Stop the Presses! A Nero Wolfe Mystery

The latest of Goldsborough’s add-ons to the late Rex Stout’s chronicles of gigantic genius crime-solver Nero Wolfe finds the plus-sized gourmet investigating the death of Cameron Clay, the New York Gazette’s ultrapopular but reviled gossipist. Wolfe sends his assistant, Archie Goodwin, to woo each of the five main suspects into meetings at his brownstone. And the deductive magic begins. Reader Berkrot provides Wolfe with a properly deep, fleshy voice, impatient within a razor’s edge of rudeness. The detective’s friendly enemy, NYPD Inspector Cramer, who believes Wolfe’s probing is an attack on the police investigation, is pulsating with indignation and belligerence, and maybe a hint of concern. The five suspects include a sexy, flirtatious ex-wife, a Southern-accented silver-tongued politician, and a growly, low-voiced disgraced cop, who sounds as if he’s speaking through clenched teeth. All of Berkrot’s vocal matchups work well, with the exception of the most important—the book’s narrator, Archie Goodwin, who’s intelligent and clever, but he’s also tough. Here, his affected British delivery might be more suitable to a gentleman detective like Philo Vance. A MysteriousPress.com paperback. (Aug.)