Fer-de-Lance (Nero Wolfe, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 17, 2015 Judy rated it liked it

Just adding a note in January 2017 to the start of my review from 2015 to say I clearly liked this book more than I thought I did at the time, as I've gone on to read several more Rex Stout books since and now want to read them all! I also now love his writing style. The rest of this is my original review:

I'd heard good things about Rex Stout, but must admit I was rather disappointed with this book, the first in his classic series about overweight detective Nero Wolfe and his sidekick Archie Goo Just adding a note in January 2017 to the start of my review from 2015 to say I clearly liked this book more than I thought I did at the time, as I've gone on to read several more Rex Stout books since and now want to read them all! I also now love his writing style. The rest of this is my original review:

I'd heard good things about Rex Stout, but must admit I was rather disappointed with this book, the first in his classic series about overweight detective Nero Wolfe and his sidekick Archie Goodwin. My rating is really 2 1/2 stars, if anyone cares!

The 1930s New York setting immediately grabbed me, but quite a lot of the book is set within the house where Wolfe spends all his time, eating gargantuan meals and admiring his collection of orchids. I'll admit I found some of these sections rather boring and in general found it hard to warm to Wolfe and his roundabout style of conversation. For me the book comes alive when Archie goes out of the house and into the streets and speakeasies.

Archie's cynical first-person narrative contains some great one-liners, but overall the writing style is rather stodgy compared to Hammett or Chandler and sometimes gets a bit repetitive.

I've been told by Wolfe fans that this is one of the lesser books, so I may try another - but I do have some problems with this one which involve spoilers, detailed below.

(view spoiler)

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Jun 14, 2018 Karen rated it liked it

Rex Stout is an author that I had planned to read years ago. Finally, I got around to reading this. I liked this first book. Will I read any others? I don't know. Nero Wolfe is a genius living in New York City during the 1930s. Wolfe has an assistant, named Archie Goodwin who narrates the book and takes care of all the leg work in his investigations, since Wolfe refuses to leave his brownstone house on 35th street. ...more

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Jun 18, 2023 Nanosynergy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, series, mysteries-thrillers-espionage, british, fiction-1930s, 2023read

First book in the Nero Wolfe series.

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May 19, 2009 Pam rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery, 2009

Well, I certainly do not feel the need to run right out and read this whole series. It was "okay" at best. It was very hard to appreciate Nero Wolfe's "genius" at solving a case when he never leaves his home. To some, this may be a sure sign of genius but it just really bugged me.

At least I can cross it off of the grand TBR list now.
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