Nero’s office one day and implores him to find her missing brother. Rather than reject her, Nero sends Archie to investigate, and before long this brother who has disappeared had a good reason to do so, since he was found murdered. So Archie and Nero investigate with more vigor because they are as curious as the sister in discovering the reasons for this man’s murder. Nero brilliantly deduces that there is a direct connection between the brother’s murder and that of a college president who was innocently enjoying a round of golf with friends. And the hunt is on. The way Archie and Nero finally discover the mastermind’s identity is exciting and mind-boggling, and it includes the gift of a venomous snake from South Africa, hence the name of the novel. They let the criminal know that they are on to his game, and so the murderer proceeds to admit his guilt and then the big bang occurs. This is obviously only a bare-bones look at this terrific mystery, and because of the strategies and conversations, the fascinating characters and the plot’s twists and turns, this story is just like the rest of the Nero Wolfe stories… worth reading again and again.