Archie Meets Nero Wolfe cover art

Archie Meets Nero Wolfe

A Prequel to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries (The Nero Wolfe Mysteries, Book 8)

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Archie Meets Nero Wolfe

By: Robert Goldsborough
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
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About this listen

In 1930, young Archie Goodwin comes to New York City hoping for a bit of excitement. In his third week working as a night watchman, he stops two burglars in their tracks - with a pair of hot lead slugs.

Dismissed from his job for being “trigger-happy”, he parlays his newfound notoriety into a job as a detective’s assistant, helping honest sleuth Del Bascom solve cases like the Morningside Piano Heist, the Rive Gauche Art Gallery Swindle, and the Sumner-Hayes Burglary. But it’s the kidnapping of Tommie Williamson, the son of a New York hotel magnate, that introduces Goodwin to the man who will change his life.

Goodwin knows there’s only one detective who can help find Tommie: Nero Wolfe, the stout genius of West 35th Street. Together, they’ll form one of the most unlikely crime-fighting duos in history - but first Goodwin must locate Tommie and prove that he deserves a place by Wolfe’s side.

In this witty story about the origin of a legendary partnership, Robert Goldsborough gloriously evokes the spirit of Nero Wolfe’s creator, best-selling author Rex Stout, and breathes new life into his beloved characters.

©2012 Robert Goldsborough (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Historical Modern Detectives Mystery Private Investigators Traditional Detectives New York Crime Thief Witty

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All stars
Most relevant
what a great way to know how archie and Nero meet it held me so much ... great story telling

a great prequel

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A prequel to the Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin partnership giving a reasonable accounting of how so unlikely a couple came to be together. Archie arrives in New York and is soon fired from his security job so, aged only 19 in a time of depression, has no job, no prospects and only three weeks of wages And so he becomes a private detective...

The ensuing story is a good one - the kidnap of a child and murder. All very enjoyable. But there is something not quite right about the two main protagonists. But perhaps it is their respective youth, not yet set into later arrogance rather than the alternative author. Narration, by L.J.Ganser, is excellent.

My thanks to Audible UK, from whom I was able to download this audio for free through their Audible Plus programme.

"So I became a detective."

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Enjoyed listening to this one. Cheerful characters. Happy ending. Nice story line. Will find the next one in the series.

Enjoyable story

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I've been listening to the series of books for a couple of months now and must admit I was a little worried when I saw the title of this one and discovered it was a prequel. However, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed the story, particularly Archie's interactions with the other detectives hired by Wolfe.

It really was a welcome change of perspective on all the characters I've grown to love.

I wasn't surprised, therefore, to read that there was an 18 year gap between this and the previous book in the series.



A breath of fresh air

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I love these stories and this is a great retrospective prequel, introducing all the regular characters yet still with a great storyline.

The only negative is the timeline, dating to 1930, but this creates improbable ages for the stories set in the 60s and 70s but that is often a problem with a long running series.

Excellent prequel

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