Had to force myself to finish this book...so slow and uninterestingg. ( )

Bantam has been reissuing Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novels in groups of two-novels-in-one-volume for some time now, and I've been picking them up as I find them. Black Orchids (1942) is paired with 1946's The Silent Speaker, which will be my next Wolfe mystery; this review concerns only the former. Black Orchids is, I believe, unusual in the Wolfe canon in that it's actually two novellas rather than one mystery; the stories are vaguely linked by the rare flower which provides the title. In "Black Orchids," Wolfe is lured out of his West 35th Street den to a flower show, at which a rare display of black orchids is a highlight. Another highlight, especially for Archie Goodwin, is a young woman who is part of a picnic tableau used to enliven another floral display; when her male partner in the tableau turns up dead, it's up to Wolfe to solve the crime. In "Cordially Invited to Meet Death," a society lady known for her professional party organizing skills comes to Nero Wolfe to ask him to find out who is sending poison pen letters, hinting at gossipy misdeeds on her part that could ruin her socially; Wolfe is not interested, but when the woman suffers a particularly nasty death as a result of tetanus infection, he is drawn to find the solution despite himself. Both novellas feature Archie's wit and Wolfe's acerbic bite, and both are fairly plotted and clued; as always with Mr. Stout's magnificent creation, recommended!

I decided to read two Nero Wolfe novels back to back, to see if any of it gets stale from repetition; I'm happy to report that, no, it doesn't. In The Silent Speaker, from 1946, Wolfe is engaged by the rather appalling NIA (the National Industrial Association, a collection of wealthy industrialists, who of course have no scruples or ethics to speak of) to solve the murder of the head of the Bureau of Price Regulation, the government body attempting to regulate the business activities of those same wealthy men, with attention, naturally, to proving the NIA innocent and making them look good too. When a second person is murdered practically at Wolfe's doorstep, he must pull out all the stops to sort out the nefarious from the more nefarious amongst this collection of rogues....Lovely, as always. I'm very pleased that Bantam is reissuing this series, and can't wait for the next one(s) to show up! Recommended. ( )