I love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories. It must be difficult to recreate an author's style if not content, so it was with great trepidation that I began this galley written by Robert Goldsborough. It's supposed to be a sort of prequel, explaining how Archie came to be in the employee of Wolfe and in this tale of Wolfe involvement in a kidnapping we meet all the regulars including Orrie, Fred, Saul and a couple of others Goldsborough needed to make the story work. He notes in a note where all the characters originally appeared, and, the kidnapping itself was referenced in one of Wolfe's early books.
There were a couple of oddities. For example, Wolfe gives each his telephone number and Archie dutifully writes it down right after Goldsborough has made a point of how Archie has such an eiditic aural memory. So why would he have to pull out the note later when he had to call Wolfe? The exchanges between Wolfe and Cramer are spot on; the repostes with Archie less so.
Nevertheless, it's a fun read, very enjoyable that fits coherently with the rest of the stories.
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