The Mountain Cat Murders
by Rex Stout 
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Accused of murdering Dan Jackson with her father's .38 in the town of Cody, Wyoming, Delia Brand sets out to find the real killer, and along the way, discovers the truth about her father's unsolved murder.Tags
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Member Reviews
An unusual book in that it is written by Rex Stout, but does not feature his famous detective Nero Wolfe. Set in the mountain town of Cody, Wyoming, the story opens with 20-year-old Delia Brand purchasing a box of .38 bullets, and telling the clerk she intends to shoot a man. When philandering businessman Dan Jackson is murdered shortly after, Delia is promptly arrested.
Not the greatest book in the detective genre, but I liked the western setting. It is very old-fashioned, with all the men rough-and-tough types - either corrupt, using their money to buy justice or prevent justice from being done, trying to keep their jobs or get re-elected (county sheriffs) and some are just plain dumb. The women are pushed around, but are not weak show more "women in jeopardy" types such as you find in Mignon Eberhardt books. These gals can stand up for themselves and fight back. I enjoyed the book and will keep it for my vintage mystery collection. show less
Not the greatest book in the detective genre, but I liked the western setting. It is very old-fashioned, with all the men rough-and-tough types - either corrupt, using their money to buy justice or prevent justice from being done, trying to keep their jobs or get re-elected (county sheriffs) and some are just plain dumb. The women are pushed around, but are not weak show more "women in jeopardy" types such as you find in Mignon Eberhardt books. These gals can stand up for themselves and fight back. I enjoyed the book and will keep it for my vintage mystery collection. show less
This is NOT a Nero Wolfe novel!! Very poorly written story about murders in a Wyoming town. The writing is stilted, dialog poorly executed, and character development non-existant, BUT there are hints of Nero here: fairly good mystery design and a few "Archie-type" observations.
Fairly poor.
Perhaps I'm unfair; but I hope no one judges Stout by this. It's adequate. It is not worth reading.
(Note: This is an extra-series title, not part of the far-superior Nero Wolfe canon.)
Perhaps I'm unfair; but I hope no one judges Stout by this. It's adequate. It is not worth reading.
(Note: This is an extra-series title, not part of the far-superior Nero Wolfe canon.)
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Author Information
376+ Works 50,231 Members
Author Rex Stout was born on December 1, 1886. A child prodigy with a gift for mathematics, Stout drifted as he became an adult, holding odd jobs in many places---cook, cabinetmaker, bellhop, hotel manager, salesman, bookkeeper, and even a guide in a pueblo. But his true talent lay in storytelling; he sold his first story, about William Howard show more Taft, in 1912. His most famous creation is Nero Wolfe, a 286-pound detective genius who, with sidekick Archie Goodwin, can often solve a case without leaving his room. It is the way in which the puzzle is solved that intrigues Nero Wolfe, who is much like Sherlock Holmes in his ability to use deductive reasoning. More than 60 million copies (in 24 languages) of Stout's books have been sold. Stout writes quickly, drawing upon a lifetime of impressions. He neither uses an outline nor revises; he lets his characters take over as the story develops. The classy, erudite Nero Wolfe presents for readers an alternative to the hard-boiled branch of the genre. He died on October 27, 1975 (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Rex Stout has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Mountain Cat Murders
- Original title
- The Mountain Cat Murders
- Original publication date
- 1939
- People/Characters
- Delia Brand; Carla Brand; Tyler Collins; Lem Sammis
- First words
- There were no customers at that moment on that Tuesday morning in June, and the clerk behind the counter at MacGregor's Sporting Goods Store stood with his back propped against the shelves of fishing tackle, his eyes half clo... (show all)sed, half dreaming.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It was obvious that anybody who tried to stop him would have been murdered, so no one tried.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 253
- Popularity
- 127,636
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.16)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, Estonian, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 19
