Two Nero Wolfe Mysteries: The Golden Spiders & | Murder by the Book

Michael Prichard has been narrating Stout’s classic mysteries for more than 17 years, and his comfort level with the author’s prose and characters is on display. He ably imbues the two leads—the brilliant, sedentary, orchid-loving gourmet sleuth, Nero Wolfe, and his more active Watson, Archie Goodwin—with distinct voices matching their widely divergent personalities. In “The Golden Spiders,” Pete Drossos, a young client who believes he has witnessed a kidnapping while he was trying to earn money washing car windows, is murdered by a hit-and-run driver. Both Wolfe and Goodwin take his mother’s pleas for justice very seriously and follow a twisted and unpredictable trail. In “Murder by the Book,” another fatal hit-and-run connects with a vanished unpublished manuscript. Prichard’s narration is especially well paced and this makes the hours of listening pass quickly and pleasurably. (Aug.)