Foxy Wolfe Solves Another Case!. Review on The Red Box - Rex Stout

A Stout Supporter In my phase of reading detective novels, I soon found the Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout and became a great fan. It’s the character of this fat crime investigator, with his many eccentricities, which make him irresistible -at least on paper. In real life, it would be hard to put up with such a fussy recluse.

However, he is super intelligent and has a gift for solving all kinds of baffling crimes, especially murders. Wolfe, aged about 56, weighs "a seventh of a ton." And “limits his physical movements to what he regards as the irreducible essentials." He very rarely leaves his house and is also a gourmet. There is a chef in the house who produces specialities for him and the house also has an orchid room - another hobby of Wolfe’s.

Wolfe is assisted by his confidential assistant, Archie Goodwin, who is quite unlike him. Archie speaks in slang where Wolfe uses words which will make you run for a dictionary(another good reason to read the Wolfe series is that you will acquire a good vocabulary and lots of GK). Archie goes out and about to do the investigations while Wolfe sits at home and ponders. Archie’s memory is so good that he makes verbatim reports. He can also type at an average speed of six to seven pages/hour!

The Red Box This is the fourth Nero Wolfe novel, where they have to investigate the death of a model who ate poisoned candy. One of the suspects asks Wolfe to handle his estate, including the contents of a red box. Wolfe is about to refuse but the man dies in his office. The police think he told Wolfe something before dying.

It is in this novel that a murder takes place, for the first time, in Wolfe's office.

Spoiler! A client is pressuring Nero Wolfe to leave his home to investigate the death of a model who died after eating a poisoned candy. This is because the client wants to get his relative out of the employment of the fashion boutique where the death took place. Wolfe agrees only because the client has a request letter signed by the directors of an Orchid Show.

Wolfe and Archie interview some other models who were present when the murder took place. They claim the dead girl stole the box of candy. The mystery deepens as the dead girl seemed to know what was in the box though she had claimed not to know that.

Inspector Cramer(another regular in Wolfe stories) wants to find out what Wolfe has uncovered and he and Archie invite all those who are involved. One by one, they are offered a chocolate from a box which looks like the one the model had taken the poisoned sweet from. Archie keeps on eye on who takes which one.

Another murder occurs!

Now, Wolfe has to send Saul Panzer, Orrie Cather, Fred Durkin and Johnny Keems(more members of his team) to search for a red box.

Yet another murder takes place!

Wolfe arranges to have the surviving suspects gather and, in the drama typical of many Wolfe stories, brings things to a head using a red herring or, should I say box?

Vintage Read it if you love crime fiction and if you enjoy vintage!