The Doorbell Rang (A Nero Wolfe Mystery Book 41)

Whether this is your first foray into the world of Nero Wolfe or have dined at his table for years, The Doorbell Rang is well worth the reading although to my mind it is not ne plus ultra of the canon.If you are looking for a literate, funny and densely plotted old-fashioned whodunit, you will find none better than the Nero Wolfe series.The Doorbell Rang is kind of unusual in that it squares off against the FBI as an abusive, vindictive and malicious organization even though Stout mostly avoids plots with a political overtone. While he doesn't let the agency quite off the hook by the conclusion, he doesn't slaughter them either, and that ambiguity won't please everyone.Though fairly new to the Wolfe series myself, I've been on a Nero Wolfe binge for the last couple of months and have downed at least 25 servings so far. These books are pure comfort food.Tasty, engaging and easy to digest.Wolfe, if you haven't met him, is a genius detective and recluse, a lovable if misogynistic agoraphobe and an obese, worldly, and deeply educated gourmand. Also a grammar snob and sesquipedalian.Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's factotum, besides being the reclusive master's fast-dancing contact to the streets, is a talented private detective with a smart lip, fondness for women, and tape-recorder memory. Classic-mystery fans will appreciate that Archie is also a better-rounded and more believable and smarter character than Sam Spade. And by the way it is Hammett's Sam Spade, not Chandler's Philip Marlowe whom Archie most closely resembles. Archie is pure New York, a wiseacre and an adept practitioner of that creative slang common to the inner boroughs in the 1920s and 30s. Think colorful, not coarse. As in "he was sitting on the back of his lap." He doesn't tip a cab driver he "shows the hackie a finif." Wolfe's shirt is "a few acres of canary yellow cotton." Or he'll make an off-beat observation like, "The trouble with mornings is that they come when you're not awake." Like nearly all Nero Wolfe mysteries, The Doorbell Rang saddles the great detective with a seemingly impossible task, and though he has probably guessed the who in the whodunit early on he won't spell it out ("open the bag on the full crop" as Archie would say) until he can cinch it conclusively, and earn his exorbitant fee, before the always-stumped NYPD homicide branch beat him to the punch.In this case we are led to believe that FBI agents have murdered a journalist who was hoovering up (ahem) dirt on the agency. Wolfe's wealthy client is simultaneously suffering FBI harassment in an unrelated matter. Wolfe's task is not to prove the FBI agents did the murder but to prove they did not, and then trade that revelation to the Feds in return for a promise they will lay off his client forever.If I have one plot criticism of this tale it is that there is a red herring introduced early on that is never resolved. I won't spell it out in case you haven't read the book yet, but it's something to do with the client's buried secrets. In most Wolfe mysteries there are no red herrings at all. Naturally the fun is going through all the likely suspects and trying to eliminate them or focus on them, much as Archie does. Leads and hints may peter out, but doesn't throw curve balls the way many writers do, and normally picks up all the marbles before tying a knot on the bag.Stout's passionate loathing of J. Edgar Hoover at the time this book was written, about 1965, may have sprung from having been falsely accused of Communist leanings by a Republican congressional committee back in the early 50s. But back in 1965 it was not generally known what a dangerous, fanatical bastard Hoover was.Wolfe's witty obsession with good grammar raises a major beef I have developed with this title and all the others I have consumed in the Bantam Books reissues: Way too many typos and sentence errors. I'm reading the Kindle versions and don't know if the print editions suffer the same textual faults, but these digital versions frequently pull me up short with mangled sentences, missing or redundant punctuation, or a clause from one sentence transposed into another. Or part of a sentence repeated part! of a sentence" twice, and.,redundant missing...see what I mean?This is especially irksome because Rex Stout, and his editor Marshall Best, whom I knew slightly, were exceptionally careful about grammar and typography.If you want a demonstration that the listed publisher, Bantam, and its ilk in modern-day publishing just don't give a damn about the language, the reader, or the author whose works they plunder for profit, consider the meagre extra investment it would have taken to hire a competent proof reader for a few hours. We're probably talking about something like $500 and possibly a good deal less. I admit I do not understand how a book that's been in print for 50 years can acquire new typos it wasn't born with, and has escaped through middle age without, but assume it has something to do digitizing text on the cheap and then not bothering to read it through.Bottom line: A very enjoyable read with an unusual--for Stout--political angle, and a satisfying conclusion that probably wouldn't quite cut it today.

This is one of Stout's better books in the series, for a number of reasons. The plot is fascinating, and Stout doesn't make the mistake he sometimes does of having too many characters but not really giving them unique personalities. There is some really great humor in this book, and it has a unique and interacting interaction between Inspector Cramer and Archie Goodwin. If you like Nero Wolfe books, you will probably really enjoy this one. The only thing is that the murder is solved fairly early on, and the reader isn't given many clues to try to solve it on their own, but it's still a lot of fun to read. The ending is particularly funny.

"The Doorbell Rang" (1965) takes place during the reign of J. Edgar Hoover at the head of the FBI. Later in his career, Hoover was known to have used the FBI to harass protestors, collect secret files on political leaders, and use illegal wire-taps. Investigative journalist, Fred Cook's 1964 exposé, "The FBI Nobody Knows" must have mightily impressed Rex Stout because it is central to the plot of "The Doorbell Rang." It begins when a wealthy woman mails out 10,000 copies of the book to politicians, law enforcement officials and other influential people and, much to her anger and dismay finds herself under investigation by Hoover's FBI. She marches into Nero Wolfe's office and slaps down a retainer of $100,000 plus expenses and demands that the portly detective get the FBI off of her case.That's a lot of shad roe, a lot of orchids.When Wolfe decides to take up the challenge (and the retainer), the normally cocky Archie tries to talk him out of it, and his boss accuses him of having his tail between his legs. That's too much for Archie:"I clasped my hands behind my head and eyed him. 'I still say you’re cracked,' I said, 'and I deny that my tail was between my legs, since they were crossed, and it would be a ball to step aside and see how you went at it without me, but after all the years in the swim with you it would be lowdown to let you sink alone. If I get daunted along the way I'll let you know.'"All Nero and Archie have to do is catch the FBI with its collective pants down.This is one of my favorite Nero Wolfe mysteries, crisply plotted, quite believable, and with an ending that is perfectly in character. If you're a fan of this series, don't miss "The Doorbell Rang."

Piquant. Pleasant. Pungent. “The Nation” said about “The Doorbell Rang”, “No doubt about it—the best civil liberties mystery of all time.” Some of my favorite bits:• Oh, to be reading a Nero Wolfe mystery for the first time. (From Stuart Kaminsky’s introduction)• I can dodge folly without backing into fear.• Genius is fine for the ignition spark, but to get there someone has to see that the radiator doesn’t leak and no tire is flat. (I guess this would make Wolfe a 300-pound spark plug)“The Doorbell Rang” is one of my favorites in the Rex Stout oeuvre. I also highly recommend the A&E adaptation of this story in the “A Nero Wolfe Mystery” TV series.

I have read Nero Wolf's books several times. This book is the 41th book in the series. It is the Second favorite book of all times. The other is Helen MacInnes' REST AND BE THANKFUL.A woman sent 10,000 books about the FBI to many leaders as governors and police offacials. The FBI is now harassing her, family, friends and empolyees. She wants Wolf to stop the harassment. She offers him $100,000 retainer and all expenses plus he can name his own fee in any amount he wishes. How Wolf goes about it is intriguing. His Wolf sucessful? What are Archie feelings? I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND series.

All of these Nero Wolfe books hit the spot. Of course if you don't like one then you'll hate them all. I find them open and engaging as well as having a beautifully nostalgic tinge.

OK, so the Plots are all the same but once you’re hooked by Wolfe and Goodwin and feel at home on W35th Manhattan, it’s hard to say that one is better than the next. They are all great.

Stout obviously had an axe to grind when he wrote this and from the distance of an ocean and half a century it is difficult to judge whether he was justified or not. But, and whatever the background, he doesn't let his ulterior motive get in the way of plotting and writing a first class Nero Wolfe; and that is, of course, excellent indeed.

This is the second book in the Nero Wolfe series that I've read, and it didn't disappoint. The story keeps you guessing regarding the intentions of some of the characters and the use of Nero's friends keeps the interest going wider than just Nero and Archie. Very atmospheric, and the description of the places Archie' hangs out in New York gives the story great depth. i'm looking forward to another in the series!

I read a number of Nero Wolfe's stories and this surely is one of the best. Surprising, most exciting plot! Supremely well written, with the title recurring and beating the rhythm. Even without computers and cell phones, the story sounds perfectly up-to-date. Will I ever meet a man as clever as Nero Wolfe? I doubt it, that's why I read his books.