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The Golden Spiders by Rex Stout
Reader Reviews 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Wolfe Earns His Fees, June 23, 2002 Reviewer: George R. (Bob) Dekle, Sr. from Lake City, FL USA A small boy comes to Wolfe with a problem, then dies violently. Wolfe has a few dollars given him by the boy. He determines to spend the money, but no more, seeking the boy's slayer. His efforts bring him another person in need, who gives Wolfe a check for $10,000.00 to help her in a certain matter. She refuses to elucidate exactly what she wants, but says she will explain after making a few inquiries on her own. She also dies violently. Wolfe doesn't really know what the woman wanted him to do to earn his money, but he decides that she would not be displeased if he used it to solve her murder. He is immediately beset by lawyers seeking the return of the money to the woman's estate. Wolfe fends off the lawyers and Inspector Cramer as he tries to solve the murders with almost nothing to go on. He does have a similarly executed third murder to consider, a pair of golden spider earrings, and a half-dozen or so unlovely suspects. He makes an assumption, acts on it, "stirs things up" a little, almost gets his confidential assistant Archie Goodwin arrested, gets his ace operative Saul Panzer blackmailed, and gets his operative Fred Durkin tortured. Wolfe's brain can concoct the most Byzantine situations, but Archie's brawn must oftentimes carry them through to fruition. As Fred undergoes torture, Archie steps in and saves the day by delivering a performance worthy of Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry." With Archie's help, Wolfe uncovers a scandal, hands a gang of thugs over to Inspector Cramer, and earns his fee by not only solving the woman's murder but also clearing up the matter she wanted him to handle in the first place. All good fun, and one of the more action-oriented of the Nero Wolfe stories.
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