4/9/22

I liked this story, but can someone explain to me why Stout's female characters feel so off. I think it's because the author writes more men than women so all his women really sound like men. The plot of this one centers on a baby. Recent widow Lucy Valdon come to Wolfe with a pickle of a problem. One night a few weeks earlier she recieved a call late at night telling her she had something outside her vestibule. Turns out to be a baby, with a note attached telling her the father was her late husband. Now she needs to find the mother, and of course that leads to nothing but trouble. ( )

This book is one of the few entries in the Nero Wolfe series in which it truly seems like Wolfe will be stymied. Of course, as any fan knows, that isn't going to happen but it takes quite long for him to figure out how to crack the case. On one hand, it was somewhat interesting to see all the dead ends Archie, with the assistance of Saul, Fred & Orrie, have to comb through but, on the other hand, it did make this book a bit less exciting. Still, it was an easy book to complete in an evening and Archie & Wolfe are always enjoyable to read about. ( )

I've read plenty of Nero and Archie short story homages, and I love them, but it's such an absolute pleasure to go back to the originals. So damn good. ( )

What can I see Nero Wolfe leaves the brownstone. . . of course it's good. In this outing Nero's client is a widow of 9 months who has a baby dropped on her doorstep and she wants to know who the mother is and by identifying the mother if it's possible that her former husband could be the father.

Good mystery but what keeps me reading these stories is all about Wolfe and Archie, how they interact and how others play out in their lives. ( )