4/9/22

For years I've been periodically trying to read [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg] novels that are not about Nero Wolfe. I have found them to be awful. But I kept trying under the theory that anyone who can write books as great as many of those are must be decent at writing something else. And the theory has paid off at last.

The detective in this book is Tecumseh Fox, about whom I gather Stout wrote several other novels. While he doesn't have the charm of Archie Goodwin or the brains of Nero Wolfe, he's not completely hopeless as a character, and now I will try to get hold of the other novels to see if this one's a fluke.

Unfortunately, I can't write much about the plot without descending into spoiler territory.So I'll just say that, while there are definitely a few surprises, the story as a whole will not be a big shock to Stout's regular readers. And that's just fine; I read these books not for something completely new, but to enjoy another interesting variation on a familiar theme. If you do too, this is worth checking out. ( )

A talented violinist ends a huge concert in the middle when his playing didn't add up. He walked off the stage, wrote a note and killed himself in front of two friends. Tecumseh Fox investigates a case in which the police have covered everything and found nothing. A second man dies before Fox figures it out. This series is not as popular as the Nero Wolfe series.

THhs is another, older copy of The Broken Vase (see review in entry for other copy) . This one was from my parent' collection. ( )

On the whole, I much prefer Nero Wolfe (as a sleuth) to Tecumseh Fox, but this mystery, as a mystery, I think is one of Stout's better efforts and probably the best of the Fox series. It begins with a remarkably subtle indirect murder --a brilliant young violinist a precious antique violin, gives a disastrous performance at Carnegie Hall and shoots himself. Then it is discovered his violin had been sabotaged. Another man had fallen to his death a few months before, so there may have already been two suspicious deaths. ( )