NERO WOLFE NOVELLAS RANKINGS, RATINGS & CAPSULE COMMENTS Robert J. Schneider Email:
[email protected] www.speedymystery.com Ranking Rating Novella Information Capsule Comment Alternate Titles (if any) 01 A+ DIE LIKE A DOG, 1954 (Three Witnesses, 1956) Near perfect, echoes AK Green & EQ. Complex plot for a 20,000word story. AKA "The Body in the Hall", "A Dog in the Daytime" 02 A+ THIS WON'T KILL YOU, 1952 (Three Men Out, 1954) Baseball & murder; solid deductions & detection. Not one misplaced word in the ballpark chapters. AKA "This Will Kill You", "The World Series Murder" 03 A BLACK ORCHIDS, 1941 (Black Orchids, 1942) Top-notch early Wolfe. Evocative of Emma Lathen at her best & a bit of Gladys Mitchell. AKA "The Case of the Black Orchids", "Death Wears an Orchid" 04 A THE ZERO CLUE, 1953 (Three Men Out, 1954) Surrealistic, almost sci-fi Asimov-ish story featuring mathematics, numbers, probabilities, coincidences & EQ-like dying message. Least typical of all the Wolfe stories. AKA "Scared to Death" 05 A- TOO MANY DETECTIVES, 1956 (Three for the Chair, 1957) Dol Bonner & Sally Colt join the boys. Solid, complex plot worthy of EQ. 06 A- BITTER END, 1940 (Death Times Three, 1985) A Re-write & condensation of a former Tecumseh Fox novel. Complex plot, complicated character relationships and fairly-clued. The first novella length adventure for Wolfe & Archie. 07 B+ COUNTERFEIT FOR MURDER, 1961 (Homicide Trinity, 1962) Ranking Rating Novella Information Capsule Comment Alternate Titles (if any) Hattie Annis character elevates a C+ plot to a B+ story. Re-write of what is now known as "Assault on a Brownstone".