NERO WOLFE OF WEST THIRTY-FIFTH STREET: The Life and Times of America's Largest Private Detective

by William S. Baring-Gould ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 27, 1968

Rex Stout claims to be only the literary agent of Archie Goodwin, who has recounted in ""forty-one books over forty-two years"" the detection feats of private investigator Nero Wolfe gourmand, orchid fancier and misogynist. Both Stout and the late Baring-Gould had a lot of fun in print subjecting the stories of Sherlock Holmes to an analysis of the personal clues to the character of the reticent Holmes and that's the sort of treatment Wolfe gets here. In fact, a case is made for the idea that Wolfe was by Holmes out of New Jersey opera singer Irene Adler when the two met in the Balkans and that Archie is unwittingly the nephew of the reclusive Wolfe. Further chapters deal with the food, the orchids, the retainers at West 35th, the cases solved and the inconsistencies spotted in Archie's reports of them. There's also a dated chronology pieced together from Archie's record and it's all good fun for the fans. While Stout's books have done steadily well in several languages. Wolfe nevertheless cannot be said to have the same grip on the public imagination as Holmes, which forecasts a small, but appreciative, market for this specialty title.

Pub Date: Jan. 27, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION