Reviews and Commentary
- Julian Symons, Manchester Evening News (April 5, 1951) — In the fight to the death between master-detective and master-criminal the most ingenious and unlikely subterfuges are used. … All this is very improbable. It is the art of Mr. Stout to make it seem plausible. … Holmes was a fully realized character. There is only a handful of his successors to whom that compliment can be paid. One of them, certainly, is Nero Wolfe.
- J. Kenneth Van Dover, At Wolfe's Door — The reader is more affected by the reactions of the detective than by the actions of the criminal — even those of a criminal mastermind. This suggests both the special strength and the special weakness of the Wolfe series. The murder of Mrs. Rackham is poorly motivated, but Wolfe's solution of the case is neat. Archie continues his dalliance with Lily Rowan. And there is a sign of changing times when the Rackham house party turns down the lights and devotes itself to watching three television programs. After 1950, it seems, the inquiring detective cannot depend upon an evening of revealing conversation with the upper class.
Read more about this topic: In The Best Families
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