The Red Box

I’ve just finished the fourth book in the highly enjoyable Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout. I loved catching up with both the eccentric Nero Wolfe and his stalwart assistant, Archie Fleming and even though I figured out both the motive and the murderer, The Red Box was a treat to read.

The biggest mystery just might lie in the title. Is the red box that is referred to in the title the large box of assorted chocolates, one of which was filled with poison and killed a beautiful young woman? Or was it the missing mystery container that belonged to the second victim, and held documents that would identify the murderer. Archie and Nero Wolfe have their hands full with this case as they come to the aid of a young heiress.

A lot of the fun of show more this book is how effortless the cantankerous genius and his rogue of an assistant run circles around both the suspects and the police. The Red Box is another entertaining entry into this witty and stylish series. show less

Although I can see its faults I have a real fondness for this book. I think that that is due, at least partially, to the fact that this was the first Stout/Wolfe I read in which I could so clearly see that the zeitgeist of this American not-hard-boiled was in fact very close to that of the American hard-boiled. Yes, it is way cleaner with few intimations of sex yet at the same time they take place in the same world. The rich get away with it while the poor do not. The police are at the very least persuadable and perhaps clearly on the take. The police openly defy the letter of the law and push people around and they quite matter-of-factly beat people. Of the four deaths in the book the only one which is treated casually and without show more interest in the victim is that of a woman who was apparently just an ordinary not wealthy woman working at an honest job. We are to understand that wealth and position do make a difference. While Goodwin is aware of the fact that this is not right and that those who beat and torture are "trash" still he indulges in no moral indignation over these realities. show less

The back of my edition suggests this is a story about pretty models and uptown high fashion. That is not really true, since the overall plot has very little to do with the NYC fashion scene or the jealousies of models. There are plenty of action scenes and police work that keep the reader engaged. I did become somewhat bored with the overall story because I did not like any of Wolfe’s clients this time around – so their troubles and dramas began to wear thinly.

But Archie is fantastic. If you do not love Archie….
He feels authentic – for the time and the story – but also in his reactions and opinions. I love the banter and sarcasm that Archie keeps at the ready.

Moving right along in my shared chronological re-read of the Nero Wolfe series with Liz and Steve, we are up to Book 4. The recurring characters' are starting to assume the shape and personality that they would wear for the remaining 43 books, which makes this the first story that recalls for me at least a little of the familiar warm feelings I have for this, my most favorite series of all time.

The plot finds rotund genius Nero actually leaving his beloved New York City brownstone on business, a thing that almost never happens. Readers get a taste of how he feels about the idea from this response to his prospective client's suggestion that he visit the scene of the crime:

" 'Sir, I would not enter a taxicab for a chance to solve the show more Sphinx's deepest riddle with all the Nile's cargo as my reward!" He sank his voice to an outraged murmur. 'Good God. A taxicab.' "

The client prevails (though with Archie at the wheel, not a NYC cabbie), and Wolfe begins a desultory investigation into the poisoning of a fashion model. The death blow was delivered in a box of candy, but was Molly Lauck the intended target, or did she bite the Jordan almond meant for someone else? show less

Nero Wolfe has a plethora of clients in his latest case involving the death of a fashion model from eating a poisoned chocolate. Llewellyn Frost hires Wolfe, even managing to lure him out of his brownstone to interview suspects in their natural habitat. Frost wants to protect his cousin Helen, another model who witnessed the death. After a second murder, Frost gets cold feet, so Helen hires Wolfe to carry on with the investigation. At a certain point, it becomes clear that a red box holds the solution to the murders. But where is the box?

Wolfe’s exceptional powers of deduction exasperate his assistant Archie, Inspector Cramer of the police, and perhaps most readers. He holds his cards close to his chest, yet there are enough clues for show more a perceptive reader to guess the motive for the murder and the murderer’s identity. Wolfe, Goodwin, and Inspector Cramer make references to the cases in the earlier books in the series, but not in a spoilery way. It’s savvy marketing that might nudge readers to buy the earlier books to find out what they missed! show less

The Red Box (1937) (Nero Wolfe #4) by Rex Stout. Fashion models are supposed to watch what they eat. And candy is strictly verboten. So when Molly Lauck dies after eating a piece it is only fitting, in a macabre sort of way, that she died. Wolfe is contacted by the wealthy Mr. Frost and coerced into both looking into the death and actually leaving the brownstone to do so. A letter signed by the directors of the New York Orchid Show produces about the only type of pressure that could be applied to the big man.
Wolfe and Goodwin go to the fashion boutique where they interview the owner, Boyden McNair and several other people who work there including Mr. Frost’s cousin, Helen. McNair has come to the realization that the poisoned show more chocolate was meant for him. Helen manages to implicate herself in the murder. Mr. Frost wants to have Wolfe stop the investigation as do Helen’s relatives.
As if!
McNair seeks an audience with Wolfe at the brownstone and falls dead during the interview. He was poisoned. Prior to dying the doomed man informs Wolfe of his feelings of impending tragedy and tells the detective that, as he is the only person about him he trusts, McNair has made Wolfe the executor for his estate. An outraged Wolfe will now do anything in his power to discover the secrets that McNair was in the process of revealing. One item, a red leather box, becomes the crux of the investigation.
Wolfe also learns that Helen is the sole heir to the Frost family fortune when she turns 21, in a few days. And then there is the mystery of why Helen’s mother was not named as inheritor when her father died.
As in many mysteries, the past looms large in the story. And herein blackmail also plays a major role. And when a mysterious package arrives at Wolfe’s office, he gathers all the suspects together. As one they discuss what has happened in the past, the true relationships among the family, and the red leather box is produced giving a reason for the next sudden death.
A gripping, twisty tale and very fun. show less

After watching most of the great Nero Wolfe A&E series (starring Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin), I decided to read some of the original novels. I got a hold of And Be a Villain and liked it, so I decided to get them all so I could read them in order (from 1934 to 1975). The characters are already pretty much fully formed, so I get no jarring discontinuities between what I think Wolfe and Archie should be and how they are presented. (Like, say, the discontinuities between the Morse and Lewis of Colin Dexter's first few novels and the Morse and Lewis of TV and his later novels.) I can imagine the brownstone properly and Maury Chaykin, Timothy Hutton, Colin Fox, etc. in their roles. Stout, from the start, show more gives the house and the characters all the ideals and foibles and mannerisms they would have throughout the series.

Now The Red Box. The mystery is pretty good, with Wolfe actually leaving the brownstone (gasp!) and some people dying right in Wolfe's office. A neat little mystery. It is a pretty good story with some pretty good scenes. The Stoutian strong-willed woman makes an appearance. A good Nero Wolfe story all around. show less