Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Two years after Wolfe's retirement, his past returns with deadly intent It wasn't Nero Wolfe's idea for Orrie Cather to kill himself, but the great detective gave his blessing to his longtime associate's plan. Cather had killed three people, and it was only fair to pay the price. Though Wolfe reacted to Cather's death with his characteristic calmness, prize assistant Archie Goodwin could see the rotund genius of West Thirty-Fifth Street was shaken to his well-fed core. Wolfe decided his sleuthing days were finished. The detective's retirement lasts until the day Maria Radovich walks through his townhouse door. She is the daughter of Milos Stefanovic, New York Symphony conductor and long-ago compatriot of Wolfe's. Like Wolfe, Stefanovic spent his youth as a freedom fighter in the mountains of Montenegro. The conductor has been receiving death threats, and Wolfe agrees to come out of retirement to help his old friend. But before he can attack the case, Stefanovic is murdered, and for the first time in years, Wolfe and Goodwin must go to war. "A loving, knowledgeable, mightily pleasing recreation." -Kirkus Reviews "Wolfe in all his glorious splendor. . . . The book plays strictly by the rules that Stout established." -Chicago Tribune "It is fun once again to enter the brownstone on West 35th Street. . . . Wolfe] is as insufferably omniscient as ever." -The New York Times Robert Goldsborough (b. 1937) is an American author best known for continuing Rex Stout's famous Nero Wolfe series. Born in Chicago, he attended Northwestern University and upon graduation went to work for the Associated Press, beginning a lifelong career in journalism that would include long periods at the Chicago Tribune and Advertising Age. While at the Tribune, Goldsborough began writing mysteries in the voice of Rex Stout, the creator of iconic sleuths Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Goldsborough's first novel starring Wolfe, Murder in E Minor (1986), was met with acclaim from both critics and devoted fans, winning a Nero Award from the Wolfe Pack. Nine more Wolfe mysteries followed, including Death on Deadline (1987) and Fade to Black (1990). His most recent book is Stop the Presses (2016).
Synopsis
Iconic sleuth Nero Wolfe returns to track down the murderer of a New York Symphony Orchestra conductor in this Nero Award-winning mystery.
Ever since disgraced associate Orrie Cather's suicide, armchair detective Nero Wolfe has relished retirement in his Manhattan brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street. Two years after Cather's death, only a visit from Maria Radovich--and the urging of Wolfe's prize assistant, Archie Goodwin--could draw the eccentric and reclusive genius back into business. Maria's uncle, New York Symphony Orchestra conductor Milan Stevens, formerly known as Milos Stefanovic, spent his youth alongside Wolfe as a fellow freedom fighter in the mountains of Montenegro. And now that the maestro has been receiving death threats, Wolfe can't turn his back on the compatriot who once saved his life.
Though her uncle has dismissed the menacing letters, Maria fears they're more than the work of a harmless crank. But before Wolfe can attack the case, Stevens is murdered. The accused is the orchestra's lead violinist, whose intimate relationship with Maria hit more than a few sour notes in her uncle's professional circle. But Wolfe knows that when it comes to murder, nothing is so simple--especially when there are so many suspects, from newspaper critics and ex-lovers to an assortment of shady musicians.
Now, in this award-winning novel that carries on the great tradition of Rex Stout, the irascible and immovable Nero Wolfe is back in the game, listening for clues and ready to go to war to find a killer.
Murder in E Minor is the 48th book in the Nero Wolfe Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.