Customer Reviews

Before Midnight

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Berfore Midnight is classic Rex Stout. Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe are called in by the operators of a national contest when the contestants use murder to achieve a winning edge. Stout at his best: Archie is witty and urbane and Wolfe his usual self. Highly recommend to fans of Rex Stout. Tightly written with a good mystery.

If you're interested in an audio edition, the unabridged recording narrated by Michael Pritchard is good. I look forward to the day A&E adapts it for the TV series.

The advertising firm Lippert, Buff, and Assa (LBA) lost the creativity that made them successful when Lippert died some years ago. Their best hope was a rising young star, Louis Dahlmann, who named a new perfume for Heery Products, Inc., one of their best clients: Pour Amour. He also came up "the biggest prize contest in history": each week for 20 weeks, a new 4-line verse appeared in newspapers and magazines, describing a woman in history known to have used cosmetics. He also wrote the verses to break the first tie (72 people) and now the 2nd and last tie (5 people, who were brought to New York to receive the verses from Dahlmann personally). Unfortunately, along with his creativity, Dahlmann had a wild streak; after handing out the verses, he brandished a paper from his wallet, saying it had the answers, and he mustn't accidentally give it to anyone. Within twelve hours, he was found shot dead in his apartment, the wallet and paper both gone.

The next morning, the members of the firm arrive at Wolfe's office, and they don't care who killed Dahlmann. They want Wolfe to extract them from the wreckage this will make of the contest, by finding out what happened to the paper before midnight, April 20th (the last contestant's deadline), so they can scrap the existing questions and come up with new ones.

But of course, as Inspector Cramer points out soon afterward, it'll be difficult to catch the thief without exposing the murderer.

The idea of woman-hating Wolfe getting involved with a perfume contest is in itself worth reading. (Some of the verses are given, and the later ones are nice puzzles.) The five contestants are well-drawn characters, all quite different, some likeable, some not. The members of the firm verge on hysterical, calling Wolfe for progress reports at all hours of the day and issuing conflicting orders. And of course, the mystery: Dahlmann, a womanizer, possibly a threat to some or all of the senior partners, and (last but not least) the verses (if that's what was on the paper). All leading up to the climactic confrontation in Wolfe's office with all the suspects - which doesn't come off quite as usual.

I've wondered whether Michael Pritchard and Rex Stout ever met.

He interprets Stout's work with such insight and feeling. In this book, Stout confronts another of the 1950s institutions: the advertising business and the "big contest" approach to promoting products.

An advertising firm runs a million-dollar contest to promote perfume. The finalists have been asked to determine which perfume-using historical figure is depicted in some rhymes. The writer of the rhymes teases the finalists by flashing the answers, and is later found dead.

It's historically interesting to note that, strictly speaking, Stout anticipated the quiz show scandals a few years after this story's time (1955). To learn more about this, get the wonderful DVD "Quiz Show," which deconstructs this era with great insight and empathy.

But man, that Michael Pritchard. I have some Nero Wolfes read by others, but Pritchard got it right for sure.

The plot is ingenious, surrounding an advertising agent and its perfume contest. This scenario gives Stout ample opportunity to present greed and jealousy as a motive from suspect to suspect to suspect, and I did find myself wondering "whodunit" and how until the murderer's identity was finally revealed. There's also a wonderfully witty plot twist at the end that made me smile. And I also came away thinking that Robert Parker should curl up with a few Wolfe mysteries. I used to love his Spenser books, but now the banter between Spenser and Hawk and Spenser and Susan has become tired, old, and often childish. Rex Stout manages to take the familiar characters and remain both true to the interpersonal relationships (Wolfe/Archie, Archie/Stebbins, Wolfe/Cramer, etc.) and consistently entertaining and readable. Stout is a master of this genre and perhaps it's unreasonable to expect another author to reach such heights.

It would be great to see this one brought to life by A&E (if they had not abandoned one of the classiest TV productions of the last five years). The greatness that was old New York was so deftly portrayed by Rex Stout and, I guess, he could be forgiven for romanticizing it a wee bit.

Live in the ethereal world of orchids, brownstones, fine food and - ahem - no women in his literature.

I'm a little out of step with the other reviewers in that I don't think this is one of Stout's better Nero Wolfe mysteries. It was written in 1955, well after his prime period. For me, Wolfe belongs in the New York of the 1930s and 1940s. There are some good points: Archie Goodwin's narration is well done and he gets off enough good lines that you will have a few chuckles. My main problem is that the mystery and the characters just aren't very interesting. There are nine suspects, most of whom are rather bland. Because there are so many of them, there isn't space for any of them to appear for more than a brief period. Although one of the women suspects is described as being attractive, Stout passes on his frequent gambit of having Archie take a romantic interest in her. The resolution of the mystery is also unsatisfying as it turns out that X had a grudge against Y that would have been difficult for the reader to figure out. In other words, I don't think Stout really plays fair with the reader on this one.

This edition contains a brief introduction by Robert Crais that spells out nicely what I guess we all knew: Archie, not Wolfe, is the key to the success of these books. So, if you are Wolfe fan and haven't yet read this one, it's worth picking up. If you are new to Wolfe, go back and get one of the earlier books from the 1930s or 1940s. Bantam has recently begun to reissue those in a new format that combines two books in one volume. They are definitely more of a bargain than these somewhat pricey "Rex Stout Library" editions.

I haven't found a Nero Wolfe mystery that I didn't love. You are totally lost in the story unfolding...

Unlike most Rex Stout books, at the end of this one you and Archie are left with questions. It was a page turner with Archie at his best.

Spoiler alert: They have a roadster which Archie and Saul drive. There is also a sedan in the garage? What is going on?

The fasion statements are extrodinary in this one. Descriptions are better than ever.

The introduction by Robert Crais was both clarifying and challenging. I actually checked other mysteries to check his viewpoint.

Great read.

Very good Nero. Reads as you would expect. Biggest problem is that the sale price was too much

Been looking for this book for awhile. Good price, good description on the condition of book and timely shipping.