Cyril Orchard is poisoned during a radio talk show and New York Police have gotten nowhere in over a week. When Archie convinces his boss that he needs to earn some money after their April tax bill is paid Nero Wolfe comes up with a scheme to get himself hired to solve this tricky murder. This is classic Nero Wolfe with all the elements in place. Very entertaining. ( )

The second Nero Wolfe novel has a better story relying more on psychology rather than gimmicks and winding up with one of Wolfe's signature charades in the office for the dénouement. Inspector Cramer is in this one, although he's not nearly as feisty as he becomes in later novels (maybe Wolfe hasn't diddled him so many times yet!) and he smokes a pipe. There is a large cast of characters and many weren't well delineated so I had to keep going back to the "master list" which Wolfe was given that had the names and occupations of the "clients." The other operatives are still not too well defined although Saul Panzer seems to be coming to the forefront. When a doctor is needed Dr. Volmer, Wolfe's neighbor, is called. Rex Stout is working to make this a series that will involve good puzzles with psychological implications and he's beginning to be more subtle in hiding his clues. He still isn't keeping the solution really as well hidden until the "reveal" by Wolfe as he does in later works. The characters may be fooled but the reader isn't. ( )

Contains The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe #2), And Be a Villain (Nero Wolfe #13) and the novellas that formed Curtains for Three (Nero Wolfe #18). ( )