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Death Times Three
''Death Times Three'' is a collection of Nero Wolfe novellas by Rex Stout, published posthumously by Bantam Books in 1985. It is the only collection of Stout's Nero Wolfe stories not to have appeared first in hardcover. The book contains three stories, one never before published: * " Bitter End", first printed in the November 1940 issue of '' The American Magazine'', and collected in the limited-edition volume ''Corsage: A Bouquet of Rex Stout'' (1977). The story is a re-working of Stout's Tecumseh Fox story ''Bad for Business''. * " Frame-Up for Murder", an expanded rewrite of the 1958 novella " Murder Is No Joke" that was serialized in three issues of '' The Saturday Evening Post'' (June 21, June 28 and July 5, 1958) but never published in book form. * " Assault on a Brownstone", an early draft of the 1961 novella " Counterfeit for Murder"; in this draft, Hattie Annis, who would become one of the most carefully drawn and favorite non-recurring Nero Wolfe characters in the revise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rex Stout
Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and 39 novellas between 1934 and 1975. In 1959, Stout received the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon XXXI, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century. In addition to writing fiction, Stout was a prominent public intellectual for decades. Stout was active in the early years of the American Civil Liberties Union and a founder of the Vanguard Press. He served as head of the Writers' War Board during World War II, became a radio celebrity through his numerous broadcasts, and was later active in promoting world federalism. He was the long-time president of the Authors Guild, during which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant with an eye for attractive women, narrates the cases and does the legwork for the detective genius. Stout published 33 novels and 41 novellas and short stories featuring Wolfe from 1934 to 1975, with most of them set in New York City. The stories have been adapted for film, radio, television and the stage. The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated for Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was a nomine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detective Fiction
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades. History Ancient Some scholars, such as R. H. Pfeiffer, have suggested that certain ancient and religious texts bear similarities to what would later be called detective fiction. In the Old Testament story of Susanna and the Elders (the Protestant Bible locates this story within the apocrypha), the account told by two witnesses broke down when Daniel cross-examines th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine, with funding from Grosset & Dunlap and Curtis Publishing Company. It has since been purchased several times by companies including National General, Carl Lindner's American Financial and, most recently, Bertelsmann; it became part of Random House in 1998, when Bertelsmann purchased it to form Bantam Doubleday Dell. It began as a mass market publisher, mostly of reprints of hardcover books, with some original paperbacks as well. It expanded into both trade paperback and hardcover books, including original works, often reprinted in house as mass-market editions. History The company was failing when Oscar Dystel, who had previously worked at Esquire and as editor on Coronet magazine was hired in 1954 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Family Affair (novel)
''A Family Affair'' is a Nero Wolfe detective novel published by the Viking Press in 1975. It is the last Nero Wolfe book written by Rex Stout who died less than six months after the publication of the book. Plot summary A waiter at Rusterman's Restaurant turns up at Wolfe's front door late one night, claiming that a man is going to kill him. Shortly after Archie puts him in one of the spare bedrooms, the waiter dies when a bomb planted in his coat pocket explodes. Wolfe, outraged at the thought of such a violent act taking place in his own house, resolves to find the murderer without sharing any information with Inspector Cramer. Soon Wolfe and Archie find themselves investigating two additional murders: the earlier killing of a customer at Rusterman's, and the subsequent death of the waiter's daughter. For much of the story, Stout leads the reader to believe that the central murder mystery is related to the Watergate scandal. Ultimately, Wolfe discovers that the killer is one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bitter End (short Story)
"Bitter End" is the first Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, originally published in the November 1940 issue of '' The American Magazine''. The story is a re-working of Stout's Tecumseh Fox story ''Bad for Business'', published later that year. "Bitter End" first appeared in book form in the posthumous limited-edition collection ''Corsage: A Bouquet of Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe'' edited by Michael Bourne, published in 1977 by James A. Rock & Co., Publishers. It subsequently appeared in ''Death Times Three'', published by Bantam Books in 1985. Plot summary The story starts with detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant, Archie Goodwin, being forced to dine on food from a delicatessen as Fritz, Wolfe's private chef and housekeeper, has been in bed for several days, ill with influenza. A jar of liver pâté made by ''Tingley's Tidbits'' is found to have a foul taste. Poison is suspected as there are a number of people who would like to see Wolfe dead. He is outraged and vows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The American Magazine
''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904), ''Leslie's Monthly Magazine'' (1904–1905), ''Leslie's Magazine'' (1905) and the ''American Illustrated Magazine'' (1905–1906). The magazine was published through August 1956. History Under the magazine's original title, ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'', it had begun to be published in 1876 and was renamed ''Leslie's Monthly Magazine'' in 1904, and then was renamed again as ''Leslie's Magazine'' in 1905. From September 1905, through May 1906, it was entitled the ''American Illustrated Magazine''; then subsequently shortened as ''The American Magazine'' until publication ceased in 1956. It kept continuous volume numbering throughout its history. In June 1906, muckraking journalists Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens and Ida M. Tar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tecumseh Fox
{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Tecumseh Fox is a fictional private detective created by American mystery writer Rex Stout to provide some diversity from his housebound and opinionated rival Nero Wolfe. Although the character's name sounds native American, he is not. In ''Double for Death'', he explains that his full name is William Tecumseh Sherman Fox, so he was supposedly named for the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. It seems probable that Stout chose this name in order to justify Fox's nickname, "Tec," which is also a slang term for de''tec''tive. (A similar motive was presumably behind the naming of another Stout detective, the beautiful Theodolinda "Dol" Bonner.) The surname "Fox" was presumably chosen as an analogy to "Wolf(e)." Fox's Westchester County is located in the same universe as Wolfe's New York City. Even though the two men seem to be unaware of each other's existence, both are acquainted with operatives from Bonner & Raffray and the Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bad For Business
''Bad for Business'' is a mystery novel by American write Rex Stout, starring his detective Tecumseh Fox, first published in 1940 in literature, 1940. Private investigator Tecumseh Fox was the protagonist of three mysteries written by Stout between 1939 and 1941. Plot summary Amy Duncan is a private investigator for the firm of Bonner and Raffray (see ''The Hand in the Glove'' for more complete information about Dol Bonner and this company) and the youngest of four women on what is called the "siren squad". Her detective work is based on the theory that most men get careless eventually around pretty women, especially those with chartreuse eyes like hers, and she's been trying to encourage a handsome young man named Leonard Cliff to get careless when she gets knocked down (harmlessly) by a car driven by private investigator Tecumseh Fox. He learns of her assignment, which is to investigate the possibility the company of which Cliff is a vice-president, a large food conglomerate, has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frame-Up For Murder
"Frame-Up for Murder" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, serialized in three issues of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (June 21, June 28 and July 5, 1958). An expanded rewrite of the 1958 novella "Murder Is No Joke", "Frame-Up for Murder" did not appear in book form until the 1985 Bantam Books release, ''Death Times Three''. Publication History "Frame-Up for Murder" *1958, ''The Saturday Evening Post'', June 21 + June 28 + July 5, 1958Townsend, Guy M., ''Rex Stout: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography''. New York: Garland Publishing, 1980, page 73. John McAleer, Judson Sapp and Arriean Schemer are associate editors of this definitive publication history. ''Death Times Three'' *1985, New York: Bantam Books December 1985, paperback *1995, New York: Bantam Books January 2, 1995, trade paperback *2000, Newport Beach, California: Books on Tape, Inc. September 27, 2000, audio cassette (unabridged, read by Michael Prichard) *2010, New York: Bantam May 5, 2010, e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murder Is No Joke
"Murder Is No Joke" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the 1958 short-story collection '' And Four to Go'' (Viking Press). Stout subsequently rewrote and expanded the story as "Frame-Up for Murder", serialized in three issues of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (June 21–July 5, 1958). It is the only time Stout rewrote and expanded a story for a magazine. "Frame-Up for Murder" was collected for the first time in book form in the Bantam Books short-story collection, ''Death Times Three'' (1985). Plot summary Alec Gallant was a member of the French Resistance during World War II and at that time married another member, Bianca. After the war, he learned that his wife and her two brothers had been traitors to the Resistance. He murdered both men, but Bianca escaped him. Gallant came to the United States in 1945 and rejoined his sister Flora, who had immigrated from France several years earlier. Gallant became a highly regarded couturier (as Wolfe later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influential magazines within the American middle class, with fiction, non-fiction, cartoons and features that reached two million homes every week. The magazine declined in readership through the 1960s, and in 1969 ''The Saturday Evening Post'' folded for two years before being revived as a quarterly publication with an emphasis on medical articles in 1971. As of the late 2000s, ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is published six times a year by the Saturday Evening Post Society, which purchased the magazine in 1982. The magazine was redesigned in 2013. History Rise ''The Saturday Evening Post'' was first published in 1821 in the same printing shop at 53 Market Street in Philadelphia where the Benjamin Franklin-founded ''Pennsyl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
