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Title: Death of a Doxy
Series:
Nero Wolfe #42
Author: Rex Stout
Rating:
3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages:
139
Words: 51K
Publish: 1966
While this was an ok entry in the long running Nero Wolfe series, I find myself not enjoying these post 1950’s books as much as the earlier ones. Stout has moved Wolfe through time and the culture has changed significantly (not for the better in my opinion) and so the tone of the books are different. That might work very well for some people, but for me, not so much.
Orrie Cather is one of Wolfe’s helpers but he has always played such a small role that to have him thrust into the middle of things was unsettling. Coupled with the fact that he’s not actually involved in this book (he spends almost all of it in jail) made it doubly unsettling to me. The whole subject matter (a whore, who is pregnant, blackmail, infidelity) left a bad taste in my mouth and I don’t know if I’d ever read this particular book again.
It is still well-written and up to snuff in regards to Stout’s skill, but I just didn’t like the subject matter from start to finish. And that is why I’ve knocked a half-star from my usual rating of a Nero Wolfe book.
★★★✬☆
From Grokipedia
Death of a Doxy opens with Orrie Cather, a recurring freelance operative for Nero Wolfe, asking Archie Goodwin to enter the apartment of Isabel Kerr, a former showgirl living as the kept mistress of wealthy banker Avery Ballou, to retrieve personal possessions that Isabel had taken and was using to threaten Orrie's engagement to airline stewardess Jill Hardy.[5][3] Archie discovers Isabel bludgeoned to death with an ashtray, leaves the scene without alerting authorities, and informs Orrie of the murder.[5] Isabel's sister, Stella Fleming, subsequently finds the body and notifies the police, who identify Orrie's fingerprints and belongings at the scene, leading to his arrest as the prime suspect.[5][3]Despite lacking a paying client, Nero Wolfe commits to proving Orrie's innocence, joined by Archie, Saul Panzer, and Fred Durkin, who conclude—based in part on Saul's reasoning that Orrie would not have involved Archie if guilty—that Orrie is innocent.[3][5] The investigation focuses on those aware of the secret apartment, including Stella and her husband Barry Fleming, a mathematics teacher, and Isabel's close friend, nightclub singer Julie Jaquette (real name Amy Jackson).[3][5] Wolfe coerces cooperation from Avery Ballou by threatening to publicize his affair with Isabel, eliciting the revelation that Ballou had been blackmailed by someone using the alias Milton Thales—a name referencing a figure in the history of mathematics.[5] This clue points suspicion toward Barry Fleming.[5]The inquiry also uncovers that Isabel was pregnant, complicating motives surrounding her death.[5] To expose the killer, Wolfe recruits Julie Jaquette to serve as bait in a carefully orchestrated trap, placing her at risk as the murderer attempts to eliminate her.[3] For her protection, Julie is brought to stay in Wolfe's brownstone, where she actively participates in the plan.[3] The ruse, involving a substantial cash offer tied to keeping certain facts private, forces the culprit into the open, resulting in the identification of Barry Fleming as both the blackmailer Milton Thales and Isabel Kerr's murderer, with his motive connected to preventing blackmail and protecting personal secrets.[6][7][3] Orrie Cather is exonerated and released.
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