Review

Every so often Stout thins the ranks of the Wolfe entourage - a while back he bumped off one of the stable of free-lance operatives, leaving only Saul, Fred and Orrie. Another gets pruned in the course of the latest Rusterman's Restaurant murder investigation, after a faintly mechanical sequence of leads including Watergate, Women's Lib and a horny widow. Not one of Stout's zippiest, but the old pro still has a lot of polish. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description

Published only a month before Rex Stout’s death, this case is regarded as one of the author's truest. When Nero Wolfe's favorite waiter is murdered in an explosion just feet from him, the detective takes it as a personal affront and waives his trademark fee. As Wolfe and his sidekick Archie track down the culprit, a second murder is committed and Wolfe realizes that this case is a family affair.