Anita Weber

Often the repartee between Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin makes me laugh out loud, or at least chuckle. This novel has no such moments. It seems tense, devoid of fun, as if our sleuthing duo are under too much strain to be playful even for a moment. And indeed they are. Wolfe is working at a breakneck pace against big odds, including being thrown in jail (Archie) and house arrest (Wolfe), to finish the case as fast as possible to get back home. Adding to the pervasive sense of strain is the forbidding landscape of a remote ranch in western Montana. Stout loves to give the little details of a place. In New York City, these details give that great city the feel of another character in the plot. But in this novel, one feels the setting is not a retreat, but a purgatory where one must purge oneself before being allowed the sights and sounds, delights and security of New York again. Overall, a disconcerting work. For those who want to introduce a friend to this impressive corpus, start elsewhere.