The Silent Speaker: Rex Stout

I have been reading the Nero Wolfe series roughly in order recently and finally I have arrived at one of my favorite books in the series, The Silent Speaker.

This summary from the back of the paperback edition I read gives a decent overview without revealing too much:

When a powerful government official, scheduled to speak to a group of millionaires, turns up dead, it is an event worthy of the notice of the great Nero Wolfe. Balancing on the edge of financial ruin, the orchid-loving detective grudgingly accepts the case. Soon a second victim is found bludgeoned to death, a missing stenographer's tape causes an uproar, and the dead man speaks, after a fashion. While the business world clamors for a solution, Nero Wolfe patiently lays a trap that will net him a killer worth his weight in gold.

The dead man, Cheney Boone, was the Director of the Bureau of Price Regulation (BPR). He was scheduled to speak to the members of the National Industrial Association (NIA). The two organizations are at odds. When the murderer is not apprehended quickly, the public is of the opinion that the NIA is responsible, and their reputation is damaged by the continued publicity.

In actuality, Nero Wolfe actively seeks the case, trying to get someone interested in hiring him. Or, he instructs Archie Goodwin, private detective and Wolfe's assistant, to do this. Of course, when Wolfe has snagged a client (the NIA), the representatives are demanding, obstreperous, and irritating, and he regrets getting involved.

This is overall a very entertaining and well-plotted book in the Nero Wolfe series. My favorite part, however, is the character of Phoebe Gunther, confidential secretary to Cheney Boone, and capable of running the BPR herself. She is a fantastic character, strong, confident, a career woman who believes in her job. Archie is immediately besotted by her, but she is much more than just a pretty face. It seems to me that from the sixth novel in the series, the female characters are more interesting and stronger, more defined.

I also liked that this was the first novel published after World War II and we sees the effects of the war. Archie is back from his military assignment. And manufacturers in the US want the price regulations put into place during the war eased so they can make more money.

Walter Mosley's introduction to the Bantam Crime Line edition to this book is full of gems.

I love Nero Wolfe. I love his house, his orchids, his sour disposition, and his shrouded past. I love his reading habits, his unabashed fear of women, and his incredible appetite; that is to say, I love his love of food.

and...

Wolfe was never a hero in the American sense. No gunslinger or karate master he. He never subdued the bad guy or ran a merry chase. As a matter of fact, Nero Wolfe was a coward when it came to things physical.

He was afraid of traffic.

and...

Archie is the leg man. He’s the one who carries out Wolfe’s plans and errands. He drives the car, romances the ladies, and applies the pike to Nero’s rear end when the rent is due and there’s a paying client downstairs.

Archie has no dark moods, no real fears, and no concerns beyond what it takes to keep three hundred and fifty pounds of genius going. He loves women (Lily Rowan especially), but he’s married to his work.

All the years I read the Nero Wolfe mysteries it was because of Archie. Archie talking about walking up Madison; Archie cracking wise with Cramer; Archie amazed by the detecting abilities of Saul Panzer (the second or third greatest detective in New York- and, therefore, the world).

Archie Goodwin was the real gumshoe. He was willing to get out there and work. He wasn’t daunted by traffic or sunlight or possibility of death.

For other opinions, see reviews at Becky's Book Reviews, The Hipster Dad's Bookshelf, Past Offences, and In So Many Words.

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Publisher:  Bantam, 1994. Orig. pub. 1946.
Length:     271 pages
Format:     Paperback
Series:      Nero Wolfe, #11
Setting:     New York
Genre:       Mystery
Source:     I purchased my copies.