::READERS REVIEWS::

"I wish you well" - Nero Wolfe expressed that sentiment to, of all things, a woman, a young, attractive nightclub singer who was helping expose the murderer of her best friend (the doxy) and clear sometime Wolfe operative, Orrie Cather, of the crime. The woman, Julie Jaquette, was neither hysterical (as Wolfe assumed all women to be) nor in awe of him (as he expected everyone to be). Not only did she stare down murder suspects and police detectives but she dared refer to Wolfe by his first name, barge into the rooftop gardens and take up residence in the South room. Despite all this, or perhaps because of it, Wolfe did indeed wish her well and then set about helping her to do well in life.

Fans of this long running series will not want to miss this story, set and written in 1966 but those new to the series will miss most of the fun. The mystery itself is clever but nothing really out of the ordinary for the series, the true attraction here is the interplay between Wolfe and Julie Jaquette. Wolfe has long been established as a total misogynist yet in Julie he has met his match. Usually it is the repartee between Wolfe and Archie that provides the humor, but in this one Julie shows herself an equal to the men. Too bad that she doesn't take up permanent residence in the brownstone.

A Good Tale If You've Got The Time - It's hard to call a murder mystery required reading, but, hey, who reads novels by requirement anyway? We read for good stories and this is a good story.

This was my intro to Rex Stout's famous duo Nero Wolfe, the massive genius, and his streetwise sidekick Archie Goodwin. It's sort of like a fat Holmes taking on a Sam Spade and it's all set in New York City. So it blends the two main strands of the detective novel - the classic mystery-solving intellectual genius with the hard-hitting, tough talkin', fedora-wearing gumshoe.

This one tells the case of a murdered "doxy" (look it up) that Wolfe takes on only to help a friend. An incidental choice of a name leads Wolfe to the devious and unsuspecting killer. And there are some great lines here particularly between Wolfe and one of the few women to amuse Wolfe.

If you've never read a Wolfe story and you enjoy mysteries or detective stories, go for it. It's not too long and it certainly won't be a boring afternoon. Happy reading!

Why didn't I start reading Rex Stout years ago? - Death of a Doxie was the first Nero Wolfe mystery I read. Sure, I saw the films and watched the TV series years ago but reading Stout for the first time made me a fan and now I have three more on my coffee table to read. I wonder why it took me so long to 'discover' Rex Stout. There is a certain delightful and three dimensional quality (no pun intended given the size of Nero Wolfe) about the characters. Sometimes you like Wolfe and sometimes he grates on you but you always admire him and his loyalty. Archie Goodwin is a constant, and a rather interesting character as well. He is the legs of the operation while Wolfe dictates from his office and makes the suspects come to him.

If you like a mystery where you can figure out who dunnit, but want to see how the master detectives solves the case, Nero Wolfe is your man.

Death of a Doxie is a good sample of Stouts work and there are alot more to read in the series.

One of the few women who give Wolfe a run for his money. - The best part of this book is the character, Julie Jacquette, who is vital to Wolfe's plan to catch the killer of the titular "doxy." (A rather quaint term for a mistress) Jacquette is one of Stout's best written female characters, well able for Wolfe and Goodwin, likeable and intelligent with a sense of humor. In the midst of this rather predictable mystery, dealing with blackmail and a wealthy man who wants to stay out of the investigation, she proves to be breath of fresh air and pushes this one up a notch in the pantheon.

Prefiguring Orrie's Downfall - Rex Stout was of the old school. Character flaws, so much celebrated in Nero Wolfe himself, will inevitably bring down his characters...

Orrie Cather ultimately decays completely in later Nero Wolfe stories, and here his decline is foretold. He gets involved with a shady lady and, as a result, needs Wolfe's help to extricate himself.

It's a good story, and credible, given Cather's personality. However, you start to see Stout eating his young in this one, as he'd formerly done with Marko Vukcic in "The Black Mountain."

So, what was Orrie a nickname for, anyway?