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Nero Wolfe #43
The Father Hunt
All pretty Amy Denovo wants to find the father she has never seen, but she can’t afford Nero Wolfe’s outlandish fees... or can she? Suddenly she’s knocking on the oversized detective’s door with a parcel full of bills in hand—and a quarter of a million hidden in her closet. It’s all part of a nest egg left by her unknown father.
But when Wolfe and his able assistant, Archie Goodwin, begin to trace the money to the man, they make a startling discovery: Amy’s father murdered her mother—and now he may be after her.
But when Wolfe and his able assistant, Archie Goodwin, begin to trace the money to the man, they make a startling discovery: Amy’s father murdered her mother—and now he may be after her.
211 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 28, 1968
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About the author
Rex Stout
816 books1,011 followersRex Todhunter Stout (1886–1975) was an American crime writer, best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the detective genius from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975 (A Family Affair).
The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century.
The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews
March 26, 2019
Amy DeNovo, Lily Rowan's young assistant, wants Archie to help her find out who her father is. The problem is an interesting one--and even more interesting in that it may very well be connected with her mother's hit-and-run death some months before.
This is one of the best of Wolfe's adventures, with many twists and turns, at least three vivid minor characters, and a satisfying denouement.
March 4, 2022
For Amy Denovo this is a cold case but a hot interest. She collars Archie (not Nero Wolfe) and tells him he is the only man she can trust to find her father. Archie is interested in the challenge and the plea from an attractive young woman, but he provides her only some hard-earned advice because he is true to his employer and wary of any conflicts of interests.
Before too long, the young woman confronts Wolfe in his den and flashes enough cash to interest him in finding this man that Denovo never knew and has no record of (even on her birth certificate). To make the task more difficult, she can produce no photographs of either father or mother. We soon find out that the mother has been a recent victim of a hit and run and the case is stumbling from the start.
This is one of the later Nero Wolfe novels set in the 1960s. There is even a reference to "Miranda warnings." It has some aspects that will appeal to those who have enjoyed the earlier efforts including a scene where Archie Goodwin gets a lion’s share of the credit (and a snicker at Wolfe) as follows:
“Now and then I took a second for a glance at Wolfe…He sat with his fingers laced at the summit of his center mound, scowling at us. He knew darned well that what we were doing was a lot more important than anything he could possibly be thinking, and it hurt. He would have loved to take the position, and hold it, that he could solve any problem on earth or in outer space by leaning back and closing his eyes and working his lips. The trouble was that the little chores Saul and I did for him were nearly always done somewhere else, but that time it was going on right there in his office, before his eyes. I was surprised that he didn’t get up and go to the kitchen.”
At the conclusion, I found myself both relieved and appreciative. One of Stout’s top shelf efforts.
Before too long, the young woman confronts Wolfe in his den and flashes enough cash to interest him in finding this man that Denovo never knew and has no record of (even on her birth certificate). To make the task more difficult, she can produce no photographs of either father or mother. We soon find out that the mother has been a recent victim of a hit and run and the case is stumbling from the start.
This is one of the later Nero Wolfe novels set in the 1960s. There is even a reference to "Miranda warnings." It has some aspects that will appeal to those who have enjoyed the earlier efforts including a scene where Archie Goodwin gets a lion’s share of the credit (and a snicker at Wolfe) as follows:
“Now and then I took a second for a glance at Wolfe…He sat with his fingers laced at the summit of his center mound, scowling at us. He knew darned well that what we were doing was a lot more important than anything he could possibly be thinking, and it hurt. He would have loved to take the position, and hold it, that he could solve any problem on earth or in outer space by leaning back and closing his eyes and working his lips. The trouble was that the little chores Saul and I did for him were nearly always done somewhere else, but that time it was going on right there in his office, before his eyes. I was surprised that he didn’t get up and go to the kitchen.”
At the conclusion, I found myself both relieved and appreciative. One of Stout’s top shelf efforts.
September 21, 2020
Is this the greatest Nero Wolfe novel? No. But it is in my top ten of Wolfe novels sorted by reread frequency. I admit that partly that's because I enjoy reading this through my alternate universe queer lens (look, Lily Rowan always has attractive young women at her apartment, I AM JUST SAYING), but I also think this book is solid on the Wolfe formula. All the gears are perfectly oiled. The whole machine runs smoothly. And it's a delight to watch that happen, and to read about the way these famliar characters do their familiar thing.
I just really ENJOY Wolfe novels, is the thing. And this is very much a Wolfe novel -- no departures, no missteps. So I really enjoy this.
I just really ENJOY Wolfe novels, is the thing. And this is very much a Wolfe novel -- no departures, no missteps. So I really enjoy this.
December 30, 2020
When the story opens Archie Goodwin and Lily Rowan have just returned to Lily's apartment from Shea Stadium where they had watched the Mets clobber the Giants. Amy Denovo, Lily's new secretary, was leaving while Archie and Lily were sharing a post-game drink. When Archie leaves Amy is waiting for him in the lobby of Lily's building.
She wants to hire Archie to help her with a personal problem and Archie is the only person she trusts. Her mother recently died in a hit-and-run and she never knew her father. Her mother never told her anything about him. She wants to hire Archie to find him. She has $2,000. Archie explains to her that he works for Nero Wolfe, full time, 24 / 7. Wolfe has inflated ideas about fees. He thinks nothing of billing $5,000 for a one week job. He is pig headed, high nosed, top lofty. He thinks he is the best detective in the world. So does Archie. There is a chance in a million a week of poking around would solve it but it would probably be a long and very expensive job. The next day Amy shows up at Wolfe's brownstone with $200,000.
Amy convinces Wolfe and Archie that she came be the money legally. Her father had been sending her mother monthly checks which she cashed but never spent. Wolfe and Archie believe that finding her father may not be that difficult after all. All they have to do is trace the checks. But it is not that simple.
Amy is twenty-two. Her mother was killed 3 months ago. During their investigation Wolfe and Archie come to the conclusion that the hit-and-run that killed Amy's mother was no accident. She was murdered. By Amy's father. Wolfe decides it is easier to go after a murderer who committed his crime three months ago than try to find a man who fathered a child twenty-two years ago. The hunt is on.
She wants to hire Archie to help her with a personal problem and Archie is the only person she trusts. Her mother recently died in a hit-and-run and she never knew her father. Her mother never told her anything about him. She wants to hire Archie to find him. She has $2,000. Archie explains to her that he works for Nero Wolfe, full time, 24 / 7. Wolfe has inflated ideas about fees. He thinks nothing of billing $5,000 for a one week job. He is pig headed, high nosed, top lofty. He thinks he is the best detective in the world. So does Archie. There is a chance in a million a week of poking around would solve it but it would probably be a long and very expensive job. The next day Amy shows up at Wolfe's brownstone with $200,000.
Amy convinces Wolfe and Archie that she came be the money legally. Her father had been sending her mother monthly checks which she cashed but never spent. Wolfe and Archie believe that finding her father may not be that difficult after all. All they have to do is trace the checks. But it is not that simple.
Amy is twenty-two. Her mother was killed 3 months ago. During their investigation Wolfe and Archie come to the conclusion that the hit-and-run that killed Amy's mother was no accident. She was murdered. By Amy's father. Wolfe decides it is easier to go after a murderer who committed his crime three months ago than try to find a man who fathered a child twenty-two years ago. The hunt is on.
July 3, 2018
You can count on me for rating any Nero Wolfe book highly since I am fascinated by the ongoing characters of this series and the story is somewhat secondary to me. And that is probably just as well since some of Stout's tales are a bit weak. This book falls into that category.......the story is not very interesting as Wolfe tries to find a client's father and gets pulled into a hit and run case which may have some connection. It just doesn't come together and the conclusion is vague and abrupt. I know it sounds bad but it really isn't since the interaction of the characters is, as always, the meat of the plot. Not one of Stout's best but even his worst are better that some authors' best. I am an unapologetic Nero Wolfe fan!
September 2, 2019
4 Stars. Let's get the important things out of the way. Archie does have a girlfriend but when he meets the attractive Amy Denovo and she says, "You are the only person I can trust," he is quickly taken with her too. Ah, men. She doesn't want anyone else to find her father; she wants Archie to do it! His response? "I'm sorry, I work for Nero Wolfe." Amy's mother Elinor had been killed months earlier in an unsolved hit and run, and Amy discovers she has been left a large sum of money from a father she has never met. Finally she is convinced to meet the big man and, once a portion of her inheritance is on the table, Wolfe and more importantly Archie, take the challenge. Information on her deceased mother is surprisingly illusive as is the ultimate source of the $1,000 cheques which kept coming regularly for more than twenty years. As usual Wolfe finds the police supremely annoying. And wait till you hear his thoughts on public relations and image consultants - he's not aging gracefully. Maybe that's why I can't put him down. (April 2019)
April 22, 2025
Amy Denovo meets Archie at Lily Rowan's, where she is helping to gather material for a book on Lily's father. She instinctively trusts him, and knowing of his association with Nero Wolfe, wants his help to find out who her father is. Amy suspects that her mother 'started over' at some point, taking on the name of Elinor Denovo. But they were never very close and she can't ask for more information because her mother is now dead (hit-and-run). The only lead is . It's a complicated case where Wolfe, Archie, and all the usual helpers spend lots of time and lots of the client's money to track down leads. Maybe not the most interesting plot, but for me it's always the interactions between the familiar and beloved characters that makes a Nero Wolfe story worth reading.
June 27, 2019
Amy Denovo wants Archie to find her father for her. She grew up without a father and her mother stifled any attempts at asking questions about him. She didn't really get serious about tracking him down until her mother died in a hit-and-run incident. After the funeral, her mother's boss came to Amy with a box that Elinor had kept in the office safe and the key to the box which was in Elinor's desk. The box is labeled "Property of Amy Denovo" and the key is labeled "Key to Amy Denovo's box." Inside is 240,000 dollars and a letter that explains that the money has come from Amy's father.
As fast as Archie and Wolfe's three other leg men, Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin, and Orrie Cather, dig up leads, they find themselves running into dead ends. After interviewing several men who might have been the father (but apparently aren't), Wolfe decides that the best way to find out about Elinor Denovo's past life may be to investigate her death. But Amy may not care for the results of her father hunt after all...
This is one of the few Stout stories where Wolfe does not gather all the suspects into a room and spring surprises on them until someone makes a mistake and confirms his theory of the crime. He does have a final show-down of sorts in his office--but it's not with the ultimate suspect (though that person does visit and answer questions). It's with the man who made the payments to Elinor Denovo. And he's not Amy's father. But he is important to the whole set-up. How? Well...that would be telling and I don't want to ruin the ending for you.
An enjoyable outing and one in which just about every regular and semi-regular character in the Stout pantheon has a moment--all three leg men take part in the investigation, Cramer and Sgt. Purley Stebbins show up and do their annoy Archie and Wolfe routine, Lily Rowan is in and out of the story, and there are glimpses of Fritz and Theodore as well as Lon Cohen and Nathaniel Parker. It's practically "old home week" at the brownstone. It was nice to see simple detective legwork do the job and Wolfe's genius moments get placed on the back burner. Not that I don't appreciate the stories where Wolfe sits and thinks and puffs his lips in and out until he gets an idea. Those are nice too. But Archie and Saul get the goods this time and all Wolfe has to do is talk to him long enough for the man to touch enough objects in the room that a fingerprint or two can be compared with the driver of the hit-and-run vehicle....A tidy little mystery. ★★★ and a half. [rounded up here]
First posted on my blog . Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
As fast as Archie and Wolfe's three other leg men, Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin, and Orrie Cather, dig up leads, they find themselves running into dead ends. After interviewing several men who might have been the father (but apparently aren't), Wolfe decides that the best way to find out about Elinor Denovo's past life may be to investigate her death. But Amy may not care for the results of her father hunt after all...
This is one of the few Stout stories where Wolfe does not gather all the suspects into a room and spring surprises on them until someone makes a mistake and confirms his theory of the crime. He does have a final show-down of sorts in his office--but it's not with the ultimate suspect (though that person does visit and answer questions). It's with the man who made the payments to Elinor Denovo. And he's not Amy's father. But he is important to the whole set-up. How? Well...that would be telling and I don't want to ruin the ending for you.
An enjoyable outing and one in which just about every regular and semi-regular character in the Stout pantheon has a moment--all three leg men take part in the investigation, Cramer and Sgt. Purley Stebbins show up and do their annoy Archie and Wolfe routine, Lily Rowan is in and out of the story, and there are glimpses of Fritz and Theodore as well as Lon Cohen and Nathaniel Parker. It's practically "old home week" at the brownstone. It was nice to see simple detective legwork do the job and Wolfe's genius moments get placed on the back burner. Not that I don't appreciate the stories where Wolfe sits and thinks and puffs his lips in and out until he gets an idea. Those are nice too. But Archie and Saul get the goods this time and all Wolfe has to do is talk to him long enough for the man to touch enough objects in the room that a fingerprint or two can be compared with the driver of the hit-and-run vehicle....A tidy little mystery. ★★★ and a half. [rounded up here]
First posted on my blog . Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
September 29, 2023
This is one of the more intricate Nero Wolfe plots and I think it rates 4 stars as a mystery. There are a few other interesting things about it:
One is that Stout creates a non-recurring character with increasingly rare qualities at the time – a man of honor, whose word is his absolute bond. He is from an older generation and not particularly likable, but he is unflinchingly true to his principles. Even Archie and Nero underestimate his integrity in an age of "whatever floats your boat" and anything goes.
Another is that the police are unhappy about the 1966 Supreme Court Miranda ruling, narrowly decided 5-4. Inspector Cramer remarks “We’ve followed the new rules and we don’t even ask if he’s thirsty unless his lawyer’s present”.
Another is that, in this 1968 book, Stout glibly refers to “the summer crop of riots”. That is a shocking way to refer to race riots from which many neighborhoods and cities never fully recovered. Those that eventually did often took many years to do so. It is even stranger for a New Yorker, as the city was then in the early stages of its descent into the toilet, from which it only began to recover under Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani decades later.
A final one is that Stout, now 82, drops the first hint about the inevitable end of the series. He has Archie write, “Before long the day will come, maybe in a year or two, possibly as many as five, when I won’t be able to write any more of these reports for publication”. Stout wasn’t far off; he only had seven years and four books left before his death.
One is that Stout creates a non-recurring character with increasingly rare qualities at the time – a man of honor, whose word is his absolute bond. He is from an older generation and not particularly likable, but he is unflinchingly true to his principles. Even Archie and Nero underestimate his integrity in an age of "whatever floats your boat" and anything goes.
Another is that the police are unhappy about the 1966 Supreme Court Miranda ruling, narrowly decided 5-4. Inspector Cramer remarks “We’ve followed the new rules and we don’t even ask if he’s thirsty unless his lawyer’s present”.
Another is that, in this 1968 book, Stout glibly refers to “the summer crop of riots”. That is a shocking way to refer to race riots from which many neighborhoods and cities never fully recovered. Those that eventually did often took many years to do so. It is even stranger for a New Yorker, as the city was then in the early stages of its descent into the toilet, from which it only began to recover under Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani decades later.
A final one is that Stout, now 82, drops the first hint about the inevitable end of the series. He has Archie write, “Before long the day will come, maybe in a year or two, possibly as many as five, when I won’t be able to write any more of these reports for publication”. Stout wasn’t far off; he only had seven years and four books left before his death.
April 22, 2020
This is still Stout near the top of his game. It also features some interplay between Archie and Lily which always make me happy. The mystery is actually kind of frustrating though. The premise is that the client doesn't know who her father was, but has some tantalizing clues. Nero and Archie begin investigating and keep running into likely candidates for being the father but that circumstances rule out. This happens several times making me feel the frustration that the characters are supposed to be feeling.
It is finally resolved in a satisfying way, but that sense of frustration colors my feelings about the overall book.
It is finally resolved in a satisfying way, but that sense of frustration colors my feelings about the overall book.
February 27, 2019
Старый добрый классический детектив плюс первоклассный юмор!!!
June 27, 2015
Meh, meh meh, meh meh meh meh meh. Meh.
I don't pick up a Rex Stout novel for the mystery, which are generally non-mysteries even in the best of his books. Neither do I expect flashy deduction or carefully constructed logic that brings the reader to a satisfying dénouement. I read them because they are simple pulpy fun, and the characterizations and dialogue are interesting and witty.
The Father Hunt is a late and tired episode that opens with a weak attempt to not build the story around a murder, then falls back on a murder anyway. In tone and pacing the entire book feels slightly off kilter, as if it is not taking place in the location and time that we keep being reassured that it is. In many ways society and New York City have stood unchanged for Archie and Nero since the 1940s, the social scene and trappings of the 1930s remain pristine in their brownstone, and the only concession to this book being written in 1967 rather than 1947 is that the young women dress in miniskirts. Weirdly, we are given more detail about events that occurred during the Second World War than the events that took place only three months before. And the dialogue is stiff and tired as well. This volume spends far too much time revisiting the petty and constant bickering between Archie and the stock company of police and detectives, and too little time developing anyone outside of that circle. Their client is so absent from this story that her place could have been taken by a postman delivering an anonymous letter and a pile of cash. Furthermore, Stout clearly didn't bother firming up the resolution; this is a book that sputters to a halt, then backfires a one paragraph chapter to sum up the case.
In short, this was not fun.
I don't pick up a Rex Stout novel for the mystery, which are generally non-mysteries even in the best of his books. Neither do I expect flashy deduction or carefully constructed logic that brings the reader to a satisfying dénouement. I read them because they are simple pulpy fun, and the characterizations and dialogue are interesting and witty.
The Father Hunt is a late and tired episode that opens with a weak attempt to not build the story around a murder, then falls back on a murder anyway. In tone and pacing the entire book feels slightly off kilter, as if it is not taking place in the location and time that we keep being reassured that it is. In many ways society and New York City have stood unchanged for Archie and Nero since the 1940s, the social scene and trappings of the 1930s remain pristine in their brownstone, and the only concession to this book being written in 1967 rather than 1947 is that the young women dress in miniskirts. Weirdly, we are given more detail about events that occurred during the Second World War than the events that took place only three months before. And the dialogue is stiff and tired as well. This volume spends far too much time revisiting the petty and constant bickering between Archie and the stock company of police and detectives, and too little time developing anyone outside of that circle. Their client is so absent from this story that her place could have been taken by a postman delivering an anonymous letter and a pile of cash. Furthermore, Stout clearly didn't bother firming up the resolution; this is a book that sputters to a halt, then backfires a one paragraph chapter to sum up the case.
In short, this was not fun.
October 28, 2017
Two and a half stars. The businessmen were almost interchangeable, the plot and dialogue lacklustre. Usually there are contemporary references that place each book firmly within its time period, but as other reviewers have said, this one feels much more early 50s than late 60s. In spite of Kramer barging into the house (albeit with tacit permission), Fritz hardly gets a look-in, being "out" most of the time. Archie himself skims over interesting events with statements like "I could tell you this in detail but I don't need to" and "you've probably figured this out so we won't go into it." Well, if he could skim, so could I. And I did, even listening.
I tried to read this in print some time ago and couldn't engage with it. The audiobook was bearable but hardly exciting. I didn't actively dislike it, but it was just...just okay. Just okay, bordering on meh.
I tried to read this in print some time ago and couldn't engage with it. The audiobook was bearable but hardly exciting. I didn't actively dislike it, but it was just...just okay. Just okay, bordering on meh.
August 20, 2016
Attractive young Amy Denovo has never known her father. She can't ask her mother about him, because her mother is dead. But she can use the money that was sent to her mother each month to hire Nero Wolfe to investigate. Amy's mother was secretive in her life, and left few clues in her death. Then Wolfe starts wondering if her death was really as accidental as it looks.
March 7, 2018
Another one bites the Dustd
And oh how I hate for the book to end. Well not really, because I reread all of them every few years. Usually in order and this was #43 so I'm closing in on the end of this round of reading. Never met a Nero Wolfe book I didn't like. They don't have to be read in order to be enjoyed or understood. Enough! Read and enjoy.
And oh how I hate for the book to end. Well not really, because I reread all of them every few years. Usually in order and this was #43 so I'm closing in on the end of this round of reading. Never met a Nero Wolfe book I didn't like. They don't have to be read in order to be enjoyed or understood. Enough! Read and enjoy.
January 27, 2013
The interplay between Archie and Nero was great as usual (which is why I love this book series as much as I do) but this particular mystery was not my favorite. The ending was a bit meh! (two stars) Archie and Nero (four stars) - so I averaged it out.
March 18, 2013
A difficult mystery for Wolfe and Archie but after great effort that find the "father." Though in the end, the client may have been happier to have never known. Again strong characters, and in this story, some really nasty ones.
March 1, 2023
A good entry in the Nero Wolfe series but not exceptional... 3.5* for this audiobook edition
September 25, 2019
A few books ago in the series, we have The Mother Hunt in which Wolfe is hired to find the mother of an infant. In The Father Hunt, a young woman named Amy, whose mother was recently struck by a car and was killed, hires him to find out who her father was. Her mother had no photographs of herself or her family, and would never allow photos of herself to be taken. Amy suspects her mother had changed her name, taking “Denovo” for her surname because in Latin de novo means “of the new”.
The only connection — it can’t be called a hint or a clue — Amy has to her father is a box filled with bundles of $100 bills: 260 of them, to be exact. A note from her mother is in the box that says, in part:
A neat little puzzle, but fairly simple. Or so Archie thinks; he offers Amy a bet they will find her father within 3 days. It turns out much more complicated that that, of course.
The only connection — it can’t be called a hint or a clue — Amy has to her father is a box filled with bundles of $100 bills: 260 of them, to be exact. A note from her mother is in the box that says, in part:
This money is from your father. I have not seen him or heard from him since four months before you were born, but two weeks after you were born I received a bank check for one thousand dollars in the mail, and I have received one every month since then, and it now amounts to exactly one hundred thousand dollars. I don’t know what it will be when you read this. I didn’t ask for it and I don’t want it. . . But this money came from your father, so it belongs to you . . .
A neat little puzzle, but fairly simple. Or so Archie thinks; he offers Amy a bet they will find her father within 3 days. It turns out much more complicated that that, of course.
August 21, 2022
This is a 1968 book by famous American mystery author Rex Stout. It is one of the later books in Stout’s long running series feature private detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin. This long mystery series started with the first book, Fer-de-Lance (published in 1934 when Rex Stout was already in his 40s) to the last book Death Times Three (which was published posthumously in 1985 after Stout has died). The Father Hunt is a very well written book. It comes with the full cast of recurring supporting characters, including Inspector Cramer, Purley Stebbins, Fritz the chef, Theodore Horstmann the orchid guy who works with Wolfe, as well as Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin and Orrie Cather. The setting of the book is in August of 1967 in New York City, long before the invention of modern day DNA analysis and paternity testing. Like all books in the series, the book is written from the first-person point of view of Archie Goodwin. As readers of the series would know, Stout inevitably discusses food consumed in the Wolfe household as part of the story, most of which are interesting. In this story, for example, we saw Archie eating egg with anchovy (I guess like the British food scotch woodcock) as well as broiled turtle steak.
Spoiler Alert. The story started in August of 1967 with Amy Denovo (who was secretary to Archie’s rich girlfriend Lily Rowan) asking Archie to help her find out who her father is (hence the title “The Father Hunt”). Since Archie works full time with Wolfe, Amy has to become a client of Wolfe to get both Wolfe and Archie to work on the case. Amy wants to find out who her father is because she has been brought up only by her mother Elinor Denovo and Amy has never learnt who her real father is. A few months ago, in May of 1967, Elinor was killed in a hit-and-run and the driver was never found. After her mother’s death, Amy discovered her mother has $264,000 in cash in a box. It turns out that starting two weeks after Amy’s birth on April 12, 1945 and until Elinor’s death in May, 1967, Elinor has been receiving once a month a bank check for $1000. Elinor has cashed every check and put the cash in a box for Amy but has never told her until after Elinor died when Amy found Elinor’s letter to her. Amy assumed the money came from her father and therefore hired Wolfe and Archie to find out who her father is.
Wolfe and Archie were able to trace the bank checks and determined they came from a retired rich banker called Cyrus M Jarrett, who was the President of Seaboard Bank and Trust Company, one of the biggest banks in the United States. Wolfe then looked at Cyrus’ inner circles to see if he or his son Eugune could be the father given Cyrus was 54 and Eugene was 20 back in 1944. In the meantime, Wolfe and Archie had to figure out who Elinor really is and to find a photo of her (not an easy task, not even Amy has one). They finally were able to discover the real name of Elinor Denovo is Lottie Vaughn, who was an extremely competent secretary to Mrs. Cyrus Jarrett starting in 1942 and lived in the Jarrett house with the family at the time. After Mrs Jarrett died in 1943, she stayed on as secretary to Cyrus. After a lot of work, Wolfe finally excluded both Cyrus and Eugene as being the father to Amy.
Wolfe then decided to change course. He correctly assumed there are really two interconnected cases: to find out who is the father of Amy and to find out who killed Amy’s mother. Wolfe correctly assumed it is Amy’s father who murdered Elinor. So, if he could solve the 3-month-old hit-and-run case for Cramer, he could solve his own case of who is Amy’s father. Through some fancy detective work, Archie was able to identify a potential suspect, Floyd Vance, who owns a small and unsuccessful public relations firm. Archie was able to track down people who worked in Floyd’s office building in 1944 and he was able to discover Elinor was close to Floyd in 1944, the year Amy was conceived. Since Cramer has found the stolen hit-and-run car and were able to find some fingerprints, Wolfe decided to trick Floyd to unwittingly leave his fingerprints for comparison. They were a match for those found in the hit-and-run car and Floyd was arrested for murder. He later confessed. The reason he killed Elinor was because Elinor, who has become quite successful in the TV production business, has been bad mouthing Floyd. In the last two years, she has done a lot to hurt Floyd’s business reputation and has caused him to lose two of his biggest clients. Wolfe subsequently also convinced Cyrus to explain why he sent the bank checks all these years. It turns out Cyrus is a man with a very strong sense of personal responsibility. Floyd was actually Cyrus’ illegitimate son (Floyd never knew that). Back in 1944, Floyd has just started out in his PR business and was struggling. Cyrus, who knew Elinor to be a very competent assistant, sent her to help Floyd build his business but made sure Floyd did not know Cyrus was involved. What Cyrus could not anticipate was Floyd would get Elinor pregnant and the two would have a fallout. Cyrus felt he was responsible to Elinor’s situation and therefore sent her a check every month to help her. In classic Wolfe fashion, he demanded a very high fee and took advantage of Cyrus’ sense of responsibility to convince Cyrus he should be paying Wolfe’s fees instead of saddling it on his illegitimate granddaughter Amy.
Spoiler Alert. The story started in August of 1967 with Amy Denovo (who was secretary to Archie’s rich girlfriend Lily Rowan) asking Archie to help her find out who her father is (hence the title “The Father Hunt”). Since Archie works full time with Wolfe, Amy has to become a client of Wolfe to get both Wolfe and Archie to work on the case. Amy wants to find out who her father is because she has been brought up only by her mother Elinor Denovo and Amy has never learnt who her real father is. A few months ago, in May of 1967, Elinor was killed in a hit-and-run and the driver was never found. After her mother’s death, Amy discovered her mother has $264,000 in cash in a box. It turns out that starting two weeks after Amy’s birth on April 12, 1945 and until Elinor’s death in May, 1967, Elinor has been receiving once a month a bank check for $1000. Elinor has cashed every check and put the cash in a box for Amy but has never told her until after Elinor died when Amy found Elinor’s letter to her. Amy assumed the money came from her father and therefore hired Wolfe and Archie to find out who her father is.
Wolfe and Archie were able to trace the bank checks and determined they came from a retired rich banker called Cyrus M Jarrett, who was the President of Seaboard Bank and Trust Company, one of the biggest banks in the United States. Wolfe then looked at Cyrus’ inner circles to see if he or his son Eugune could be the father given Cyrus was 54 and Eugene was 20 back in 1944. In the meantime, Wolfe and Archie had to figure out who Elinor really is and to find a photo of her (not an easy task, not even Amy has one). They finally were able to discover the real name of Elinor Denovo is Lottie Vaughn, who was an extremely competent secretary to Mrs. Cyrus Jarrett starting in 1942 and lived in the Jarrett house with the family at the time. After Mrs Jarrett died in 1943, she stayed on as secretary to Cyrus. After a lot of work, Wolfe finally excluded both Cyrus and Eugene as being the father to Amy.
Wolfe then decided to change course. He correctly assumed there are really two interconnected cases: to find out who is the father of Amy and to find out who killed Amy’s mother. Wolfe correctly assumed it is Amy’s father who murdered Elinor. So, if he could solve the 3-month-old hit-and-run case for Cramer, he could solve his own case of who is Amy’s father. Through some fancy detective work, Archie was able to identify a potential suspect, Floyd Vance, who owns a small and unsuccessful public relations firm. Archie was able to track down people who worked in Floyd’s office building in 1944 and he was able to discover Elinor was close to Floyd in 1944, the year Amy was conceived. Since Cramer has found the stolen hit-and-run car and were able to find some fingerprints, Wolfe decided to trick Floyd to unwittingly leave his fingerprints for comparison. They were a match for those found in the hit-and-run car and Floyd was arrested for murder. He later confessed. The reason he killed Elinor was because Elinor, who has become quite successful in the TV production business, has been bad mouthing Floyd. In the last two years, she has done a lot to hurt Floyd’s business reputation and has caused him to lose two of his biggest clients. Wolfe subsequently also convinced Cyrus to explain why he sent the bank checks all these years. It turns out Cyrus is a man with a very strong sense of personal responsibility. Floyd was actually Cyrus’ illegitimate son (Floyd never knew that). Back in 1944, Floyd has just started out in his PR business and was struggling. Cyrus, who knew Elinor to be a very competent assistant, sent her to help Floyd build his business but made sure Floyd did not know Cyrus was involved. What Cyrus could not anticipate was Floyd would get Elinor pregnant and the two would have a fallout. Cyrus felt he was responsible to Elinor’s situation and therefore sent her a check every month to help her. In classic Wolfe fashion, he demanded a very high fee and took advantage of Cyrus’ sense of responsibility to convince Cyrus he should be paying Wolfe’s fees instead of saddling it on his illegitimate granddaughter Amy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2024
Coastline Library| All Nero Wolfe books are good, but I definitely prefer the earlier entries in the series, and it takes half the book for the investigation to really get going. I wish more of that time had been spent on wrapping up at the end, we have the motive, but there are other details simply never followed up.
April 13, 2025
Wolfe and Archie agree to find a young woman’s father. When her mother she was killed yea hit-and-run driver, she found she’d been getting $1000 a month from a mysterious source, who she assumes must be the father she doesn’t know. Wolfe and Archie both find her answers and track down the hit-and-run driver.
October 13, 2023
This was a blast to read. Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe were firing on all cylinders.
February 24, 2023
This is the 43rd story in the Nero Wolf series by Rex Stout.
A young lady, Amy, working with Lilly on a book on her family, approaches Archie to help him find who her father is. The engages Nero Wolf and Archie on the trail of a murder and the Byzantine history of her conception and intrigue around the event.
A young lady, Amy, working with Lilly on a book on her family, approaches Archie to help him find who her father is. The engages Nero Wolf and Archie on the trail of a murder and the Byzantine history of her conception and intrigue around the event.
May 6, 2018
Outstanding! Had a few truly funny moments, and was a particularly good mystery this time around. I was fooled multiple times!
January 1, 2021
Updating my original review to include the audiobook read by Michael Prichard. I also recommend this recording and my original rating still stands.
I'm still waiting for the day that I find a Nero Wolfe book I don't like, but today is not that day. Plenty of great Archie-isms, good characters, lots of head scratching for Wolfe and Archie, and a dandy resolution. This is one of the few books without a gathering of the usual suspects, which was refreshing. I noticed a few things that Stout did differently this time, including the use of minor vulgarity. I've never seen the word "ass" in a Wolfe story unless he was calling someone an ass. Here, it's used twice to mean the back of one's lap (as Archie would say). I especially liked the reintroduction of a character we saw in a previous story, which has been done before but not very often. This one was written in the late 1960s, so it's interesting to see what has changed in society and how. For instance, computers are a thing, although probably not in the home and definitely not in Wolfe's home. He still doesn't even like the telephone much. And then there's air conditioning - not just in Lily Rowan's penthouse but in the brownstone! With only three more books to go in the series, and the final compilation published posthumously, I'm looking forward to seeing what else Stout has done differently. I definitely recommend this one.
I'm still waiting for the day that I find a Nero Wolfe book I don't like, but today is not that day. Plenty of great Archie-isms, good characters, lots of head scratching for Wolfe and Archie, and a dandy resolution. This is one of the few books without a gathering of the usual suspects, which was refreshing. I noticed a few things that Stout did differently this time, including the use of minor vulgarity. I've never seen the word "ass" in a Wolfe story unless he was calling someone an ass. Here, it's used twice to mean the back of one's lap (as Archie would say). I especially liked the reintroduction of a character we saw in a previous story, which has been done before but not very often. This one was written in the late 1960s, so it's interesting to see what has changed in society and how. For instance, computers are a thing, although probably not in the home and definitely not in Wolfe's home. He still doesn't even like the telephone much. And then there's air conditioning - not just in Lily Rowan's penthouse but in the brownstone! With only three more books to go in the series, and the final compilation published posthumously, I'm looking forward to seeing what else Stout has done differently. I definitely recommend this one.
May 10, 2011
One of my favorite Stouts; Wolfe and Goodwin are both in good form, and Wolfe doesn't solve the mystery through a restaging of the event or an outright deception, which always seems a bit of a cheat to me.
Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series is one of my favorites anywhere, anytime. As a teenager, I obsessively enjoyed Glen Cook's Garrett Files books. It wasn't til I came across Nero Wolfe that I realized how much Cook had outright lifted from these stories - the plots were unveiled recastings of Chandler's books, but the characters were straight out of Nero Wolfe; the completely male household made up of the taciturn, genius, misogynistic Dead Man, the jaded but noble Garrett, our humble PI, and their cook/housekeeper, Dean; the free-lancing second string made up of the strong and loyal, but dim, Saucerhead Tharpe, and the deadliest half-elf and best friend around, Morley Dotes. And a revolving door of attractive women, falling into Garrett's blunt but manly hands.
Cook's series is a lot of fun and well worth reading, but when I met the originals (Wolfe, Fritz, Goodwin, Fred, Saul (who's combined with Orrie to produce Morley Dotes) - I recognized them immediately as the original and superior versions,and I approved. If you're going to steal, steal from the best!
Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series is one of my favorites anywhere, anytime. As a teenager, I obsessively enjoyed Glen Cook's Garrett Files books. It wasn't til I came across Nero Wolfe that I realized how much Cook had outright lifted from these stories - the plots were unveiled recastings of Chandler's books, but the characters were straight out of Nero Wolfe; the completely male household made up of the taciturn, genius, misogynistic Dead Man, the jaded but noble Garrett, our humble PI, and their cook/housekeeper, Dean; the free-lancing second string made up of the strong and loyal, but dim, Saucerhead Tharpe, and the deadliest half-elf and best friend around, Morley Dotes. And a revolving door of attractive women, falling into Garrett's blunt but manly hands.
Cook's series is a lot of fun and well worth reading, but when I met the originals (Wolfe, Fritz, Goodwin, Fred, Saul (who's combined with Orrie to produce Morley Dotes) - I recognized them immediately as the original and superior versions,and I approved. If you're going to steal, steal from the best!
December 27, 2014
This Nero Wolfe mystery begins with Lily Rowan's assistant, Amy Denovo, asking for Archie's help in finding her father. Her mother has passed away from a hit-and-run incident without ever breathing a hint to Amy of her real father, so, with money collected from checks supposedly sent by the father, Amy hires Wolfe - only the case is complicated when it looks like the hit-and-run might have been more sinister.
Although enjoyable, there are some minor quibbles with the plot in this one (it feels as if the motive for the hit-and-run was not sufficiently explored), but Wolfe novels, I maintain, are to be read for the characters, not the mysteries.
That said, I am frustrated with the Rex Stout Library edition, which offers brief pages toward the end with extra things (advertisements for Nero Wolfe movies, comic strips, letters from Stout's editors). In this case, the afterword promises a letter from Stout's editor and "the master's reply"... except there is no reply. Simply the original letter from the editor to Stout (wherein he asks the same questions I had about the plot). It would be annoying enough, except something similar happened in a previous one I read.
All in all, though, another great Wolfe book!
Although enjoyable, there are some minor quibbles with the plot in this one (it feels as if the motive for the hit-and-run was not sufficiently explored), but Wolfe novels, I maintain, are to be read for the characters, not the mysteries.
That said, I am frustrated with the Rex Stout Library edition, which offers brief pages toward the end with extra things (advertisements for Nero Wolfe movies, comic strips, letters from Stout's editors). In this case, the afterword promises a letter from Stout's editor and "the master's reply"... except there is no reply. Simply the original letter from the editor to Stout (wherein he asks the same questions I had about the plot). It would be annoying enough, except something similar happened in a previous one I read.
All in all, though, another great Wolfe book!
July 18, 2015
Amy Denovo’s mother chose her last name because it means “of new,” representing the clean break she made away from Amy’s father. She never spoke of her past to Amy and, though questioned, refused to divulge her father’s identity. That is, until the day she was killed in a hit-and-run incident. Soon after, Amy finds a box filled with money and a note explaining that the money is from her mysterious father. She uses this money to hire Nero Wolfe to dig into her mother’s past and find her father.
Another excellent addition to the Nero Wolfe library. Disappointingly for a mystery novel, many crucial details are withheld until the very end preventing any accurate guess as to the answers. Despite this, however, the story is an enjoyable read. Wolfe’s eccentricities and Archie’s weight jokes are enough to make just about any plot worthwhile (at least for the limited number of Wolfe books I’ve read).
Another excellent addition to the Nero Wolfe library. Disappointingly for a mystery novel, many crucial details are withheld until the very end preventing any accurate guess as to the answers. Despite this, however, the story is an enjoyable read. Wolfe’s eccentricities and Archie’s weight jokes are enough to make just about any plot worthwhile (at least for the limited number of Wolfe books I’ve read).
February 15, 2015
By the time this came out, the Wolfe pattern was so well-established that it's almost flawless. In this one, Archie makes a bunch of (admitted) mistakes, Wolfe sends orchids to an admirably forthright witness, and Stebbins ransacks Archie's desk. Dialogue:
Archie: "If the payments had nothing to do with Amy, why did Elinor keep it, every century of it, for her?
Wolfe: "Women are random clusters of vagaries."
Archie: "Who said that?"
Wolfe: "I did."
(BTW, at least four women in the book are much more than random clusters of vagaries, including the client, her mother, Lily Rowan, and the above witness.)
Archie: "If the payments had nothing to do with Amy, why did Elinor keep it, every century of it, for her?
Wolfe: "Women are random clusters of vagaries."
Archie: "Who said that?"
Wolfe: "I did."
(BTW, at least four women in the book are much more than random clusters of vagaries, including the client, her mother, Lily Rowan, and the above witness.)
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