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Black Orchids (Nero Wolfe #9)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 1,749 ratings · 61 reviews

Not much can get Wolfe to leave his comfortable brownstone, but the showing of a rare black orchid lures him to a flower show. Unfortunately, the much-anticipated event is soon overshadowed by a murder as daring as it is sudden. It’s a case of weeding out a cunning killer who can turn up anywhere—and Wolfe must do it quickly. Because a second case awaits his urgent attenti...more

ebook, 208 pages

Published June 30th 2010 by Crimeline (first published 1942)

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Feb 22, 2007 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got this books from my mom for Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am a big mystery fan --Agatha Christie and Murder She Wrote in particular. I have found a new favorite! Stay tuned for more Nero Wolfe mysteries as I read them. The characters of Nero and Archie are so compelling, and I love Archie's sense of humor. This volume actually has two mysteries in it- Black Orchids and Cordially Invited to Meet Death. The mysteries are full of great period details, Wolfe's obsession with his orchid...more

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Feb 11, 2009 AM rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This particular adventure is actually two unrelated cases tied only by the presents of the Black Orchids. I must admit I enjoyed the mystery of the first story, Black Orchids a bit more then the second story, Cordially Invited to Meet Death. Though I did like Archie's commentary at the end of Cordially Invited. The Nero Wolfe novels are great. I haven't read a bad one yet. I love the way Archie and Nero talk. The way Nero sometimes leaves all the details floating about for Archie to puzzle over...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Bev Hankins rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So, I finally found out how Nero Wolfe gained possession of the coveted black orchids. This had been alluded to in several of the Wolfe mysteries that I have read but I hadn't gotten my hands on a copy of Black Orchids (1941) until this past year.

Nero Wolfe sends Archie Goodwin to the flower show in downtown NYC. Not once, but every day for a whole week. Finally, Wolfe cannot stand it any longer and rather than hear Goodwin's reports on how they look he actually leaves his brownstone home to se...more

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May 27, 2012 Brendan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, classics, fiction, mystery

Nero Wolfe doesn't like leaving his house. But when a rival orchid fancier brings a new hybrid "Black Orchid" to the New York Flower Show (or some such), Wolfe overcomes his agoraphobia and leaves the brownstone, only to stumble onto a murder. The second tale in this slim volume involves a return of the orchids in another case, one where Wolfe investigates not for a fee, but out of some other motive (spite for the police?). A few thoughts:

- Like all Wolfe novels, Black Orchids works best for it...more

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Jan 15, 2011 meeners rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

good ol' rex stout. nero wolfe mysteries always feel to me like the secret love child of sherlock holmes and sam spade, one who grew up to star in a syndicated daytime TV series set in 1930s new york. there's always something extravagant and unreal about stout's mysteries, but that's why i like them (sometimes) - when narrated in archie goodwin's breezy, irreverent voice, they can be a good happy medium between the genteel armchair detective genre and the pulpy hardboiled one. sometimes it's nic...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Ben Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

This is the 8th Nero Wolfe book I have read and as such Nero and Archie are like old friends now, I just cant stop reading the Nero Wolfe books. As a series they are characters that just wont let you go Wolfe the cerebral eccentric agrophobic genius and Archie his wise talking "so slick you'd think he'd slide uphill" legman. Black Orchids is actually two cases in one volume while I enjoyed both it's probably not the best place to start if you have never read a Nero Wolfe novel before, although i...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Chazzle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok, I'm being a little hard on this one, because I became confused at the complicated denouement. Not that it was THAT complicated, but I just didn't feel like concentrating too hard. Mea culpa, really. Probably really a 4-star book.

On the up side, Archie Goodwin really is a joy, describing the fatness, laziness, and tyranny of his boss, Nero Wolfe. A short passage with one "Johnny" talking to Wolfe in his office:

[Johnny talking] "...I contacted a young woman-as you know, I am especially effecti...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Nan Silvernail rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nero Wolfe leaves his brownstone for a flower show. But not just any flower show. Someone is displaying three true Black Orchids! He has sent Archie there all the week, but he must see them himself and attempt to obtain them at any cost. Unfortunately, the cost may be far too high when a murder occurs. The Big Man may lose Archie Goodwin and more in the bargain. Great Hounds and Cerberus!

Later, a upper-society party arranger who had once insulted Wolfe by asking him to come to a theme party and...more Nero Wolfe leaves his brownstone for a flower show. But not just any flower show. Someone is displaying three true Black Orchids! He has sent Archie there all the week, but he must see them himself and attempt to obtain them at any cost. Unfortunately, the cost may be far too high when a murder occurs. The Big Man may lose Archie Goodwin and more in the bargain. Great Hounds and Cerberus!

Later, a upper-society party arranger who had once insulted Wolfe by asking him to come to a theme party and act the part of the detective has a problem. Someone is trying to ruin her business. Will Wolfe help her out this time?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SPOILERS BLOOMING BY A BABBLING BROOK

Cover Art - Not accurate, but there is a gun at the flower show, so... go figure. The way it was set up in the book it wouldn't make a good picture anyway. I give it a best try. It gets the idea across.

There are two stories in this book. Both related by Black Orchids.

1) Black Orchids:
The enticement is far too much. Wolfe must go see these three Black Orchids. While he is trying to wheedle a small sample, cutting or one of the plants from the owner, rival orchid grower Lewis Hewitt as he, Wolfe and Archie are walking down a corridor, Wolfe spots Hewitt's missing cane (he's always misplacing it) and asks Archie to pick it up. A very clever way to murder someone, it turns out. At the denouement, Wolfe gives the murderer a chance to kill 8 people at once with a very clever trap of his own.

2) Cordially Invited to Meet Death:
No. I refuse to believe that this woman had a "Past" with Wolfe. I think Archie is way off base with that thinking. My theory is that he could have prevented her death and, even if he was insulted by her party idea, he was also flattered by it. Also, it was his first opportunity to show off to the world that he had obtained those Black Orchids, because once they were in his Brownstone, they weren't going anywhere else!

Apart from that, this is one of the Nastiest ways to murder someone I've come across. The villain gets the victim to cut themselves with glass. The household has many bottles of iodine around because they have a small menagerie of interesting animals and now and then someone gets nipped. Once the cut is made, the bottle of iodine is switched for a bottle of something else, teeming with tetanus bacillus. Later, the bottles are switched back. This is horrible. I have had a mild case of lock-jaw happen to me and that was quite enough. My teeth were chattering so much that the muscles finally seized up and my jaws were still trying to chatter. The nurses gave me lemon-glycerin swabs for my lips. Gah! Awful!(less)

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Nov 19, 2009 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Scott and I are big fans of mystery movies and have watched many of the classic detective series (Poirot, Marple, Morse, Holmes, Campion, Allen, etc), some in all versions available. Nero Wolfe was one we recently came across and we LOVED the A&E adaptation. I had never read a Rex Stout until this week but after having finished this one, I am very impressed with the screenplay writers and directors who managed to capture the essence of Stouts characters perfectly. The DVD episodes are some o...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Kurt Henning rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This one might be one of my favorite Wolfe tales to date. The two stories contained in the book are connected only by the presence of the black orchids Wolfe commandeers as a fee; however, there is a sense of sentimentality (in a good way) in both tales. We get some genuine friction between Wolfe and Archie and even more genuine affection. We also learn that Wolfe keeps Archie around due to a debt of honor--apparently Archie saved Wolfe's life at some point in the past. The stories' narratives a...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Jc rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rex Stout is amusing, but I think the stories did not age well. I did have fun with it, but Doyle, Christie, Chandler, Dexter, Mosley, Mankell, and dozens of older and newer mystery authors make for much more interesting reads. Maybe it is the gimmick of having Wolfe never leave his house (and barely leave his chair) that gets to me; or maybe it is his rather obnoxious side-kick, Archie Goodwin (he tries to hard to be a fast-talking extra from a Bogart film). I recall enjoying these much more ba...more

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Apr 26, 2010 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: great-reads

I love the whole Nero Wolfe series. I actually started reading these books because of the mini-movie Golden Spider that appeared on AE years ago. I must have been 13, now i'm 24!

The stories are classics, set in the early 20-40's (at least that is how i imagine them), yet unabroached by the typical "it was the depression"..."it was the war" theme alot of books set in that time period seem to linger over.

The mystery is usually in the fore-front, and the characters are charming (if not slightly f...more

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May 26, 2010 Mmyoung rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Black Orchids is a collection of two novelettes; Black Orchids and Cordially Invited to Meet Death. I found both to be below Stout's standard. Archie states that the only thing these two cases have in common is the black orchids that appear in both. He is wrong for they have another commonality. In both cases Wolfe is disinterested in the murders. In BO he gets involved only to get three rare orchids in return for shielding their original owner from negative entanglements with the murder. In the...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Adam Graham rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nero Wolfe had twice as many novels published as Sherlock before he ever broke into short fiction. However, author Rex Stout would create some of his most memorable stories in the Wolfe novellas. The first two of these are collected in Black Orchids.

Black Orchids

The title story for the collection was originally published as Death Wears an Orchid. Archie has found himself assigned to flower show duty to watch a new Black Orchid bred by Lewis Hewitt to see whether it wilts or not. Wolfe finally ma...more Nero Wolfe had twice as many novels published as Sherlock before he ever broke into short fiction. However, author Rex Stout would create some of his most memorable stories in the Wolfe novellas. The first two of these are collected in Black Orchids.

Black Orchids

The title story for the collection was originally published as Death Wears an Orchid. Archie has found himself assigned to flower show duty to watch a new Black Orchid bred by Lewis Hewitt to see whether it wilts or not. Wolfe finally makes a trip down in person to see it. But then fate takes a hand when Archie triggers the murder when he picks up a stick, triggering a Rube Goldberg style murder, which is the least practical part of the story.

The stick that served as the trigger belonged to Hewitt. Wolfe offers to solve the case and protect Hewitt in exchange for all three of the black orchid plants, insisting on them in advance.

To hold on to his plants, Wolfe has to not only sift through blackmail and jealousies of orchid growers, but he has to endure not one, but two women living under his roof, all while keeping his client's name out of the press. Wolfe has a clever and somewhat shocking way of doing this that makes for a great twist ending.

Rating: Satisfactory

Cordially Invited to Meet Death

New York's Premier party planner, Beth Huddleston, engages Wolfe to stop malicious letters that are threatening to ruin her business. Wolfe has her entire household under suspicion and sends Archie out to investigate. Archie finds a virtual mad house with a Chimp that blocks his way in unless he plays tag with him as well as bears roaming around. Their investigation is cut short when Huddleston dies of a tetanus infection with Wolfe only having learned one key thing: the secret to preparing great Corned Beef hash which Wolfe achieved through a precedent-breaking decision to allow a woman suspect into the kitchen to help him.

However, her brother is convinced its murder. When Archie and the brother both get the same idea and proof is found that the death was no accident, Wolfe has little reason to be engaged as he has no client. However, when Cramer insults Wolfe by taking a dinner guest downtown for questioning, Wolfe not only resolves to solve the case. He plans to rub Cramer's face in it.

Within the story, Archie offers a mystery as to why Wolfe sent some of the rare black orchids to Huddleston's funeral and never answers the question. The question is left open though Archie offers readers their choice of potential theories. Archie confesses there may even have been some past association between Wolfe and Beth Huddleston, but that much of Wolfe's past remains a mystery to him. And the puzzle of the black orchids only adds to Wolfe's mystery.

Rating: Very Satisfactory

Collection Rating: Very Satisfactory(less)

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Mar 05, 2011 Bev Hankins rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vintage-mystery

As a partner to Rex Stout's Black Orchids, I have just finished Cordially Invited to Meet Death (aka Invitation to Murder; 1942). This mystery was packaged together with Black Orchids because the orchids themselves play a minor role.

In this one Nero Wolfe is asked by Bess Huddleston, party-planner for the rich and famous, to find out who is sending anonymous messages aimed at ruining her. Wolfe sends Archie Goodwin to begin the investigation, but before Goodwin can make much headway, the famous...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Alexis Neal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, mystery, audio

This one's actually a twofer. In the first novella ('Black Orchids'), an obnoxious young gardener is murdered at a flower show, where Nero Wolfe just happens to be on hand, having made one of his once-in-a-blue-moon excursions out of doors to ogle the world's only black orchids, which are on display at the show. Fortunately, the owner of these precious plants--fellow orchid aficionado and millionaire Lewis Hewitt, a familiar face to Wolfe fans--wants Wolfe to solve the murder (and keep Hewitt's...more This one's actually a twofer. In the first novella ('Black Orchids'), an obnoxious young gardener is murdered at a flower show, where Nero Wolfe just happens to be on hand, having made one of his once-in-a-blue-moon excursions out of doors to ogle the world's only black orchids, which are on display at the show. Fortunately, the owner of these precious plants--fellow orchid aficionado and millionaire Lewis Hewitt, a familiar face to Wolfe fans--wants Wolfe to solve the murder (and keep Hewitt's name out of the papers). Wolfe is, of course, happy to oblige, provided Hewitt pays him a handsome fee. And in this case, the only fee that will satisfy our corpulent genius detective is three extremely rare flowers. But if he wants to keep them, he has to earn them, and that means figuring out who killed the gardener, and fast.

The second story ('Cordially Invited to Meet Death') involves the black orchids only tangentially. A prominent-but-eccentric party-planner hires Wolfe to figure out who's been sending nasty anonymous letters about her. However, before Wolfe can really dive into the case, his client dies of tetanus poisoning, and her brother is certain she was murdered. Wolfe sends flowers to the funeral--black orchids, no less--but claims to be both uninvolved and uninterested in the death of his client. But when Inspector Cramer commits an egregious (and insulting) blunder--at least according to Wolfe's standards--Wolfe decides that it is on, and is bound and determined to solve the case before Cramer. That'll learn him.

Both of these stories are delightful. Wolfe At Large is always amusing, so seeing him stuck at the flower show while Archie gallivants around dealing with a murder is quite entertaining. Archie's infatuation with Anne Tracy (and his eventual recovery from that infatuation) is a treat and provides fodder for many excellent Archie-Wolfe interactions. And the murder itself is fairly ingenious, if convoluted. But the real star of the show is Lewis Hewitt and the big showdown in Wolfe's orchid rooms. Gold stars all around.

The second story boasts a heaping helping of insanity, as Wolfe's soon-to-be-dead client kept a chimp, two bears, some alligators, and a Southern secretary who just might know the secret to good corned beef hash. Archie's interactions with the animals, and Wolfe's interactions with the secretary, are not to be missed. This story boasts another clever murder, albeit an extremely unpleasant one (murder by tetanus, ick). And it's nice to see Wolfe actually follow through on his threats to Cramer. Cramer often capitulates to Wolfe's requests in order to avoid the unpleasant consequences, but it's good to see what happens when he doesn't (which, in turn, makes it more believable when he does cooperate).

My opinion of Michael Prichard's narration remains unchanged. He's no superstar, and he misses a lot of the nuance in Wolfe and Archie, but he's not actively bad.

If you like Nero Wolfe but can't commit to a full-length novel (not that the full-length novels are particularly long, mind you), these half-length novellas might be the way to go.(less)

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Dec 19, 2008 Moses Operandi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: readandenjoyed

My second encounter with Rex Stout, and first with the indomitable Nero Wolfe. Infinitely preferable to the nondescript Tecumseh Fox, Wolfe dominates the pages of this book as he would, I suppose, dominate any room he deigned to enter with his "seventh of a ton." A great mystery, with a delicious twist at the end. Archie Goodwin is also a great creation; a fluent, wise-cracking narrative. All in all, it's hard to believe that this book was written in the 40s. It's readable and resonant even toda...more

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Mar 10, 2009 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Consider me a new fan of Rex Stout and his so-famous-I-can't-believe-I've-never-read-one-before Nero Wolfe books. Just as charming and fun as I've heard. The charm is all in the cranky, corpulent Nero Wolfe, a detective who hates to leave his house and can't abide the use of contact as a verb. This book satisfied my need for interesting details, a tidy plot, and swift pacing all in a nice mystery-formula package. Like Agatha Christie, I think I could read ten of these in a row.

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Jan 16, 2010 Molly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

I absolutely adore Rex Stout. If you need something smart and funny and enjoyably snappy, I recommend him highly. Plus, I have a mad crush on Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the series. He's that perfect mix of rapscallion and charm. A character in 'Black Orchids' got mad at Archie and described him thus: "... maybe it was that ten-cent Clark Gable there that thinks he's so slick he can slide uphill."

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Jul 31, 2011 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a two story book. The first story is about how Wolfe acquired black orchids and the second is about a client to whom he sent black orchids.

The first one, in particular, is wonderful. It's Archie at his best. He has breezily decided he is in love with one of the models at a flower show. And his descriptions and behavior are quintessential. Also, the moment he gives her up and his reasons for it are so Archie.

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Nov 16, 2011 ***Dave Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: text

A pair of tales form 1941 -- the first (and meatiest) about Wolfe solving a flower show murder to obtain a trio of black orchids (****) , the second a less satisfying story of tetanus used to murder a party organizer (**). Nothing out of the ordinary here, but the first story is by far the stronger, complete with a greenhouse death trap. Overall good stuff.

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Feb 25, 2013 Sharon Eudy Neufeld rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, nero-wolfe

Nero Wolfe only takes on work for exorbitant fees-usually. But when Lewis Hewitt has managed to breed the only black orchids in existence, he is willing to make an exception. Archie falls in love, Wolfe is cranky and uncomfortable and Inspector Cramer is at his wit's end. What more could you want?

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Jan 03, 2011 earthy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Again, not my favorite Wolfe stories, but entertaining enough. Actually contains two novelettes (novellas?): "Black Orchids" and "Cordially Invited to Meet Death." The first story is stronger than the second, though the second does have the advantage of a scene where Archie stares down a gorilla.

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Mar 18, 2013 Peggy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is two short stories connected only by Wolfe's rare black orchids. I enjoyed the second story more than the first. I enjoy the narration style of Archie, Wolfe's right hand man. He is funny and irreverent. Wolfe eccentricities are always a source of entertainment and wonder.

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Dec 01, 2009 Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

The promise of a chance to get his hands on a rare orchid, gets recluse detective Nero Wolfe to leave his house.
Of course, someone gets murdered and he then has to juggle catching the killer and negotiating to get the black orchids.
Another great Nero Wolfe mystery.

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Jan 28, 2013 Lori Bigby rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: detective, fiction, mystery

The story was good, but a little hard to follow. I'm not sure if it was me and I was distracted or if it just didn't flow as well as it could have. I do like Nero Wolf though as a character and it is always entertaining to see what he will do next.

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Nov 10, 2012 1 Andrew E added it · review of another edition

A great book that i would reccomend to someone who is looking for a suspeseful book,mysterious book. I thought the hardest part of the book to understand was the beginning where there were a lot of characters being introduced but then it started to become clearer after that.

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Apr 21, 2012 Jules rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Two shorter stories concerning Black Orchids. Wonderful and certainly worth reading, though not one of his best. I enjoyed the first story rather more than the second, but will surely read both again!

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Feb 07, 2013 Lauren Nalepa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My favorite Nero Wolfe ever. Two shorter novels in one book: How Wolfe obtains three rare, black orchids, and then what he uses them for later. Absolutely fantastic, and Archie at his best.

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Aug 16, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You just can't go wrong with a Nero Wolfe. This one was great! A comprisal of two very loosely connected short stories, a fun and easy read. I particularly liked the second story.Mm

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About Rex Stout

Rex Todhunter Stout (December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American crime writer, best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the detective genius from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975 (A Family Affair).

The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated...more

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The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolfe, #2)

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Black Orchids (Nero Wolfe #9)

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