This Nero Wofe novella collection published in 1956 contained Nero Wolfe stories originally published in 1954 and 1955.
“The Next Witness” finds Wolfe called as a witness to a peripheral matter in a murder trial. While being out and watching the trial, he becomes convinced that the prosecution’s case is wrong and leaves the courtroom with Archie, with going on the run from the law while Wolfe tries to find the truth.
“The Next Witness” is truly a top notch story and it shows Wolfe at his wiliest and most resourceful as he’s forced to stay in a strange house, travel around in a car, and question witnesses in strange places. The payoff scene in the courtroom is a brilliant strategem.
Rating: Very Satisfactory
“When a Man Murders”-
This is Nero Wolfe’s Enoch Arden case as a millionaire husband returns from after being declared Killed in Action in the Army. However, the wife has a new husband and needs Wolfe’s help in trying to reason with the old one. When the old husband’s found murdered and suspicion falls on the couple that benefits most, Wolfe is hired to investigate. The Enoch Arden plot has been done quite a bit in mystery fiction. This one is fairly well thought out.
Rating: Satisfactory
“Die Like a Dog”
A man accidentally takes Archie’s coat rather than his own. Archie goes to switch coats and finds homicide crawling detectives all over the scene and given his history, he leaves. However, a dog follows him home. Wolfe bends over backwards to try and keep the dog while making Archie the one to blame for it. However, Inspector Cramer throws a monkey wrench it when its revealed the dog belongs to the man murdered at the apartment.
This one is good for the characterization as Wolfe’s interplay with the dog is definitely a humanizing factor. The solution seems pretty simple in retrospect but if you read the whole story with everyone walking around it, it seems clever by the time you reach it.
Rating: Satisfactory
The last two stories are above average but the Next Witness is enough to carry the collection to:
Rating: Very Satisfactory
You can find all the Nero Wolfe books in Kindle, Audiobook, and book form on our Nero Wolfe page.
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