BlackHat Mystery BookstoreRex Stout
[1886-1975]
and Nero Wolfe
 |
short profile
Nero Wolfe books
| ![Rex Stout [1886-1975] with full beard](images/rexstout-plaid.jpg "Rex Stout [1886-1975] with full beard") |
Rex Todhunter Stout was born 1 December 1886 in Noblesville, Indiana to Quaker parents. Soon afterward, the family moved to Wakarusa, Kansas, where he became known as a math prodigy. He briefly attended Kansas University before enlisting in the Navy, where he spent two years as a warrant officer aboard Theodore Roosevelt's presidential yacht. He left the Navy in 1908, travelling and working a variety of jobs until devising and implementing a school savings system which was implemented in 400 districts around the country, making him a wealthy man.
In 1927, he retired from the financial world and left for Paris, France to pursue a writing career; he wrote & published three novels before returning to the U.S. He designed and built a house that straddled the New York / Connecticut state line (near Brewster, New York), calling it 'High Meadow'. He then began writing detective fiction; the first Nero Wolfe novel, "Fer-de-Lance", was published in 1934. In all, the Nero Wolfe tales included 33 novels and 41 novelettes.
During World War II, he opposed Nazism as chair of the War Writer's Board, as emcee of the "Speaking of Liberty" radio program, and as member of several national committees. After the war, he fought against the use of nuclear weapons, was an active leader in the Author's Guild, and resumed writing Nero Wolfe novels.
Rex Stout died 27 October 1975 at the age of 88, a month after publication of his 72nd Nero Wolfe mystery, "A Family Affair".
Rex Stout entry at Wikipedia
browse Rex Stout Store at Amazon
browse Rex Stout audio catalog at Amazon
Rex Stout movie/tv credits [since 1934] at Internet Movie Database
Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin
Mystery Series
browse Rex Stout Store at Amazon
“Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says
'Satisfactory, Archie'. It's childish.” — in "The Silent Speaker", 1946
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Fer-de-Lance" [#1 = 1934]
 | When Wolfe & Archie get close to solving the murders of an immigrant and a college president, their quarry turns a poisonous snake loose in Wolfe's office.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [1/97] for $6.50 Mystery Masters UNABR audio CD [5/2004] for $29.95 |
"The League of Frightened Men" [#2 = 1935]
 | A tragic college prank many years prior has left a group of men tied together by guilt; a reunion brings sudden death and a string of threatening letters.
Bantam 8½x5½ pb [1/95] for $19.00 Bantam Crimeline mass pb [1/92] out of print/used Mystery Masters UNABR audio CD [7/2004] for $26.56 |
"The Rubber Band" [#3 = 1936]
 | What appears to be a clean case of larceny soon turns into a quagmire of blackmail and broken promises, with the life of Wolfe's client at stake.
Bantam 8½x5½ pb [4/95] for $15.00 Bantam Crimeline mass pb [1/82] out of print/used |
"The Red Box" [#4 = 1937]
 | What at first appears to be an accidental poisoning drags Wolfe & Archie away from the brownstone to New York's murderous fashion industry.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [1/92] out of print/used |
"Too Many Cooks" [#5 = 1938]
 | Wolfe reluctantly travels to a meeting of the world's greatest chefs at a resort in West Virginia, where murder throws him into contention with inept local cops, uncooperative witnesses, and a ruthless killer.
Bantam 8½x5½ pb [11/95] for $15.00 Bantam Crimeline mass pb [7/88] out of print/used |
"Some Buried Caesar" [#6 = 1939]
 | A car accident strands Wolfe & Archie in the wilds north of Manhattan. When a local man is gored by a prize bull, the police conclude accident, but Wolfe is certain that the death was murder. {Includes Archie's first meeting with Lily Rowan.}
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [2/90] for $6.50 Jove mass pb [8/79] out of print/used |
"Over My Dead Body" [#7 = 1940]
 | A woman claiming to be Wolfe's daughter asks for help about missing diamonds, then a student at her fencing school is murdered during class.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [12/93] for $6.50 Mystery Masters audio CD [3/2007] for $19.77 |
"Where There's A Will" [#8 = 1940]
 | When a millionaire dies an untimely death, his three sisters are incensed that they each receive a piece of fruit while the estate goes to a stranger. And then Wolfe discovers that the death was not an accident . . .
Bantam 8x5&frac pb [3/95] for $15.00 Mystery Masters audio CD [10/2006] for $18.45 |
"Black Orchids" [#9 = 1942]
 | includes novellas 'Black Orchids': A rare black orchid draws Wolfe & Archie away from the brownstone to a garden show, where one of the exhibitors is murdered; and 'Cordially Invited To Meet Death': A woman receiving poison pen letters hires Wolfe and then dies of tetanus in his office.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [5/92] for $6.50 Bantam pb [4/82] out of print/used |
"Not Quite Dead Enough" [#10 = 1944]
 | includes novellas 'Not Quite Dead Enough': Archie, serving in the Army, is accused of the murder of a woman; & 'Booby Trap' :Wolfe solves the murder of an Army colonel.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [9/92] for $6.50 |
"The Silent Speaker" [#11 = June 1946]
 | Two brutal murders involve an industrial association, a government agency, and a missing tape recording.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [1/94] for $6.50 Viking hardcover [6/46] out of print/used |
"Too Many Women" [#12 = June 1947]
 | An executive at a large engineering firm is killed by a hit and run driver – was it an accident or murder?
Bantam mass pb [7/85] out of print/used Viking hardcover [6/47] out of print/used |
"And Be A Villain" [#13 = 1948]
 | aka 'More Deaths Than One' A guest on a radio show keels over after drinking the sponsor's soda pop. {Arch-nemesis Arnold Zeck is a factor.} Bantam Crimeline mass pb [2/94] for $6.50 Mystery Masters audio CD [12/2005] for $22.76 |
"Trouble In Triplicate" [#14 = June 1949]
 | includes novellas 'Before I Die': A crime boss brings Wolfe a blackmail case, before dying in a hail of bullets; and 'Help Wanted, Male': Wolfe declines to help an Army officer who has received a death threat; the officer is killed and then Wolfe recieves an identical letter {the Army assigns Major Archie to help on the case}; and 'Instead of Evidence': A man hires Wolfe to avenge his murder by his partner, and then dies from an exploding cigar.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [6/93] for $6.50 Viking hardcover [6/49] out of print/used |
"The Second Confession" [#15 = June 1949]
 | A tycoon hires Wolfe to investigate a prospective son-in-law, thinking him a Communist; mob boss Arnold Zeck orders Wolfe off the case; of course Wolfe refuses, so Zeck's men machine-gun Wolfe's rooftop orchid greenhouse.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [5/95] for $6.50 Viking hardcover [6/49] out of print/used Mystery Masters UNABR audio CD [2/2006] for $22.76 |
"Three Doors To Death" [#16 = June 1950]
 | includes novellas 'Man Alive': A young woman hires Wolfe because she saw her uncle alive in New York City after he committed suicide by jumping into a geyser at Yellowstone; and 'Omit Flowers': Wolfe's best friend asks for help to clear a once-great chef of an unfounded murder charge; and 'Door To Death': When his orchid-keeper takes a leave of absence, Wolfe attempts to hire a temporary replacement from a friend, and while there a nurse is found dead in the greenhouse.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [2/95] for $6.50 Viking hardcover [6/50] out of print/used |
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"In The Best Families" [#17 = 1950]
 | A woman hires Wolfe to find out why her husband suddenly has lots of money; Archie is present at a party where the woman is murdered; and when a letter bomb arrives at the brownstone from the most dangerous man in America (Arnold Zeck}, Wolfe flees for his life.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [1/95] for $6.50 Viking hardcover [6/50] out of print/used |
"Curtains For Three" [#18 = 1950]
 | includes novellas 'The Gun With Wings': An opera tenor was bashed in the throat by an irate father, possibly ruining his career, and his wife plans to leave him for a music critic, so his death by gunshot could be either suicide or homicide; and 'Bullet For One': A wealthy industrial designer is shot out of his saddle while riding in Central Park; and 'Disguise For Murder': Wolfe opens his orchid rooms to a garden club; when one of the visitors tries to hire Archie and is then murdered inside the brownstone, Wolfe is furious.
Bantam 8½x5½ pb [1/95] for $15.00 Bantam mass pb [11/94] out of print/used |
"Murder By The Book" [#19 = 1951]
 | Inspector Cramer asks for Wolfe's help in finding the killer of a man fished out of the Hudson River; the clues are a missing manuscript (the two people who read it are now dead), a Bible verse, and a list of names in the corpse's pocket.
Bantam 8½x5½ pb [9/95] for $19.00 Bantam Crimeline mass pb [9/88] out of print/used Mystery Masters audio CD [6/2006] for $19.77 |
"Triple Jeopardy" [#20 = 1952]
 |
includes novellas 'Home To Roost': A couple hire Wolfe to find out whether their nephew was murdered because he was a Communist or an undercover F.B.I. agent; and 'The Cop Killer': An immigrant couple working for Archie's barber panic when a policeman starts asking questions; they flee and then ask Wolfe for help; and 'The Squirt & The Monkey': Someone steals the pistol owned by the creator of a comic strip, he hires Wolfe & Archie, and then someone commits murder in his home and leaves the gun inside a monkey's cage.
Bantam 8½x5½ pb [1/95] for $15.00 Bantam Crimeline mass pb [3/93] out of print/used |
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Prisoner's Base" [#21 = 1952]
 | An heiress tries to hire Wolfe, and that night she and her maid are strangled; later, the heiress's ditzy best friend calls Archie for help, but he cannot prevent her being the third victim.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [10/92] for $6.50 Viking hardcover [6/52] out of print/used |
"The Golden Spiders" [#22 = 1953]
 | A small boy hires Wolfe for pennies, and then is killed in a hit-and-run; a woman hires Wolfe but gives no details, and then she too dies violently.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [6/95] for $6.50 Bantam mass pb [4/84] out of print/many used Viking hardcover [6/53] out of print/used |
"Three Men Out" [#23 = 1954]
includes 'Invitation To Murder', 'The Zero Clue', 'This Won't Kill You'
"The Black Mountain" [#24 = 1954]
"Before Midnight" [#25 = 1955]
"Three Witnesses" [#26 = 1956]
includes 'The Next Witness', 'When A Man Murders', 'Die Like A Dog'
"Might As Well Be Dead" [#27 = 1956]
"If Death Ever Slept" [#28 = 1957]
"Three For The Chair" [#29 = 1957]
includes 'A Window For Death', 'Immune To Murder', 'Too Many Detectives'
"Frame-Up For Murder" [#30 = 1958]
"And Four To Go" [#31 = 1958]
includes 'Christmas Party', 'Easter Parade', 'Fourth of July Picnic', 'Murder Is No Joke'
"Champagne For One" [#32 = 1958]
"Plot It Yourself" [#33 = 1959]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Three At Wolfe's Door" [#34 = June 1960]
 | includes novellas 'Poison a la Carte': A gourmand society invites Wolfe's chef Fritz to provide a dinner; one of the guests dies of arsenic poisoning; and 'Method Three For Murder': A female cab driver arrives on Wolfe's doorstep with a dead woman in the back seat;; and 'The Rodeo Murder': Lily Rowan hosts a party at her penthouse apartment during a rodeo at Madison Square Garden; someone steals a cowboy's rope and strangles the rodeo manager.
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [8/95] for $6.50 Viking hardcover [6/60] out of print/used |
"Too Many Clients" [#35 = 1960]
 | A businessman hires Wolfe and then is murdered at a construction site; Archie locates the man's apartment, a love nest visited by a string of beautiful women with door keys . . .
Bantam Crimeline mass pb [4/94] out of print/used |
"The Final Deduction" [#36 = 1961]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Homicide Trinity" [#37 = 1962]
includes 'Eeny Meeny Murder Mo', 'Death of A Demon', 'Counterfeit For Murder'
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Gambit" [#38 = 1961]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"The Mother Hunt" [#39 = 1963]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Trio For Blunt Instruments" [#40 = 1964]
includes 'Kill Now-Pay Later', 'Murder Is Corny', 'Blood Will Tell'
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"A Right To Die" [#41 = 1964]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"The Doorbell Rang" [#42 = 1965]
see A&E TV movie adaptation below
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Death of A Doxy" [#43 = 1966]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"The Father Hunt" [#44 = 1968]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Death of A Dude" [#45 = 1969]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Please Pass The Guilt" [#46 = 1973]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"A Family Affair" [#47 = 1975]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Death Times Three" [#48 = 1985]
includes 'Bitter End', 'Frame-Up For Murder', 'Assault On A Brownstone'
Nero Wolfe Omnibus Editions
 | "The Nero Wolfe Omnibus" [#1 = 1944] includes novels 'The Red Box' and 'The League of Frightened Men' Amereon 9x6 hardcover [6/95] for $30.94 World Publng/Forum Books 8½x6 hardcover [1944] out of print/used |
 | "The Nero Wolfe Primer" [orig 1952, Mystery Guild Lost Classics 1975] includes novels 'And Be A Villain' and 'Champagne For One', and novelettes 'Black Orchids' and 'Cordially Invited To Meet Death' Mystery Guild 8¼x5½ hardcover [1952] out of print/50+ used |
 |
"Full House: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus" [#2 = 1955] includes two full-length novels: 'The League of Frightened Men' and 'To Be A Villain', and 3 short stories from 'Curtains For Three': 'The Gun With Wings', 'Bullet For One' and 'Disguise For Murder' Viking hardcover [6/55] out of print/many used |
includes novels 'Some Buried Caesar' and 'Too Many Women',
novelettes 'Before I Die', 'Help Wanted, Male', and 'Instead of Evidence'
"Five of A Kind" [#4 = 1961]
includes novels 'The Rubber Band' and 'In The Best Families',
novelettes 'Man Alive', 'Omit Flowers', and 'Door To Death'
"Royal Flush: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus" [#5 = 1965]
includes novels 'Fer-de-Lance' and 'Murder By The Book',
novelettes 'Die Like A Dog', 'The Next Witness', and 'When A Man Murders'
Viking hardcover [7/65] out of print/used
"Kings Full of Aces: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus" [#6 = 1969]
includes novels 'Many Cooks' and 'Plot It Yourself',
novelettes 'Home To Roost', 'The Cop-Killer', and 'The Squirt and The Monkey'
Viking hardcover [6/69] out of print/used
"Three Aces: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus" [#7 = 1971]
includes novels 'Might As Well Be Dead', 'Too Many Clients', and 'The Final Deduction'
Viking hardcover [5/71] out of print/used
"Three Trumps: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus" [#8 = 1973]
includes novels 'The Black Mountain', 'Before Midnight', and 'If Death Ever Slept'
Viking hardcover [4/73] out of print/many used
 | "Triple Zeck: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus" [#9 = 1974]
includes three novels 'And Be A Villain', 'The Second Confession' and 'In The Best Families' Viking 8½x5½ hardcover [5/74] out of print/many used |
 | mis-named "The First Rex Stout Omnibus" [1975] includes novels 'The Doorbell Rang', 'The Second Confession', and 'More Deaths Than One' Penguin Books UK 9x7¼ pb [1975] out of print/used |
 | "Corsage: A Bouquet of Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe" [1977] Edited by Michael Bourne, Illustrated by Sid Wright, Jr. Fewer than 2,000 copies were printed; includes the 1940 novella "Bitter End", a 1975 interview with Stout, a short piece by Archie Goodwin, "Why Nero Wolfe Likes Orchids", and a bibliography of some sort James A. Rock & Co. 8½x5½ pb [5/77] out of print/used James A. Rock & Co. 9x6½ hardcover [5/77] out of print/scarce |
 | "Seven Complete Nero Wolfe Novels" [1991] actually includes 6 novels: 'The Silent Speaker', 'Might As Well Be Dead', 'If Death Ever Slept', 'Gambit', 'Please Pass The Guilt', and 'A Family Affair' and 3 novelettes: 'Poison a la Carte', 'Method Three For Murder', and 'The Rodeo Murder' RH/Value 9x6 hardcover [8/90] out of print/used RH/Value hardcover [1/88] out of print/many used |
Non-Fiction About
Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin
 | Two generous collections of essays selected from over twenty-five years of 'The Wolfe Pack Gazette' newsletter [est. 1977] by Marvin Kaye, a charter member of The Wolfe Pack
"The Nero Wolfe Files" [2005] Edited by Marvin Kaye Wildside Press 9x6 pb [2/2005] for $14.35 "Nero Wolfe: The Archie Goodwin Files" [2005] Edited by Marvin Kaye Wildside Press 9x5½ pb [11/2005] for $17.95 |
 | "Stout Fellow: A Guide Through Nero Wolfe's World" [2003] by O.E. McBride iUniverse 9¼x6¼ pb [5/2003] for $19.95 iUniverse 9½x6¼ hardcover [5/2003] for $29.95 |
 | "At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout" [1991] by J. Kenneth Van Dover James A. Rock 9x6¼ pb [6/2003] for $14.95 Borgo Press 8¾x5¾ pb [5/91] out of print/used |
"The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe" [1983] by Ken Darby
Little, Brown hardcover [3/83] out of print/used
 | "The Nero Wolfe Cook Book" [1973] by Rex Stout & the Editors of Viking Press Cumberland House 9x7 pb [10/96] for $16.95 Amereon 9x5¾ hardcover [6/87] out of print/used Penguin pb [3/81] out of print/many used Viking hardcover [8/73] out of print/used |
"Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street: The Life & Times
of America's Largest Private Detective" [1969]
by William S. Baring-Gould
Viking Penguin hardcover [1/69] out of print/used
Penguin pb [6/82] out of print/used
"The Nero Wolfe Handbook" [rev 2000] by Rev. Frederick G. Gotwald
"Nero Wolfe Commentaries" by Rev. Frederick G. Gotwald
(These are privately published and might be available at The Bookshop in Chapel Hill, NC
Nero Wolfe Books by Robert Goldsborough
official website •
Wikipedia
listings at Amazon {most are out of print BUT available used or on Kindle}
"Murder In E Minor" [1986] an orchestra conducter has been receiving threatening notes
"Death On Deadline" [1987] a Scottish newspaper baron wants the New York Gazette
"Blooded Ivy" [1988]
"The Last Coincidence" [1989]
"Fade To Black" [1990] industrial espionage at an ad agency
"Silver Spire" [1992]: associate Fred Durkin arrested for murder
"The Missing Chapter" [12/93]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Archie Meets Nero Wolfe: A Prequel To Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries" [2012]
 | New to New York City, night watchman Archie Goodwin shoots two burglars and is fired for being 'trigger happy'; a new job with detective Del Bascomb goes much better; then someone kidnaps the son of a hotel magnate and Archie must prove himself to the fat genius detective Nero Wolfe . . .
Kindle Edition from Mysterious Press/Open Road [11/2012] for $1.99 {sic} Mysterious Press/Open Road 8½x5½ pb [11/2012] for $12.48 Mysterious Press/Open Road 8½x5½ hardcover [11/2012] for $28.76 |
"Murder In The Ball Park" [2014]
 | Archie and Saul attend a Giants game at the Polo Grounds; in the fourth inning, scoundrel and state senator Orson Milbank is discovered to be dead, shot by a sniper in the upper deck . . .
Kindle Edition from Mysterious Press/Open Road [1/2014] for $2.99 {sic} Mysterious Press/Open Road 8x5¾ pb [1/2014] for $11.97 |
"Archie In The Crosshairs: A Nero Wolfe Mystery" [March 2015]
 |
When Archie Goodwin’s life is threatened, Wolfe must find the gunman or lose his right-hand man . . . Kindle Edition from Mysterious Press/Open Road [3/2015] for $9.99 Mysterious Press/Open Road pb [3/2015] for $12.45 |
"Stop The Presses!: A Nero Wolfe Mystery" [March 2016] 
 | Longtime friend Lon Cohen of the New York Gazette asks Wolfe for a favor: find out who is sending sinister death threats to the newspaper's much-hated gossip columnist . . . Kindle Edition from Mysterious Press/Open Road [3/2016] for $9.99 Mysterious Press/Open Road 8x5¼ pb [3/2016] for $11.59 |
Other Fiction by Rex Stout, A to Z
listing of other works by Rex Stout at Wikipedia
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 | "A Prize For Princes" [third novel 1914]
early work first serialized in All-Story Weekly Magazine and All-Story Cavalier Weekly A novel of Balkan intrigue and murder and a very dangerous woman. Wildside 9x6 pb [11/2002] for $15.95 Carroll & Graf pb [8/2001] for $5.95 Carroll & Graf pb [4/94] out of print/used |
"Bad For Business" [1940] with protagonist Tecumseh Fox
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 | "Bitter End" for Kindle [first NW novella 1940]
This first Nero Wolfe novella appeared in the November 1940 issue of The American Magazine, was published in book form in the collection "Corsage: A Bouquet of Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe" [1977], and later in the book "Death Times Three" [1985]. The bonus short story "Out of The Line" was published first in All-Story Cavalier Weekly (not available anywhere else in electronic format). Kindle Edition from Intrigue/Book Revival Press [1/2014] for 99¢ {sic} |
"The Broken Vase" [1941] with protagonist Tecumseh Fox
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Double For Death" [1939] with protagonist Tecumseh Fox
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"The Great Legend" [1916] a historical novel set during the siege of Troy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Hand In The Glove" [1937] with protagonist Dol Bonner
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 | "Her Forbidden Knight" [first novel 1913]
first serialized in The All-Story Magazine, August–December 1913 A crime story about counterfeiting set in New York City. Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [4/2013] for $1.99 {sic} Kindle Edition from Mysterious Press/Open Road [5/2012] for $6.86 Kindle Edition from Skyhorse Publng [4/2013] for $6.86 Skyhorse Publng 9x6 pb [4/2013] for $7.22 Carroll & Graf Publrs mass pb [3/2000] out of print/many used Carroll & Graf Publrs 8¼x5¾ hardcover [1997] out of print/50+ used |
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"How Like A God" [Rex Stout's sixth novel]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 | "The Illustrious Dunderheads" [1942] Edited by Rex Stout, Introduction by Frank Sullivan, Illustrated by William Gropper articles, statistics, and speeches (excerpts) of members of Congress who claimed up to November 1941 that the Axis was our friend and that Japan would never attack the United States . . . too, too reminiscent of recent Fox Propaganda Channel rhetoric Knopf 7½x5¼ hardcover [1942] out of print/scarce Knopf 7½x5¼ hardcover [1942] out of print/scarce |
 | "Justice Ends At Home" [1916 story] by Rex Stout early work first published in All-Story Weekly Magazine 94-page Kindle Edition from Book Revival Press/Intrigue [2/2013] for $1.49 {sic} Book Revival Press 94-page 8x5 pb [12/2013] for $6.29 |
 | "Justice Ends At Home and Other Stories" [1977] Edited & with Introduction by John McAleer Viking hardcover [8/77] out of print/50+ used |
"The Last Drive" [1916] mystery featuring Canby Rankin
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Mountain Cat Murders" [1939]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"The President Vanishes" with protagonist Chick Moffat [1943]
“The President Vanishes” feature film [Paramount 1943] Directed by Wm. Wellman
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Red Threads" starring Insp. Cramer [1939]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Sound of Murder" (original title ‘Alphabet Hicks’) [1941]
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 | "Target Practice" [16 stories; 1914-1917] Sixteen early stories: the complete short fiction written by Rex Stout for the popular All-Story Magazine: "An Officer and A Lady" (1917), "Baba" (1915), "Heels of Fate" (1917), "If He Be Married" (1915), "The Inevitable Third" (1914), "It’s Science That Counts" (1916), "Jonathan Stannard’s Secret Vice" (1915), "Justice Ends At Home", "The Lie" (1914), "The Pay Yeoman" (1914), "The Rope Dance" (1916), "Rose Orchid" (1914), "Sanétomo" (1915), "Secrets" (1914: the first crime fiction that Stout wrote), "Target Practice" (1914), and "Warner and Wife" (1915) Kindle Edition from Mysterious Press/Open Road [5/2012] for $7.99 Carroll & Graf mass pb [12/97] out of print/used |
 | "Under The Andes" adventure novel [1914] first serialized in The All-Story Magazine, February 1914 A novel of science-fantasy, about a 'lost race'. Wildside 9x6¼ pb [12/2000] for $15.99 Indypublish 9x6 hardcover [12/2002] for $25.99 Blackstone UNABR audio [1/2000] for $51.94 online etext at The English Server at CMU |
eTexts & Kindle Editions
browse Rex Stout audio at Amazon
online etexts at The English Server at C.M.U.
"A Tyrant Abdicates" [short story © 1914]
"An Agacella Or" [short story © 1914]
"An Officer and A Lady" [short story © 1917]
"Jonathan Stannard's Secret Vice" [short story © 1915]
"The Mother of Invention" [short story © 1914]
"The Pay Yeoman" [short story © 1914]
"The Rope Dance" [short story © 1917]
"Rose Orchid" [short story © 1917]
"Warner and Wife" [short story © 1915]
"Under The Andes" adventure novel [© 1914]
Kindle Editions
Nordell Bookstores Group Kindle Hardware & Content Page
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 | "Rex Stout: In the Pulps - 26 Short Stories" for Kindle [2013]
Kindle Edition from Book Revivals Press [3/2013] for 99¢ {sic} contains 26 short stories first published in All-Star Cavalier Weekly, All-Story Weekly, The Black Cat Magazine, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, Short Stories Magazine, and The Smart Set Magazine: "Excess Baggage" (10/1912), "The Infernal Feminine" (11/1912), "A Professional Recall" (12/1912), "Pamfret and Peace" (1/1913), "A Companion of Fortune" (4/1913), "A White Precipitate" (6/1913), "The Mother of Invention" (8/1913), "Méthode Américaine" (11/1913), "A Tyrant Abdicates" (1/1914), "The Pay-Yeoman" (1/1914), "Secrets" (3/1914), "Rose Orchid" {as Evans Day} (3/1914), "An Agacella Or" (4/1914), "The Inevitable Third" {as Evans Day} (4/1914), "The Lie" (7/1914), "Target Practice" (12/1914), "If He Be Married" (1/1915), "Baba" (1/1915), "Jonathan Stannard's Secret Vice" (9/1915), "Sanétomo" (9/1915), "The Strong Man" (11/1915), "It's Science That Counts" (4/1916), "The Rope Dance" (6/1916), "An Officer and A Lady" (1/1917), "Heels of Fate" (11/1917), and "Annuncio's Violin" (first publication unknown) |
 | "Rex Stout Collection" for Kindle [2013] Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [10/2013] for $7.50 omnibus containing five novels by Rex Stout: "The Great Legend" a historical novel set during the siege of Troy [1916]; "The Last Drive" Canby Rankin mystery [1916]; "Red Threads" Inspector Cramer mystery [1939]; "Double for Death" Tecumseh Fox mystery [1939]; and "Over My Dead Body" Nero Wolfe mystery [1940] |
Radio, Movies & TV, Other Media
Rex Stout movie & tv credits [since 1934] at Internet Movie Database
"Meet Nero Wolfe" [Columbia July 1936]
 | Fast-paced, comedic take on Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin, based on "Fer-de-Lance" [1934]; the linked deaths of an immigrant metal worker and a college professor were side events to the intended murder of a wealthy merchant; when Wolfe & Archie get close to solving the murders, their quarry turns a poisonous snake loose in Wolfe's office • Produced by B.P. Schulberg; directed by Hollywood Ten blacklistee Herbert J. Biberman; starring Edward Arnold, Lionel Stander, Walter Kingsford, Russell Hardie, Dennie Moore, Victor Jory, Rita (Cansino) Hayworth, Nana Bryant, Joan Perry & Boyd Irwin Sr.
video/DVD/Blu-ray not available; full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The League of Frightened Men" [Columbia May 1937]
 | The reunion of a group of men tied together by guilt over a tragic college prank many years prior brings sudden death and a string of threatening letters •
Directed by Alfred E. Green; starring Walter Connolly, Lionel Stander, Edward McNamara, Eduardo Ciannelli, Irene Hervey, Victor Kilian, Nana Bryant, Joseph Allen, Walter Kingsford, Leonard Mudie, Kenneth Hunter, Charles Irwin, Rafaela Ottiano, Jameson Thomas, Ian Wolfe & Jonathan Hale
11"x17" poster from Amazon for $19.42 video/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
list of radio shows based on Nero Wolfe at Wikipedia
"The Adventures of Nero Wolfe" ABC Radio program [1943-44]
34 episodes starring J.B. Williams, Santos Ortega, or Luis van Rooten
"The Amazing Nero Wolfe" Mutual Radio Network program [1946]
"The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe" NBC Radio program [1950-1951]
26 episodes starring Sydney Greenstreet
"Nero Wolfe" CBC Radio program [Canada 1982]
13 hour-long episodes starring Mavor Moore, Don Francks & Cec Linder
 | various "Nero Wolfe" radio shows on CD from Old Time radio Catalog
27 radio show episodes [1943-51] on MP3 format CD [undated] for $5.00 "New Adventures of Nero Wolfe" 52 radio shows on CD from One S Media includes 25 episodes of the Sydney Greenstreet series & 13 episodes of the 1982 Canadian series 29 hours on MP3 format CD [undated] for $5.00 + s/h via Amazon third party "The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe" on CD from Original Radio Broadcasts 8 UNABR episodes on 4 audio CDs [10/2005] for $14.35 via Amazon "The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe" 20 radio shows on audio CD from Radio Archives ten hours on audio CD [2010] out of prodn/scarce - via Amazon |
"Nero Wolfe" unsold TV pilot [1959]
Pilot episode “Count Me Down” finds Wolfe in bed with a bad cold while trying to solve a murder; Kasznar overacts shamelessly while Shatner delivers a pretty good
performance; the murder occurs in the control room as a rocket launch countdown takes place •
Directed by Tom Donovan, written by Sidney Carroll; starring Kurt Kasznar
{as Nero Wolfe}, William Shatner {as Archie Goodwin}, Alexander Scourby •
bare credits at IMDb
 | "Television's Lost Classics, Volume 2: Four Rare Pilots" [2018]
New HD restorations; four b&w half-hour TV pilots: "The Life of Riley" NBC-TV series 1949 pilot starring Lon Chaney, Jr. who was replaced by Jackie Gleason for the 26-episode series; "Racket Squad" CBS-TV series pilot episode "Case of The Sure Thing" starring Reed Hadley, filmed in 1951, aired 9/1953; "Cool and Lam" is based on the book series by Erle Stanley Gardner {writing as A.A. Fair}, directed by the great Jacques Tourneur, starring Billy Pearson & Benay Venuta, ½-hour episode broadcast as a CBS-TV special in 1958; and the unsold 1959 "Nero Wolfe" TV pilot based on the book series by Rex Stout, starring Kurt Kasznar & William Shatner V.C.I. Ent. b&w Blu-ray [9/2018] for $18.89 V.C.I. Ent. b&w DVD [9/2018] for $12.89 |
"Nero Wolfe" TV movies [A&E 2001-2002]
starring Timothy Hutton (as Archie Goodwin), Maury Chaykin (as Nero Wolfe) &
Bill Smitrovich (as Inspector Cramer)
| "Nero Wolfe: The Complete Classic Whodunit Series" [2001-2002]
A&E Home Video color color DVD set [4/2006] 8 disks for $76.99 includes series pilot & 20 episodes (6 are 2-part) & "Making of ..." documentary series credits from IMDb "Nero Wolfe: The Complete First Season" [2001] A&E Home Video color DVD set [7/2004] 3 disks for $32.99 includes "Champagne For One" (2 parts), "Christmas Party", "Door To Death", "The Doorbell Rang", "Disguise For Murder", "Eeny Meeny Murder Moe", "Over My Dead Body" (2 parts) & "Prisoner's Base" (2 parts) "Nero Wolfe: The Complete Second Season" [2002] A&E Home Video color DVD set [6/2005] 5 disks for $57.99 includes "The Golden Spiders" (pilot episode), episodes "Before I Die", "Cop Killer", "Death of A Doxy" (2 parts), "Die Like A Dog", "Help Wanted, Male", "Immune To Murder", "Mother Hunt", "Murder Is Corny", "The Next Witness", "Poison a la Carte", "The Silent Speaker" (2 parts), "Too Many Clients" (2 parts), plus bonus "The Making of Nero Wolfe" & exclusive 16:9 letterboxed version of "The Silent Speaker" (2 parts) |
 |
"The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery" [A&E airdate March 2000] Directed by Bill Duke; script by Paul Monash; starring Timothy Hutton, Maury Chaykin, Bill Smitrovich, Colin Fox, Saul Rubinek, Fulvio Cecere, R.D. Reid, Gerry Quigley, Trent McMullen, Robert Clark & Nancy Beatty A&E color VHS [5/2000] out of prodn/used pilot episode credits from IMDb |
 | "The Doorbell Rang: A Nero Wolfe Mystery" [A&E airdate April 2001] Directed by Timothy Hutton; script by Michael Jaffe; starring Timothy Hutton, Maury Chaykin, Bill Smitrovich, Saul Rubinek, Conrad Dunn, Fulvio Cecere, Trent McMullen, Colin Fox, R.D. Reid, Ken Kramer & Debra Monk A&E color VHS [8/2001] out of prodn/used episode credits from IMDb |
Non-Fiction By & About Rex Stout
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
 | "Rex Stout" biography [1984] by David R. Anderson Frederick Ungar 8x5½ pb [5/85] out of print/used Frederick Ungar 8½x5¾ hardcover [11/84] out of print/used |
 | "Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life" biography [2002] by Professor John J. McAleer James A. Rock 9x6 pb [3/2002] for $29.52 James A. Rock 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2002] out of print/used earlier edition "Rex Stout: A Biography" [1977] Brownstone 8½x5¾ pb [8/94] out of print/used Brownstone 8½x5½ hardcover [10/94] out of print/used Little, Brown hardcover [9/77] out of print/used |
L i n k s
Rex Stout entry at Wikipedia
browse Rex Stout Store at Amazon
browse Rex Stout audio catalog at Amazon
Rex Stout movie/tv credits [since 1934] at Internet Movie Database
'The Wolfe Pack' - the Official Nero Wolfe Society
Wolfe Pack Links Page
Nero Wolfe entry at Wikipedia
Italian-language Nero Wolfe site
WL's fansite
Thrilling Detective's Nero Wolfe page
here on BlackHat Mystery Bookstore's Rex Stout & Nero Wolfe Page
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