I read somewhere that one reads a single Nero Wolfe story and enjoys it but reads two or three and is addicted. I agree with this opinion. I recently read my first Wolfe novel, Death of a Doxy and enjoyed it thoroughly – it was good fun. It’s the story of a straightforward homicide that Wolfe sorts through fairly easily. Then I read my second Wolfe novel, In The Best Families and this one really drew me in. It was great fun. Wolfe is really put to the test this time by the tangled mess of a homicide and a mobster. This is a fabulous story and I’m looking forward to more.

Wolfe and Goodwin are truly interesting characters and Stout draws them well. These are good stories, the characters are worthy and the dialogue is excellent. Wolfe himself really is fascinating. He’s similar to Holmes but is more arrogant, more obstinate, more passionate when drawn out, but is even colder towards the fair sex than the occupant of 221B Baker Street. He also seems more human, he has other interests besides sleuthing, such as reading, his orchids, and his cuisine, and his stance towards the other sex is not merely cold business-like but rather seems driven by some past lost love. When it comes to his side interests his detective work seems a distraction from what he really wishes to do, but he must do it because he’s so good at it and makes good money doing it (and his comfortable and sedentary lifestyle has a price). And when a mystery is brought to him he can’t hardly help himself until he resolves it. And he resolves it by sitting around and simply thinking on it. When he figures it out, he only acts to prove it, he doesn’t care to defend himself to others for he doesn’t need their approval.

“I can give you my word, but I know what it’s worth and you don’t.” – Nero Wolfe

Nero Wolfe is among the best of literary detectives – Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen – and if you like murder mysteries you’ll find that this is very good stuff. And I’m not alone in saying so, Eugene Peterson, recognized author and translator of the Bible paraphrase The Message, recommends Wolfe, among 12 other mysteries, in his Take & Read book of recommended reads. Peterson says that for 30 years he has amused himself with the Wolfe stories, of which there are over 70. If you like detective fiction, you’ll love Wolfe. Dig in and enjoy!

In this chronicle, Cadfael tackles a theft and a murder alongside his friend Hugh Beringar, the reeve of the shire. The theft of the celebrated relic of Shrewsbury leads to a fascinating thread through the tapestry of local politics, authorities , and medieval Catholicism-very devout but deeply confused. This is a world of powerful and rigid authorities both sacred and secular, of saints and relics, of place and position-a world far from the modern or “post-modern”. I’m no historian of the Middle Ages but this seems like a worthy immersion into the medieval mindset.

Most interesting is the tangled process of determining the will of a dead saint concerning the saint’s own relic. The culmination of the process is application of sortes biblicae, the use of the Bible for divination. This is performed by the seeker taking a copy of the Gospels in hand and letting it open randomly and placing a finger somewhere on the open pages. The portion by the placed finger is read aloud and then applied to the decision at hand. This is truly foreign territory but one must remember that this was an age when most truly believed every event to be the evidence of the will of God.

Furthermore, it’s just a good tale! Imagine murder and mayhem among monks! Sin among those totally dedicated and separated to holiness. The many different characters-the monks, peasants, sheriffs, lords, and troubadors-and the interplay between them are well drawn. If you need exhilarating racing action this is not for you, but if you enjoy a good story woven together then pick it up and spend a few afternoons in its pages, it won’t disappoint.