Robert Goldsborough

Archie goes undercover to try to figure out why a Broadway producer/director is getting bad feelings about his new production. When the producer is murdered, Archie becomes a suspect in the case.

At first, Nero Wolfe is interested in a limited way. He was convinced to take the case at the request of a fellow orchid grower who has recently received a unique orchid which Wolfe covets. He agrees to solve the crime in return for three of the rare orchids.

Archie had interviewed all the potential suspects in his persona as a writer for a Canadian theater journal, but now Nero Wolfe wants to see each suspect in his office. It is a small cast but filled with big Broadway personalities from the star who will do anything to win a Tony, to a Hollywood movie star making his Broadway debut, to an old pro character actor on his last legs, to a couple of young actors playing the romantic leads.

This was an entertaining audiobook filled with interesting characters. I enjoyed the historical setting. I also enjoyed the plot and the relationship between Nero Wolfe and his right-hand man Archie Goodwin.… (mer)

I was a bit trepidatious about trying this book having read all of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books (though there still may be a few short stories that I missed). Overall, I would say Goldsborough did a decent job of capturing the flavor of Stout's characters but was a bit more wordy than Stout was, especially in the wrap-up after the case had been solved.

A note to Stout fans - don't read this if you haven't yet read Stout's "A Family Affair"! This book talks about the ending of that final full length novel in the original Nero Wolfe series in some detail (which, if you have read it, makes sense).… (mer)

A new Nero Wolfe story is concerned with the death of Lester Pierce who is a crusader and reformer who wants to change the police department. Inspector Lionel Cramer of the NYPD Homicide division has been a particular target of the reformer. He's been put on leave and Captain George Rowcliff has become his replacement.

Neither Wolfe nor Archie are looking forward to working with Rowcliff but they don't have a client to encourage them to investigate. Cramer's sergeant comes to ask Wolfe and Archie to look into the case but he doesn't have the money to hire them. Archie begins to investigate and discovers a bunch of potential suspects including the "other woman." the mob, and others.

When Wolfe finally decides to get involved, it brings some changes to his normal pattern. He doesn't have a client and the climax has him actually leaving his home for the reveal of the villain.

Goldsborough does an excellent job recreating Rex Stout's characters. They sound and act just like the originals. L. J. Ganser does a great job narrating the story. He does an excellent job with Archie as the narrator.… (mer)

I have a general rule that I don't read series continuations — books written by another writer who may or may not have been chosen by the original author. I just don't enjoy them as much as the original series. The one exception I've ever made is Goldsborough's continuation of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series, and only because I love the world and characters that Stout brought to life too much too say goodbye forever. And the Goldsboroughs are not, in fact, as good as Stout's originals, though he tries mightily (too hard, probably) to evoke the same atmosphere and snappy dialogue. Lately he's hit on a formula that has him revisiting the series' heyday of the 1950s and these do work somewhat better than the ones he set in the modern world (Stout died in 1975, so the descriptions of Archie Goodwin using a personal computer in the first Goldsborough book, [Murder in E Minor], was jarring to say the least). This one involves a senator being assassinated at a baseball game, and it's fine. It's not my Archie and Nero, but it's fine.… (mer)