I had a dream about Archie Goodwin so I figured I was time to finally get back to my Nero Wolfe read-through. Also, I wanted a palate-cleanser of fiction that would be comfortable and easy and charming and funny. Murder mystery series are that for me. Enough formula that I don't need to worry about how it's all going to play out, enough surprise that I want to keep reading.
Not gonna lie; I had to check goodreads to see what stories were in this book, and I just finished it yesterday. They are all very standard fare; in one a soldier who was presumed dead in Korea comes home to find his wife has remarried, and then he is murdered (for real this time). One of them is all about switchboard operators. And one of them involves Nero Wolfe adopting a dog, which was great from start to finish. Archie, of course, thought he'd make Wolfe mad by bringing the dog home, only then Wolfe wanted to keep the dog, and it was just adorable.
One fun thing about these books is that Archie and Wolfe stay roughly the same age but the books are set in the year they're written. Archie was a Captain in World War II, and now here he is, still about 30, during the Korean War. Another fun thing is that they are really of their time. I knew switchboards were a thing, and I knew sort of how they operated, but a mystery set around ladies and switchboards was super fun to read, since I got a much clearer and more vivid idea of how they worked.
Grade: B
#75 in 2016
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