#1936Club: The Rubber Band

For my fourth and last book for the 1936 Club, I am reviewing The Rubber Band by Rex Stout. It is the third book in the Nero Wolfe series. Rex Stout is my favorite author, so bear in mind that my opinion of his books is biased. 

Nero Wolfe is a genius, a lover of orchids and fine food, who supports himself (and his household) as a private detective. Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the stories, is both his assistant and a private investigator, and he does most of the legwork. Archie does secretarial work for Wolfe when they are not working on a case. (He also is the narrator for every book in the series.) They live in a New York brownstone and share the house with Theodore, the plant expert, and Felix, Wolfe's cook. 

On a Monday in October, Archie has scheduled two appointments for Wolfe in the afternoon.

   The first one, down for 3:30 in the afternoon, was with a guy named Anthony D. Perry. He was a tycoon, a director of the Metropolitan Trust Company, the bank we did business with, and president of the Seaboard Products Corporation—one of those vague firms occupying six floors of a big skyscraper and selling annually a billion dollars’ worth of something nobody ever actually saw, like soy beans or powdered coconut shells or dried llama’s hoofs. As I say. Perry was a tycoon; he presided at meetings and was appointed on Mayor’s Committees and that kind of hooey. Wolfe had handled a couple of investigations for him in previous years—nothing of any importance. We didn’t know what was on his mind this time; he had telephoned for an appointment.

The second appointment is more vague...

   The second appointment was for 6 P.M. It was a funny one, but we often had funny ones. Saturday morning, October 5, a female voice had phoned that she wanted to see Nero Wolfe. I said okay. She said, yes, but she wanted to bring someone with her who would not arrive in New York until Monday morning, and she would be busy all day, so could they come at 5:30. I said, no, but they could come at six, picking up a pencil to put down her name. But she wasn’t divulging it; she said she would bring her name along with her, and they would arrive at six sharp, and it was very important. It wasn’t much of a date, but I put it on the memo pad and hoped she would turn up, for she had the kind of voice that makes you want to observe it in the flesh.

Anthony D. Perry wants to hire Wolfe to investigate the theft of thirty thousand dollars from his company. One of the high level executives in the company insists that a woman employed by the company, Clara Fox, is guilty of the theft. Perry does not think that is true, and wants Wolfe to find the truth.

Clara Fox turns out to be the woman who made the second appointment, and she wants to hire Wolfe to negotiate a settlement of a debt for herself and several other people. Her father and several other men helped a man escape a charge of murder in the old West, in Nevada in 1895, and he had promised to give them a share of his wealth when he came into his inheritance. The man escaping from the law has been identified as the Marquis of Clivers, an English diplomat, who is currently visiting New York on official government business. Clara's father died in World War I, but she has gathered up the other men who engineered the escape, plus the daughter of one of them who was too old to travel.

The situation is complex to begin with, and it becomes even more complex when one of the men in Clara's group is killed.

I don't usually include such detailed descriptions of the plot, although I think the excerpts from the book help to give the tone of Rex Stout's writing, and clues to Archie's character. And the part of the plot I have included so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

What I love about these stories is primarily (1) Archie's telling of the story and (2) the relationship that Archie and Wolfe have developed over time.  Like many fans of this series, I have reread all the books multiple times, and in most cases when I read them now, I know who the perpetrator is.  Thus I am not reading the books for the resolution of a crime but to enjoy the time with my favorite characters. These are not light mysteries, but there is a good amount of humor. There are recurring characters in most of the books. Inspector Cramer, in charge of the New York City homicide department, shows up in this one, along with Lieutenant Rowcliff. Also Fred Durkin, Saul Panzer, and Orrie Cather, the team of freelance operatives that Wolfe hires when needed.

In this book, I especially like that Clara Fox is a strong female character. She know what she wants and she won't be intimidated. Wolfe could be described as a woman hater, although really he just doesn't want to deal with a woman in his daily life. Which makes it doubly interesting when he harbors Clara in his house to keep her from being questioned by the police. Rex Stout often includes strong, intelligent female characters in his books, which balances out the negative comments about women.

See also these reviews:

At Crossexaminingcrime, where Kate notes comparisons to the Sherlock Holmes series.

At In So Many Words, because Yvette loves the Nero Wolfe series as much as I do and rereads them.

The Pocket Book edition shown above was published in 1943, and notes that the book can be sent "to a boy in the armed forces anywhere for only 3 cents postage." 

Thanks to Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings for hosting the 1936 Club this week.

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Publisher:  Bantam, 1992. Orig. pub. 1936.
Length:     267 pages
Format:     Paperback
Series:      Nero Wolfe, #3
Setting:     New York
Genre:       Mystery
Source:     I purchased my copies.