DEATH ON DEADLINE

by Robert Goldsborough ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1987

A disappointing follow-up to Murder in E Minor, which resurrected Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe--and narrator Archie Goodwin--with an impressive combination of pitch-perfect imitation and narrative freshness. This time, unfortunately, the imitation is more self-consciousness and the storytelling is nearly inanimate. Wolfe's favorite N.Y. newspaper, the Gazette, is being threatened with a takeover by Scots press-baron Ian MacLaren, a Murdoch-like tabloider. But, before Wolfe succeeds in bringing together the anti-MacLaren forces, the primary opponent of the takeover--Gazette publisher Harriet Haverhill--is dead, an apparent suicide. Wolfe believes otherwise, of course. So each of the suspects comes to the 35th St. brownstone for quizzing: Harriet's stepson, who was selling out to MacLaren; her step-nephew, who claims that Harriet was going to make him her successor; other relatives and hangers-on; and MacLaren himself. Unfortunately, this suspect parade--unlike the ones in all the better Wolfe novels (including Murder in E Minor)--is deadly dull. And by the time Wolfe gathers everyone together for the obligatory recitation/confession, there's little interest in the unmasking of an obvious (if ill-motivated) culprit. Talky, short on humor, with heavy-handed introductions to the standard Wolfe/Goodwin routines: only for undiscriminating devotees.

Pub Date: May 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bantam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION