Champagne for One (Nero Wolfe Series)

by Rex Stout

Overview

Faith Usher had a decidedly morbid personality. She talked about taking her life, and kept cyanide in her purse. So when she collapses and dies from a lethal champagne cocktail in the middle of a high society dinner party, everyone calls it suicide—including the police. But Archie was watching it all, and suspects it was murder. So does Nero Wolfe, especially after he's warned by four men against taking the case. For the world's most formidable detective it is a tantalizing puzzle involving an unlikely combination of philanthropy, deception, blackmail, and an unrepentant killer who just may have committed the perfect crime.

Introduction by Lena Horne
 
“It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America’s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertained—and puzzled—millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780553244380
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/08/1995
Series:	Nero Wolfe Series , #31
Edition description:	Rex Stout Library Collector's Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	880L (what's this?)

About the Author

Rex Stout (1886–1975) wrote dozens of short stories, novellas, and full-length mystery novels, most featuring his two indelible characters, the peerless detective Nero Wolfe and his handy sidekick, Archie Goodwin.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Champagne for One"
by .
Copyright © 1995 Rex Stout.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

In this 1958 Nero Wolfe mystery, the rotund, beer-guzzling supersleuth and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, endeavor to prove that a socialite's apparent suicide was actually a murder.

Library Journal

The listener can empathize with both his frustration at having to put up with Wolfe and his admiration for his employer. A solid story, with solid narration. Prichard, like Goodwin, gets the job done with style.”

AudioFile

Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe take on murder by poisoned champagne. The case presents challenges. Michael Pritchard’s resolute and somewhat wry narration is perfectly suited to both the characters and the setting--New York in the 1950s. Wolfe’s superiority is captured perfectly, and Prichard is quite believable when reading the women in the story. He also shines as Archie, giving voice to his world-weariness and his resolve that the murderer will be identified. The listener can empathize with both his frustration at having to put up with Wolfe and his admiration for his employer. A solid story, with solid narration. Prichard, like Goodwin, gets the job done with style. M.A.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

DEC 06/JAN 07 - AudioFile