The Father Hunt

Is this the greatest Nero Wolfe novel? No. But it is in my top ten of Wolfe novels sorted by reread frequency. I admit that partly that's because I enjoy reading this through my alternate universe queer lens (look, Lily Rowan always has attractive young women at her apartment, I AM JUST SAYING), but I also think this book is solid on the Wolfe formula. All the gears are perfectly oiled. The whole machine runs smoothly. And it's a delight to watch that happen, and to read about the way these famliar characters do their familiar thing.

I just really ENJOY Wolfe novels, is the thing. And this is very much a Wolfe novel -- no departures, no missteps. So I really enjoy this.

I recently picked this up in an ebook sale, and while I have read it before it happens to be one I did not own in paperback so I've probably only read it once, many years ago. It's a fine later (1968) entry in the series. The client is a young woman whose mother died a few months ago in a hit-and-run car accident. After her mother's death, Amy Denovo finds a box full of cash and a note from her mom that says, "This is from your father." But she has no idea who her father is, and she suspects her mother was using an assumed name all these years so how can even the great Nero Wolfe and his trusty legman Archie Goodwin trace her into the past? Complicating matters, at least for Archie, is that Amy works as an editorial assistant for his show more paramour, Lily Rowan, but Amy insists that he not tell Lily that he and Wolfe are working for her, leading to some semi-comical misunderstanding about why Amy suddenly starts calling him Archie instead of Mr. Goodwin. It all gets sorted in the end, of course, and in a satisfactory fashion. Nineteen sixties Wolfe novels aren't my favorite, as Stout seemed determined to make up for lost time when crafting plots that involve sex and other tawdry topics. Still, an afternoon spent with Archie Goodwin is never wasted. show less

Where the early books always ended with the traditional setting in Wolfe's office, with all the suspects gathered, and the startling exposure of the murderer, one of the things I like about these later books is that they don't do that. Often the murderer is known long before the end of the book, and its other questions that keep the reader guessing.

This Nero Wolfe mystery begins with Lily Rowan's assistant, Amy Denovo, asking for Archie's help in finding her father. Her mother has passed away from a hit-and-run incident without ever breathing a hint to Amy of her real father, so, with money collected from checks supposedly sent by the father, Amy hires Wolfe - only the case is complicated when it looks like the hit-and-run might have been more sinister.

Although enjoyable, there are some minor quibbles with the plot in this one (it feels as if the motive for the hit-and-run was not sufficiently explored), but Wolfe novels, I maintain, are to be read for the characters, not the mysteries.

That said, I am frustrated with the Rex Stout Library edition, which offers brief pages toward show more the end with extra things (advertisements for Nero Wolfe movies, comic strips, letters from Stout's editors). In this case, the afterword promises a letter from Stout's editor and "the master's reply"... except there is no reply. Simply the original letter from the editor to Stout (wherein he asks the same questions I had about the plot). It would be annoying enough, except something similar happened in a previous one I read.

All in all, though, another great Wolfe book! show less

I was so glad to find a Nero Wolfe mystery that we hadn't heard yet. Michael Prichard is such an excellent narrator for these books. This one was great! Sorry it was so short, otherwise really wonderful.

Nero Wolfe books are great to read when I need something to read. I've read enough reviews to know that I'm not alone in forgetting the plots and other details, and only enjoying the company of the main characters. Especially Archie.

In this book, his charm is on full display, as the client falls for him instantly, and decides he's the only one who can solve her problem. Of course, he does. With help from Nero and the rest of the gang, he tracks down her father, and proves that said father murdered her mother.

A good entry in the Nero Wolfe series but not exceptional... 3.5* for this audiobook edition, 3* for the book