Reviews

In the Best Families by Patricia Sprinkle, Rex Stout

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jviscosi's review against another edition

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4.0

You have to love it when Wolfe spends three or four paragraphs excoriating someone for murdering a dog!

jercox's review against another edition

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4.0

Fun and not your typical Nero Wolfe in many ways. This one includes Mr. X, always interesting.

hotsake's review against another edition

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5.0

This one both follows the mold of the standard Wolfe mysteries and completely breaks them and manages to be my favorite story of the entire series.

me2brett's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the third in an unofficial trilogy of Rex Stout Novels - The Second Confession, And Be A Villain, and In the Best Families. All three feature, to some extent, a man named Zeck. I enjoyed all three of these books, and this one especially. It is one of the few Stout novels I can think of where, if you pay attention, you can probably figure out whodunnit before Wolfe tells you. It also features Archie in a different light from the usual fare.

Stout's novels are some of the few I don't feel compelled to read in order, but in this case it makes sense to do so. Don't read this unless you've read the other two.

caseykoester39's review against another edition

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5.0

Devoured this in my pre-election stress because I needed something fun and engaging. As a huge Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin fan, I know the characters well and was so thrilled to see them in this fabulous tale. It's not often Wolfe leaves the Brownstone and when he does, boy is it worth it! I won't give more away, but if you are a fan of the series, this is one of the best entries.

jbleyle63's review against another edition

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5.0

While I remain flexible in my choice for favorite British mystery writer [Christie?, Sayers?, Conan Doyle?, Tey?, Crispin?, Innes?] there has never been any debate that Rex Stout is my favorite American in the genre, and probably favorite period. I have read all the Nero Wolfe books at least three times, and this is my fifth reading of the Arnold Zeck trilogy which concludes with this volume. This final showdown between Wolfe and his Moriarty-like nemesis Zeck is a suspenseful joy, but not the place to start the series as many of the pleasures of the entire trilogy come from a familiarity with Wolfe, Archie Godwin, and the rest of the series' supporting cast.