by Elaine Arthur

Created on: September 16, 2009   Last Updated: November 22, 2009

My nominee for best mystery novel series for adults would be Rex Stout's collection of Nero Wolfe stories.

This extensive series of 33 novels and 39 short stories was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention. Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century. Hollywood has also celebrated Nero Wolfe.

Set largely in the 1930s, the stories provide a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era. This was between the two World Wars, when New York City was as vibrant as today but far less crowded. Life seemed simpler. It was possible to find your car where you parked it (in front of your brownstone) and take a leisurely drive through New England or into Philadelphia.

The narrator is Archie Goodwin, hired as Confidential Assistant to the great detective Nero Wolfe. Goodwin's personality provides an amusing counterpoint to that of his employer. Goodwin is an Everyman. He has no advanced degrees or impressive credentials. He's just a street-smart kind of guy who works for Wolfe because it's always a challenge, never boring, and there's always something to learn.

One cannot help coming away from an encounter with Nero Wolfe feeling that one has become more and less enlightened, both at the same time. Who is Nero Wolfe? Physically, he weighs close to 300 pounds, and Archie Goodwin never hesitates to remind us of this. Wolfe is sedentary and deliberate, sitting stock-still at his enormous polished wood desk, observing the hysteria in front of him and betraying nothing beyond a raised eyebrow or pursed lips. He is, physically and emotionally, unmovable. His intellect is as precise and remote as that of Sherlock Holmes or Hannibal Lecter, and some who have studied and researched the character would conclude that he is a reincarnation of Holmes' brother Mycroft, despite his claims of growing up in the Balkan nation of Montenegro. His schedule is inviolate. Two hours in the morning and the afternoon each day are spent upstairs tending to an amazing collection of orchids. His faithful cook is ever at the ready with a bottle of beer for Mr. Wolfe. In between a daily exchange of insults with Archie Goodwin, Wolfe unfailingly manages to analyze each case and bring it to a satisfying conclusion - in his own good time, of course.

Stout's first Nero Wolfe novel was Fer-de-Lance, a most satisfactory introduction. Learn how detecting was done in the days before cell phones and CSI. Treat yourself to an afternoon at the brownstone on West 35th Street.

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