book review

Death of a Dude

Rex Stout

8/18/2004

Archie Goodwin has been on vacation in Montana. His lady friend, Lily Rowan, owns a ranch there. This summer, a dude was murdered after he was there 3 days. Lily's foreman has been accused and jailed for the murder. She and Archie are certain that Harvey Greve had not killed the man who had caused trouble in his family's life the summer before.

Goodwin sends a letter to Nero Wolfe. Goodwin is taking a leave of absence and staying in Montana until Greve is exonerated. Goodwin is determined to find the real murderer. He tells Wolfe that the other men in Wolfe's loose knit group can sub for him until he finishes. Instead, Wolfe shows up in Montana within the week. Soon, both of them are looking for the killer of the dude from St. Louis. The only person who appears to have a motive is Greve, the man they are certain is innocent.

Nero Wolfe in backwoods Montana - it expands the imagination, doesn't it! Yet the city-bred Wolfe carries it off with panache. The mystery is misleading. Presumably the reader is not supposed to try to solve it, because the resolution came out of left field. The writing is good; the characters feel real. Rex Stout is one of our classic mystery authors. Despite the mystery twist this is one to enjoy.

You can find more about this book at .

The Series:

Fer-de-Lance
The League of the Frightened Men
The Rubber Band
The Red Box
Too Many Cooks
Some Buried Caeser
Over My Dead Body
Where There's a Will
Black Orchids
Not Quite Dead Enough
The Silent Speaker
Too Many Women
And Be a Villain
The Second Confession
Trouble in Triplicate
In the Best Families
Three Doors to Death
Curtains for Three
Murder by the Book
Triple Jeopardy
Prisoner's Base
The Golden Spiders
Three Men Out
The Black Mountain
Before Midnight
Three Witnesses
Might As Well Be Dead
If Death Ever Slept
Three for the Chair
Champagne for One
And Four to Go
Plot It Yourself
Too Many Clients
Three at Wolfe's Door
The Final Deduction
Gambit
Homicide Trinity
The Mother Hunt
A Right to Die
Trio for Blunt Instruments
The Doorbell Rang
The Death of a Doxy
The Father Hunt
Death of a Dude
Please Pass the Guilt
A Family Affair
Death Times Three

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book review, Death of a Dude, Rex Stout, murder mystery, Montant

book review