Where There's a Will

Rex Stout

The unpredictable, wealthy Hawthorne sisters and their lawyer arrange to meet with Nero Wolfe. Their brother died in a hunting accident. When his will was read, they were shocked at its provisions. Almost all his money was left to his mistress. One sister, May, was certain there was something wrong. The others, June and April, just want to get things settled. They want Mr. Wolfe to intervene with the mistress to relinquish part of the inheritance to their brother's widow.

As he begins the negotiations, the police come to him while the sisters and mistress are at his residence. It seems Mr. Hawthorne was murdered. He had not accidently shot himself as originally thought. Suddenly the will's provisions take second place. Now Nero Wolfe is requested to find a murderer.

In this novel, the unexpected happens. Nero Wolfe leaves his home and office! Even his secretary/right hand man, Archie Goodwin, is surprised. Wolfe meets a family that is as eccentric as he is. He has to sift through the different stories, denials, and confessions to discover the truth.

This is one of those novels that makes you understand why Nero Wolfe is such a popular character. This is a good, classic mystery, with twists up to the very end. Archie's narrative adds to the overall depiction of the story.

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

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett