Nero Wolfe. ANY Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout

Review

By Deya

Summer is coming, even though spring has been fickle and made us wonder at times. There will sunny days by rivers, lakes and oceans. Days that just shout "Read a book!" The thing about summer reading is that we want it to be engaging, take us away from everyday cares. We are relaxing after all, right? There's nothing better than a good murder mystery, one that makes you think but that in the end you don't have to solve because you know Wolfe will do it for you.

I haven't heard much about the Rex Stout "Nero Wolfe" mysteries lately and for good reason: they're old. They were written between 1934 and 1974. They can be old fashioned but they are always a fun, easy and engaging read.

If you go for more cerebral summer reading and need a break between intense books, look no further. If you want a book you can lay on the beach and finish in a day, look no further. And if you want a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very last minute, then definitely look no further. Stout's books stand out because you DON'T know who-done-it. In a world of stories that have been told over and over again, stories that you somehow know the ending of, it's refreshing to be surprised.

I started reading Stout's books in my late teens and still haven't read all of them. I have, however, read many of them more than once. I can honestly say that I usually remember the plot but not the culprit or the clues that help Wolfe to figure it all out. And I never, ever get tired of Archie Goodwin, a smart, funny, sarcastic and generally lovable narrator.

They're great summer books. Actually, they're great anytime books. And if anyone sticks their nose in the air at your slim little murder mystery, just remember that in 2000 at Boucheron, the world's largest mystery convention, the books went up for Best Mystery Series of the Century. Not the year. Not the decade. The century.