I’ve only read a few of Stout’s Nero Wolfe books before and liked them but I enjoyed this one just as much, it was first published in 1937. The Hand in the Glove has a lot in common with what we tend to think of as traditional British murder mysteries, involving a big country house party, and lots of murder suspects, in fact the whole thing was quite similar to Wentworth’s The Chinese Shawl which I read just before this one.
The story begins in Manhattan, where Theodolinda Bonner, Dol to her friends, is a partner in a detective agency, but the action swiftly moves to a large New England house. The house belongs to P.L. Storrs, a financier who is in control of the orphaned Dol’s money, until she comes of age – in 6 months time.
The fact that Storrs disapproves of Dol’s involvment in a detective agency doesn’t stop him from secretly hiring her to dig up some dirt on one of the other guests. George Ranth is a sort of religious guru, and Mrs Storrs has fallen under his spell, it looks like Ranth is after the Storrs’ money. When there’s a murder Dol becomes a suspect along with all the other guests and the detectives of the New York Bureau of Homicide don’t want any help from a fiesty young ‘she-dick’ – but they get it anyway.
It’s a good mystery with humour too, what more can you want on a cold dark winter night!
You have encouraged me to read this one again. It has been awhile. I am glad you liked it.
TracyK,
I was incredibly lucky to find this one as his books are difficult to get in the UK for some reason. I just hope I can find more in this series.
Katrina,
This one sounds superb–and right up my alley. I must confess I’ve never read Rex Stout, but your recommendation and TracyK’s has prompted me to list it in my “WannaRead” file.
Happy Weekend Reading!
Judith
Judith,
Those book lists of ours just keep getting longer. I’ve finished Ivanhoe, I’ll blog about it soon. Have a good weekend.