Archie Meets Nero Wolfe by Robert Goldsborough

 

(pb; 2012: prequel to Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe book series)

 

From the back cover

“Archie Goodwin comes to New York City hoping for a bit of excitement. In his third week working as a night watchman, he stops two burglars in their tracks—with a piar of hot lead slugs. Dismissed from his job for being ‘trigger-happy,’ he parlays his newfound notoriety into a job as a detective’s assistant, helping honest sleuth Del Bascom solve cases like the Morningside Piano Heist, the Rive Gauche Art Gallery Swindle, and the Summer-Hayes Burglary. But it’s the kidnapping of Tommie Williamson, the son of a New York hotel magnate, that introduces Goodwin to the man who will change his life.

“Young Tommie has gone missing, and only one detective is built for the job: Nero Wolfe, the heavyset genius of West Thirty-Fifth Street. Together they will form one of the most unlikely crime fighting duos in history—but first Goodwin must find Tommie Williamson and prove to Wolfe that he deserves a place by his side.”

 

Review

Goldsborough, who’s authored eight other post-Stout Wolfe novels, has penned an excellent prequel to Stout’s first Wolfe book (Fer-de-Lance, 1934). Archie, slightly streamlined (appropriate for our current age), is as witty, all-around smart, and character-true (that includes Fritz Brenner and Wolfe’s freelance operatives) as any of the four Wolfe novels I’ve read.

This time around, Archie and Nero are less acerbic with each other, having just met, though Archie’s penchant for committing to necessary physical action (even hitting or killing someone) is still at the fore. Purists might grumble at Goldsborough’s streamlining of the actions and characters, but purity, is often the atmosphere of hypocrisy, existence not life, and joylessness. Great read. Might check out the author’s other works once I’m through reading Stout’s Wolfe works.

 

Note: In his post-novel “Author’s Notes” Goldsborough wrote that Archie was inspired by Fer-de-Lance: “In Fer-de-Lance, the first Nero Wolfe novel (1934), Archie refers briefly to the kidnapping of Tommie Williamson, the son of Burke Williamson, owner of a chain of hotels, and says that each year on the anniversary of the boy’s return, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson and their son dine at Wolfe’s brownstone to mark the occasion.”