(pb; 1944: tenth book in Rex Stout’s
Nero Wolfe series. Novella anthology. “Not Quite Dead Enough”
originally appeared in abridged form in The American Magazine, December
1942. “Booby Trap” was also published in The American Magazine in
August 1944.)
From the back cover
“The army wants Nero Wolfe
urgently, but he refuses their clarion call to duty. It takes Archie Goodwin to
titillate Wolfe’s taste for crime with two malevolent morsels: a corpse that
refuses to rest in peace and a sinister “accident” involving national security.
It’s up to the Grandiose Master himself, Nero Wolfe, to set the traps to catch
a pair of wily killers—as Archie lays the bait on the wrong side of the law.”
Review
Quite places
Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe indirectly, in U.S. military service,
specifically, the Army—after all, World War II is raging, and neither Goodwin
nor his former employer (as of two months ago) are cowards, unlike other
characters in Quite.
Quite is
made up of two linked, patriotic-but-not-brain-dead novellas.
The first, “Not Quite Dead
Enough,” features a returning supporting character, Lily Rowan, from Some Buried Caesar (1939). She, a fledgling romantic interest of Goodwin’s, tells
him about a friend of hers (Anne), who might be in danger. Goodwin is busy with
other stuff, like getting on with his new life as “Major Goodwin” in the Army
intelligence sector, after ten years of working for Wolfe, as well as trying to
get the suddenly health-conscious Wolfe to use his brain, not his body, in service
to the Army. Then a dead body related to Lilly’s concerns come to their
attention, shuffling Goodwin and Wolfe’s initial intentions back a step or two.
“Quite” is often
delightful and hilarious, especially Wolfe and Goodwin’s friendly sparring and
manipulations. As with other Wolfe works, there’s a strain of sexism on Goodwin
and Wolfe’s part in both Quite novellas, more so with the latter
character; this is not a complaint, merely noting how Quite reflects
societal leanings back then. The killer is not surprising (for those who care
about that), but the ride is a blast. Great read, “Quite.”
The second, “Booby Trap,”
like its preceding novella, places our two leads in unfamiliar situations, often
livening up the usual Wolfe story set-ups. “Trap,” however, is less warm
and charming than Quite’s first novella, perhaps because of its military
setting: Wolfe and Goodwin investigate the strange “accidental” death of an
Army captain (Cross) who was on a hush-hush mission involving an experimental
hand grenade. The stakes are heightened when another corpse is dramatically
brought into (non-)being, compelling the two sleuths to further urgency in
solving the case.
“Trap” is a good,
fast-paced (for a Wolfe story) work, with a finish born of Wolfe’s dark side
and notions regarding justice and, to a certain extent, patriotism.
Quite is followed
by The Silent Speaker.
