4/9/22

This is my second copy of this book. I rarely keep double copies, but my first copy is wearing out, and I love it too much to be without it. originally this was the copy in my new Haven apartment and the other copy was my parents' copy. See the review of the other copy. ( )

This collection contains thee stories -- one about the murder or suicide of an opera star who lost his voice, one about the murder of an inventor, and one about a murderer whose disguise is accidentally penetrated during a visit to see Nero Wolfe's orchids. The first one is one of my absolute favorites, involving very nice loving couple (half of which I the widow of the victim).The third story is just a bit kinky --one of the few stories that remind me of Stout's pre-Wolfe phase as the :American Kraft-Ebbing." ( )

I really think that Stout shone in the novella form. These are no exception. ( )

Curtains for Three is the next in Rex Stout's series of Nero Wolfe stories; as with some previous books, it's actually three novellas (from 1948, 1949 and 1950) packaged into one book following their publications in various magazines of the day. This outing includes "The Gun With Wings," wherein an operatic tenor is found dead, an apparent suicide, except that the couple who found the body, his wife and her friend who have just mutually discovered their love for each other, found no gun at the body's feet, as the police later did find; in order to keep their love pure and open, they appeal to Nero Wolfe to find out what really happened to her husband so that they will be free of nagging doubts that one of them murdered him. In "Bullet for One," a man with a lot of enemies is shot dead while riding his horse in the early morning in Central Park; five of the six suspects believe the sixth man is the culprit, but he's got an ironclad alibi.... And "Disguise for Murder" features a murderer audaciously attacking and killing a victim in Nero Wolfe's own house, nay, in his very office! You see, a garden reporter for the newspaper has persuaded Wolfe to permit members of the Garden Society to visit his beloved orchids, and so Wolfe is confronted with a packed house, half of which are, gasp, women, and when one of them turns up dead, it's up to Wolfe to discover the killer, if only to make sure that Inspector Cramer will unseal his office pronto so that he can get back to being comfortable again in it.... All of these are fairly slight, as befits the novella form for the most part, but again, they were all fun to read. As always, recommended! ( )