I purchased a few vintage Nero Wolfe mysteries in hardcover recently from shopgoodwill.com, so thought I would take us back to the brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City. Nothing like an old hardcover, just a little musty, to make me realize that I'm holding an object that's older than I am.
Gambit has all the attributes of a Nero Wolfe story: Archie Goodwin, his confidential assistant is our narrator and protagonist, multiple parties attempt to hire Mr. Wolfe, the contentious relationship with the police, and of course great food prepared by Fritz. (I always wanted a Fritz)
The plot is a classic "almost closed door" murder, one of a chess prodigy Paul Jerin who is poisoned during a blindfolded chess match (against several opponents). Matthew Blount, who brought Jerin the poisoned hot chocolate is accused of murder, and his daughter hires Wolfe to find the actual killer.
I love these types of cerebral mysteries. Wolfe gathers information through Goodwin's activities, and advises Archie, "Use your intuition guided by experience". The cast of suspects have hidden agendas, long simmering rivalries, and motives to harm each other as much as Jerin. The writing is elegant; Stout has an innate ability to pull the reader into the story through character development more than action. Written in 1954, Gambit is the 22nd (!) Nero Wolfe story and yet the
setting and plot seemed refreshing.
If you haven't read Rex Stout, give his most famous creation Nero Wolfe a try. On a side note, a Rex Stout novel called Seed on the Wind will be published for the first time in more than 90 years in December. I'll give it a read and let you know by Christmas.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Curtis
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