The Broken Vase

The Broken Vase is not a Nero Wolfe mystery. Instead it is the third book in the Tecumseh Fox series and the first one I have read. It is a very good mystery, but it doesn't have the same joie de vivre of the Wolfe books. In this one a concert violinist commits suicide after his performance is unusually terrible. Fox realizes that it is really murder.

For years I've been periodically trying to read [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg] novels that are not about Nero Wolfe. I have found them to be awful. But I kept trying under the theory that anyone who can write books as great as many of those are must be decent at writing something else. And the theory has paid off at last.

The detective in this book is Tecumseh Fox, about whom I gather Stout wrote several other novels. While he doesn't have the charm of Archie Goodwin or the brains of Nero Wolfe, he's not completely hopeless as a character, and now I will try to get hold of the other novels to see if this one's a fluke.

Unfortunately, I can't write much about the plot show more without descending into spoiler territory.So I'll just say that, while there are definitely a few surprises, the story as a whole will not be a big shock to Stout's regular readers. And that's just fine; I read these books not for something completely new, but to enjoy another interesting variation on a familiar theme. If you do too, this is worth checking out. show less

On the whole, I much prefer Nero Wolfe (as a sleuth) to Tecumseh Fox, but this mystery, as a mystery, I think is one of Stout's better efforts and probably the best of the Fox series. It begins with a remarkably subtle indirect murder --a brilliant young violinist a precious antique violin, gives a disastrous performance at Carnegie Hall and shoots himself. Then it is discovered his violin had been sabotaged. Another man had fallen to his death a few months before, so there may have already been two suspicious deaths.

A talented violinist ends a huge concert in the middle when his playing didn't add up. He walked off the stage, wrote a note and killed himself in front of two friends. Tecumseh Fox investigates a case in which the police have covered everything and found nothing. A second man dies before Fox figures it out. This series is not as popular as the Nero Wolfe series.

Tecumseh Fox has possibilities, but is overshadowed by Archie Goodwin.

THhs is another, older copy of The Broken Vase (see review in entry for other copy) . This one was from my parent' collection.

4/9/22