Sometime over the past 30 years my hardcover copy of Rex Stout’s last Nero Wolfe book disappeared. Published only one month before his death, “A Family Affair” is almost a coda to the entire series. I wonder if Stout realized he’d be unlikely to write another book.
Anyway, I went into the local used bookstore on a whim yesterday and browsed around for a few minutes. In a box on the floor, not yet shelved, was a whole stack of mysteries, and one of them was this book. My collection is now complete!
Ahh, I loved Rex Stout (I was twelve before I learned he died the year before I was born).
I was thrilled when I got nearly a decade of Ellery Queens from the owner of my favorite used bookstore. He actually accepted them as a donation because he knew I would love them.
Stout wrote a hell of a lot of shorts for Ellery Queen that were just great. The pleasure of having so many in consecutive order was that I ended up with a lot of serials, many of them by Rex Stout. The bad part was that the last issue had the first part of a serial by John D. McDonald and I was subsequently unabe to find it.
Well, MacDonald’s books are pretty easily found at Amazon, through its booksellers program. I own about 50 of his books, which can be seen here at Library Thing.
I wonder if Stout realized he’d be unlikely to write another book.
I’ve always believed so. It’s one of the few books in the series where something significant in Wolfe and Archie’s world actually changes, and Stout left Wolfe and Archie out of business at the end. (I reread it not that long ago, and posted about it in my journal.)
I’m currently rereading Fer-de-Lance, and it’s interesting to see some of the differences between it and later books. Wolfe is much more polite in this one, for one thing, even to women.
Also, hi! I followed the trail you left over at DT to here.
I’ve got a copy of MacAleer’s biography of Stout somewhere; I should reread the chapter regarding his passing to find out.
Archie got a lot smoother over the years than he was in the early ones. Maybe that was Lily’s influence. 😉
I wonder. I thought that Stout did start another book but didn’t come close to finishing it. When I first read A Family Affair a couple of years ago I was shocked by it — not something you expect in a Nero Wolfe book.
What shocked you, Mac?
Well, not to give away the plot, but the identity of the killer — and Archie’s solution to the problem even more so.
Ah. That’s why I wondered if Stout doubted he’d write another novel.