Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe Mysteries) (original 1935; edition 1995)by Rex Stout
Work InformationThe League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout (1935)
Books Read in 2020 (436) » 6 more Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I’m becoming quite fond of the Nero Wolfe novels. This one was perhaps not quite as satisfying as the first one: I was barely interested in any of the characters save our protagonists and the cab driver; most were too shallowly rendered and the ones who weren’t were not likable. But it was a compelling ride and a fine read. What does a good private detective do when clients are scarce? He uses his skills to find clients! A newspaper article about an obscenity case in which the book’s author claims to have committed a murder leads to a potentially very lucrative case for Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin. The author in question had been injured in a hazing incident at Harvard. The group of men responsible for his injury had formed a league to atone for their youthful sin. Two league members had died recently, and other league members received threatening poems following the deaths. All of the men are edgy, and their nervousness increases after another of their number disappears. Wolfe will match wits with a very clever suspect who has managed to commit murders while being closely watched without leaving a trace of evidence. Wolfe’s esoteric eccentricities and Archie’s sarcasm are a great combination. The Depression provides a backdrop for this case, as does New York City. Several of the league members are hard up for work, as are Wolfe, Archie, and several of the detectives they frequently employ to assist with the leg work. It may read like a period piece now, but it probably seemed very modern to Stout’s contemporaries. no reviews | add a review
Is contained inIs abridged in
Fiction.
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
HTML:Paul Chapinâ??s college cronies never quite forgave themselves for instigating the tragic prank that left their friend a twisted cripple. Yet with their hazing days at Harvard far behind them, they had every reason to believe that Paul himself had forgiven themâ??until a class reunion ends in a fatal fall, and the poems, swearing deadly retribution, begin to arrive. Now this league of frightened men is desperate for Nero Wolfeâ??s help. But are Wolfeâ??s brilliance and Archieâ??s tenacity enough to outwit a killer so cunning he can plot and execute in plain sight? Introduction by Robert Goldsborough â??It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.â?ťâ??The New York Times Book Review A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of Americaâ??s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertainedâ??and puzzledâ??millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inim No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
|
Review of the Bantam Kindle eBook edition (April 28, 2010) of the Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. hardcover original (August 14, 1935)
This is my second read of a Nero Wolfe mystery and I do not enjoy this character or his Watson. Wolfe is arrogant about his deductive powers, obsessed about orchids, beer and food and gives the appearance of being mostly disinterested in justice. A lot of that arrogance rubs off on Archie Goodwin who does the legwork for the housebound detective while running about town in his “roadster” (I don’t remember the specific car model ever being identified). Quirky and confident is not always appealing.
This case begins with the deaths of two Harvard alumni in suspicious circumstances. A large group of Harvard men had brought about the crippling fall of a Harvard freshman in a hazing incident. This same group now thinks that the disabled man, who has become a popular author in the meantime, is taking his late revenge on them all. First by committing the murders and then by following them up with threatening notes.
The mercenary Wolfe brings all of these frightened men together as the league of the title and proposes to them that he will solve their various fears and concerns for fees which will be adjusted to each man’s ability to pay. Most of them agree, and you already suspect that the situation is not quite what it appears to be. In a sense, Wolfe is scamming his clients. Saying anything further would be a spoiler.
See cover at https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/...
The cover of the first edition hardcover published by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. in 1935. Image sourced from Goodreads.
Although I usually enjoy reading classics from the Golden Age of Crime, the Nero Wolfe mysteries don’t provide enough enjoyable protagonists or sufficient mystery for me to continue the series.
On the Berengaria Ease of Solving Scale® I would rate this as a 3 out of 10, i.e. "a reasonably easy solve", as it becomes evident fairly early on that Wolfe’s explanation for the situation is going to be drastically different from what the plot seems to suggest.
Trivia and Links
See poster at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/League_of_frightened_men.jpg
Promotional poster for the 1937 film adaptation. Image sourced from Wikipedia.
This 2nd Nero Wolfe book was adapted as the 2nd Nero Wolfe film The League of Frightened Men (1937) directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Walter Connolly as Nero Wolfe. You can see the entire film on YouTube here. Author Rex Stout disliked the film’s portrayals of his characters so much that he refused permission for further screen adaptations for over 30 years until a first Italian language TV series adaptation in 1969 and then several TV movies & series thereafter. ( )