Customer Reviews

Death Times Three

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All three of the stories herein were previously published in different forms, one of which wasn't even a Wolfe story.

"Assault on a Brownstone" - Rewrite of "Counterfeit for Murder" from _Homicide Trinity_. Hattie Annis, who operates a rooming house in New York City, found some counterfeit money and wants a reward, but the case quickly turns into a murder investigation.

"Frame-Up for Murder" - Expanded rewrite of "Murder Is No Joke" from _And Four To Go_. Flora Gallant, the sister of famous dress designer Alec Gallant, hires Wolfe and Archie to break Bianca Voss' mysterious hold over her brother. While questioning an interested party via telephone, Wolfe and Archie hear a murder - or do they? Was it genuine, or was the killer playing games to mess up the time of death?

"Bitter End" - 11-12 July, 1939. Take the plot and cast of Stout's Tecumseh Fox novel _Bad for Business_, replace Fox with Archie and Wolfe, and cut it down to a short story. The entry into the story is different, of course, since Amy Duncan isn't the focus; Wolfe is served with some of the quinine-tainted Tingley's products and takes it as an insult.

Death Times Three is not a complete novel, but rather a collection of 3 short stories, 'Bitter End', 'Frame-up For Murder' and 'Assault on a Brownstone'.
The best is 'Bitter End' where Nero Wolfe is determined to find the culprit who has been tampering with his favorite brand of pate. If he solves a murder in the meantime that's just a bonus.
Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories are an interesting mix of American and British mystery writing. Nero Wolf is an eccentric loner in the British tradition of Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. The stories are narrated by Wolfe's sidekick Archie Goodwin, similar to Poirot's Captain Hastings. However the character and narrative manner of Goodwin is more in the line of the American tradition of Phillip Marlowe, and the Continental-Op.

This edition has the hard to find "Bitter End" and the last Wolfe novel which was printed after he died, "Assault on a Brownstone". Annie