The Red Box [Paperback]

Rex Stout (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1982)
• ASIN: B000Z0SLH4
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my top 3 Rex Stout Nero Wolfe favorites!, February 4, 2006

By 

April A. Zalat (Seattle, WA - USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Box (Paperback)

This is one of my top three favorite Rex Stout Nero Wolfe mysteries! Plot about a murder brought about by eating poisoned chocolates (later, poisoned aspirins), and due to the circumstances, motive is terribly difficult to determine because it's not certain the victim was the intended victim. Very non-cooperative characters - maddeningly so, sprinkled with those telling partial truths and withholding helpful information. The most difficult of clients ever, and the mystery so difficult one fears Wolfe won't pull off another miraculous solution. Many red herrings and twists and turns, very hard to figure out how it's going to turn out. Wolfe, Archie, Fritz, Cramer in their usual entertaining forms; excellent story, enjoyable! If you haven't already read this one, treat yourself to it!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Early Wolfe: works well despite the rough edges, October 9, 2005

By 

J. Carroll "Jack" (Island Heights,NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Red Box (Audio Cassette)

A nice complex mystery, one of Wolfe's better stunts, and Archie in full annoyance mode, makes THE RED BOX a nice addition to the Wolfe oeuvre. Whenever Wolfe leaves the office, bad things are bound to happen, but having to go to a fashion designer's workplace, albeit at the request of some of NY's top orchid growers, to investigate a murder, makes Wolfe more than a little grumpy and things go from bad to worse. As this is an early Wolfe mystery fans will find a few things not in line with the later more polished work; Archie lacks the sophistication we see later in the series and there is particularly unfortunate episode of police brutality that accepted as par for the course by all parties involved. But it is a good mystery with a few more twists than some of the more formulaic Wolfe stories.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fourth Outing, October 12, 2004

By 

John P Bernat (Kingsport, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Box, The (Mass Market Paperback)

This one has been criticized as being "overwritten."

To a degree, this criticism is merited. There is a particularly melodramatic death scene, and that does make this book a little more resemble the crime movies of the era (1936).

However, Stout takes some pains to work against sterotype in this one, and Wolfe actually visits a crime scene for the first time in the series. Archie prefigures his work in "Too Many Women," and the settings are drawn very, very carefully.

I like it, but among the first ten stories, it's one of the most sentimental and romantic. If you like that style, you'll love this book. If you like hard-boiled, there's less of that to be found here.