Too Many Detectives

Last updated
"Too Many Detectives"
Author Rex Stout
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Nero Wolfe
Genre(s) Detective fiction
Published in Collier's
Publication typePeriodical
Publication dateSeptember 14, 1956

"Too Many Detectives" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published September 14, 1956, in Collier's . It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Three for the Chair , published by the Viking Press in 1957.

Nero Wolfe Fictional character

Nero Wolfe is a fictional character, a brilliant, oversized, eccentric 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.

Mystery fiction genre of fiction usually involving a mysterious death or a crime to be solved

Mystery fiction is a genre of fiction usually involving a mysterious death or a crime to be solved. Often with a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character will often be a detective who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts presented to the reader. Sometimes mystery books are nonfictional. "Mystery fiction" can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.

Novella written, fictional, prose narrative normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel

A novella is a text of written, fictional, narrative prose normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel, somewhere between 17,500 and 40,000 words.

Contents

Plot summary

With illustrations by Alex Ross, Rex Stout's "Too Many Detectives" first appeared in Collier's for September 14, 1956 -- the first of only two Nero Wolfe stories to appear in the magazine Wolfe-Too-Many-Detectives-1.jpg
With illustrations by Alex Ross, Rex Stout's "Too Many Detectives"
first appeared in Collier's for September 14, 1956 — the first of only two
Nero Wolfe stories to appear in the magazine

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin have been summoned to appear for questioning in Albany by the New York Secretary of State, part of an effort to investigate wiretapping activities by the state's private detectives. Dol Bonner, her assistant Sally Colt, and three other detectives from New York City have been brought in for the same day. Albert Hyatt, a deputy official, is in charge of the inquiry and calls Wolfe and Archie into his office to go over a statement Wolfe has provided. A man calling himself Otis Ross had asked Wolfe to tap his phone line and report all conversations, believing that his secretary might be leaking confidential business information. Wolfe took the job, but ended it after Archie discovered that the client was not the real Ross.

Archie Goodwin (character)

Archie Goodwin is a fictional character in Rex Stout's mysteries. The witty narrator of all the stories, he recorded the cases of his boss, Nero Wolfe, from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975.

One of Hyatt's staff members finds a man strangled to death in another meeting room; Wolfe and Archie identify him as their client. The city police detain everyone at the scene for questioning, under the direction of Chief of Detectives Leon Groom. Hyatt states that the client had come to see him shortly before the day's meetings were to begin, introduced himself as William A. Donahue, and said that he wanted to give information on some illegal wiretaps he had arranged - including the one performed by Wolfe. Donahue had been sent to another room to wait until Hyatt had more time to speak with him.

Wolfe and Archie are arrested as material witnesses and held for most of the day until Wolfe arranges bail through his lawyer, Nathaniel Parker. They take a room at a nearby hotel, not being allowed to leave the city, and Archie calls the other detectives for a meeting so they can share information. Donahue had gone to all of them, giving a different name and address to each one and asking for a wiretap to be set up; from Lon Cohen, Archie learns that the targets were all members of a committee tasked with investigating the use of charity funds. Wolfe asks the detectives to mobilize as many operatives as they can and has Archie call Saul Panzer so that he can be ready to get instructions from Wolfe in the morning.

Wolfe gives Archie that morning off, but when Archie returns to the hotel after a walk, he is taken for questioning by the district attorney. After being released, he spends the afternoon at his leisure and has dinner with Sally, only to be interrupted by a call from Wolfe. They find all the other detectives gathered in the room upon their return, and Hyatt and Groom arrive soon afterward. Wolfe and Dol have been taking reports from operatives all day long and gaining information on Hyatt and Donahue. Hyatt had been hired by a profitable fundraising organization to provide legal counsel, but the formation of the committee threatened its activities. Unable to get any information from the members directly, he arranged for Donahue to set up the wiretaps. Donahue's visit to his office was a surprise, and Hyatt killed him to prevent him from exposing the truth.

Hyatt is convicted of the murder, and the other detectives invite Wolfe to a celebratory dinner; Wolfe declines, but invites them to dine at the brownstone instead. Archie realizes that Wolfe left him out of the investigation because there was nothing he could do to assist, and also because he could serve as a distraction for the district attorney so that Wolfe and Dol could go through the operatives' reports undisturbed.

Cast of characters

Publication history

"Too Many Detectives"

<i>Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine</i> American crime fiction magazine

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine is an American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, EQMM is named after the fictitious author Ellery Queen, who wrote novels and short stories about a fictional detective named Ellery Queen. From 1993, EQMM changed its cover title to be Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, but the table of contents still retains the full name.

Three for the Chair

Viking Press publisher

Viking Press is an American publishing company now owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquired by the Penguin Group in 1975.

Contents include "A Window for Death", "Immune to Murder" and "Too Many Detectives".
In his limited-edition pamphlet, Collecting Mystery Fiction #10, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Part II, Otto Penzler describes the first edition of Three for the Chair: "Yellow cloth, front cover printed with black and blue lettering and design; spine printed with black lettering; rear cover blank. Issued in a mainly light orange dust wrapper." [2] :5
In April 2006, Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine estimated that the first edition of Three for the Chair had a value of between $200 and $350. The estimate is for a copy in very good to fine condition in a like dustjacket. [3]
Macmillan Publishers International publishing company

Macmillan Publishers Ltd is an international publishing company owned by Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.

Book of the Month Club subscription-based book buying club

The Book of the Month Club is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members choose which book they would like to receive, similar to how the club originally operated when it began in 1926. Members can also discuss the books with fellow members in an online forum.

The far less valuable Viking book club edition may be distinguished from the first edition in three ways:
  • The dust jacket has "Book Club Edition" printed on the inside front flap, and the price is absent (first editions may be price clipped if they were given as gifts).
  • Book club editions are sometimes thinner and always taller (usually a quarter of an inch) than first editions.
  • Book club editions are bound in cardboard, and first editions are bound in cloth (or have at least a cloth spine). [4] :19–20

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This Wont Kill You

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Instead of Evidence

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"Poison à la Carte" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in April 1960 in the short-story collection Three at Wolfe's Door.

"Fourth of July Picnic" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published as "The Labor Union Murder" in the July 9, 1957, issue of Look magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection And Four to Go, published by the Viking Press in 1958.

"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.

When a Man Murders

"When a Man Murders" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the May 1954 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Three Witnesses, published by the Viking Press in 1956.

"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.

The Squirt and the Monkey

"The Squirt and the Monkey" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published as "See No Evil" in the August 1951 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Triple Jeopardy, published by the Viking Press in 1952.

References

  1. ↑ Townsend, Guy M., Rex Stout: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography. New York: Garland Publishing, 1980. John McAleer, Judson Sapp and Arriean Schemer are associate editors of this definitive publication history. ISBN   0-8240-9479-4
  2. ↑ Penzler, Otto, Collecting Mystery Fiction #10, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Part II. New York: The Mysterious Bookshop, 2001. Limited edition of 250 copies.
  3. ↑ Smiley, Robin H., "Rex Stout: A Checklist of Primary First Editions." Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine (Volume 16, Number 4), April 2006, p. 34
  4. ↑ Penzler, Otto, Collecting Mystery Fiction #9, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Part I. New York: The Mysterious Bookshop, 2001. Limited edition of 250 copies.


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