Book #92

Fer-de-Lance
by Rex Stout

So we were organizing our books, taking some old favorites that we want to keep but aren't interested in reading right now off the shelves and putting them into storage in boxes. We were also entering them into our computer database, because we're just that nerdy when it comes to our books. And we had to enter in 40 or so Rex Stout books, because the first mystery writer I really liked was Rex Stout (Not counting Arthur Conan Doyle, that is) and because Logo's used to have all these old copies of the books for 50 cents or so. And I realized that, even though I've held onto these for fifteen years, I haven't read them since the first time through, way back when in Santa Cruz. So I decided I should take a look back, make sure they are as fun as I remembered them. And what better place to start than with the very first Nero Wolfe mystery, Fer-de-Lance?

Bad news: it wasn't that good. Nero's laziness and indifference were less amusing than I remembered, and though I liked the other characters involved in the mystery, the witnesses and the suspects and the culprits, the mystery itself wasn't terribly entertaining. Now, the thing I did like about the mystery was that it felt realistic, for the most part; the means of death was a little esoteric, but the reasons for the death were perfectly normal, nothing like pretending to be a ghost so you can work an old gold mine -- and you would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids! But while the realism was nice, it didn't make for a whole lot of mystery. And I think that's the usual way with these books, as I recall; they aren't so much about figuring out a dastardly plot as they are about finding evidence and getting people to talk. So they're actually closer to police procedurals, which I'm not terribly interested in any more.

On top of that, the final resolution in this one was a little too deus ex machina; one of the witnesses has all of the necessary evidence in a handy little envelope. The way they got it was amusing, because she had taken a bribe to keep her mouth shut and absolutely refused to change her mind, so they had to fake a robbery, pretending to be the guy who had paid her off originally, saying he was taking his money back because she had talked to Nero Wolfe. She hadn't, so her little tiny brain was outraged -- so she spilled the beans. I liked that, I just didn't like that she had all the beans in a neat little package. And the worst part of all? Archie got on my nerves. I remember him being the best part of these books, but he came off in this one as way too antsy, always impatient for the action to start, always annoyed that Wolfe isn't out there chasing down bad guys. Plus he was racist -- quite definitely racist.

So I think I will try one more of my Wolfe books, and if I don't like that one a whole lot more than I liked this one, then it may be time to give my Rex Stout books away. At least that will give us a whole lot more room in the storage box.