Red Threads

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Red Threads
Red Threads Cover Art.jpg
Author Rex Stout
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Inspector Cramer
Genre Detective
Publisher Farrar & Rinehart (U.S. 1939)
Collins Crime Club (U.K. 1941)
Publication date
December 1, 1939
Media typePrint; hardcover and paperback
Preceded by Over My Dead Body  
Followed by Where There's a Will  

Red Threads is a mystery novel by American writer Rex Stout, starring his detective Inspector Cramer, first published in 1939. Police Inspector Cramer was the protagonist of one mystery written by Stout in 1939.

Contents

Plot summary

Inspector Cramer, working on a case in which Nero Wolfe plays no part, shows his competence as a sleuth. The victim is Val Carew, an Oklahoma gambler turned tycoon, who has built a sumptuous mausoleum for his dead wife, a Cherokee princess, and is struck down there with an Indian war club, then scalped. Although this murder is wrapped in a skein of red threads binding it to the textile industry, Cramer is equal to the challenge. [1]

Literary significance and criticism

Publication history

Red Threads first appeared in the 1939 anthology, The Mystery Book Stout-Mystery Book.jpg
Red Threads first appeared in the 1939 anthology, The Mystery Book

[6] [7] [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

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The Silent Speaker is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1946. It was published just after World War II, and key plot elements reflect the lingering effects of the war: housing shortages and restrictions on consumer goods, including government regulation of prices, featuring the conflict between a federal price regulatory body and a national business association, paralleling the conflicts between the Office of Price Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.

<i>Bad for Business</i>

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<i>Trio for Blunt Instruments</i>

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<i>Not Quite Dead Enough</i>

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<i>The Second Confession</i>

The Second Confession is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1949. The story was also collected in other omnibus volumes, including Triple Zeck. This is the second of three Nero Wolfe novels that involve crime boss Arnold Zeck – Wolfe's Professor Moriarty. In this novel he telephones Wolfe to warn him off an investigation and retaliates when Wolfe refuses to cooperate. Though the crime is solved, the ending is left open.

<i>And Be a Villain</i>

And Be a Villain is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1948. The story was collected in the omnibus volumes Full House and Triple Zeck.

<i>The Rubber Band</i> 1936 novel by Rex Stout

The Rubber Band is the third Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. Prior to its publication in 1936 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., the novel was serialized in six issues of The Saturday Evening Post. Appearing in one 1960 paperback edition titled To Kill Again,The Rubber Band was also collected in the omnibus volume Five of a Kind.

<i>The Red Box</i>

The Red Box is the fourth Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. Prior to its first publication in 1937 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., the novel was serialized in five issues of The American Magazine. Adapted twice for Italian television, The Red Box is the first Nero Wolfe story to be adapted for the American stage.

<i>Where Theres a Will</i> (novel)

Where There's a Will is the eighth Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. Prior to its publication in 1940 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., the novel was abridged in the May 1940 issue of The American Magazine, titled "Sisters in Trouble." The story's magazine appearance was "reviewed" by the FBI as part of its surveillance of Stout.

<i>Too Many Women</i> (novel)

Too Many Women is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published in 1947 by the Viking Press. The novel was also collected in the omnibus volume All Aces.

<i>Three Witnesses</i> (book)

Three Witnesses is a collection of Nero Wolfe mystery novellas by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1956 and itself collected in the omnibus volume Royal Flush. The book contains three stories that first appeared in The American Magazine:

<i>If Death Ever Slept</i>

If Death Ever Slept is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1957 and collected in the omnibus volume Three Trumps.

<i>Plot It Yourself</i>

Plot It Yourself is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1959, and also collected in the omnibus volume Kings Full of Aces.

<i>Too Many Clients</i>

Too Many Clients is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1960, and later collected in the omnibus volume Three Aces.

<i>The Final Deduction</i> Book by Rex Stout

The Final Deduction is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1961 and collected in the omnibus volume Three Aces.

<i>Mountain Cat</i>

Mountain Cat is a mystery novel by Rex Stout, first published in book form in 1939. The story first appeared in the June 1939 issue of The American Magazine, abridged and titled Dark Revenge.

<i>The Mother Hunt</i>

The Mother Hunt is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by Viking Press in 1963.

<i>A Right to Die</i> 1964 novel by Rex Stout

A Right to Die is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1964.

"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.

"Blood Will Tell" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the December 1963 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Trio for Blunt Instruments, published by the Viking Press in 1964.

References

  1. Townsend, Guy M., Rex Stout: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography (1980, New York: Garland Publishing; ISBN   0-8240-9479-4), page 19. John McAleer, Judson Sapp and Arriean Schemer are associate editors of this definitive publication history.
  2. Disher, Maurice Willson (July 19, 1941). "Red Threads". Times Literary Supplement .
  3. Barzun, Jacques; Taylor, Wendell Hertig (1989) [1971]. A Catalogue of Crime (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row. ISBN   0060157968.
  4. Partridge, Ralph (August 16, 1941). "Red Threads". New Statesman .
  5. Anderson, Isaac (December 3, 1939). "New Mystery Stories". New York Times Book Review .
  6. Penzler, Otto, Collecting Mystery Fiction, Rex Stout, Part III (1991: The Armchair Detective 24(1): 43.
  7. Cooper, John & B.A. Pike, Detective Fiction, The Collector’s Guide, Second Edition (1994, England: Scolar Press: ISBN 0-85967-991-8), pp. 277-281.
  8. Hubin AJ. "Crime Fiction Ii : A Comprehensive Bibliography 1749-1990. A completely revised and updated ed." (1994, New York & London: Garland Publishing; ISBN 978-0-415-89967-3), pp. 777-778
  9. Pederson JP Benbow-Pfalzgraf T. "St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers. 4Th ed. / with a preface by Kathleen Gregory Klein ed" (1996. Detroit MI: St. James Press: ISBN 1-55862-178-4), pp. 960-962
  10. Townsend, Guy M., Rex Stout: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography (1980, New York: Garland Publishing; ISBN   0-8240-9479-4), page 19. John McAleer, Judson Sapp and Arriean Schemer are associate editors of this definitive publication history.

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