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    Black Orchids
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    Black Orchids
    Unavailable
    Black Orchids
    Audiobook6 hours

    Black Orchids

    Written by Rex Stout

    Narrated by Michael Prichard

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Not much can get Wolfe to leave his comfortable brownstone, but the showing of a rare black orchid lures him to a flower show. Unfortunately, the much-anticipated event is soon overshadowed by a murder as daring as it is sudden. It's a case of weeding out a cunning killer who can turn up anywhere-and Wolfe must do it quickly. Because a second case awaits his urgent attention: a society widow on a mailing list of poison-pen letters leading to a plot as dark as any orchid Wolfe has ever encountered.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 2, 2007
    ISBN9781415937747
    Unavailable
    Black Orchids
    Author

    Rex Stout

    Rex Todhunter Stout (1886 – 1975) was an American crime writer, best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe and assistant Archie Goodwin. The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century. Rex passed away in 1975.

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    Reviews for Black Orchids

    4/5

    255 ratings9 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This was my first Nero Wolfe mystery. Unfortunately I just didn't like it very much. The characters were forgettable, I esp didn't care for Nero. The stories were just ok. I did like the setting though. I was hoping this would have been better.
    • 4/5
      This is a twofer as it includes the title novella as well as a second novella, Cordially Invited to Meet Death. Black orchids form the connection between the two novellas. In the first story, Nero Wolfe sends Archie to visit a flower show on successive days. On the final day, Wolfe himself is present when Archie discovers a murdered man in one of the displays. In the second story, a party planner consults Wolfe regarding a series of poison pen letters. It soon turns into a murder investigation. While Archie does the leg work, Wolfe and Fritz receive instruction on the proper way to make corned beef hash…from a woman! The novella format works well for this series with Archie Goodwin as its narrator. Archie is quick-witted and quick-tongued, and the novella length seems like a natural fit.
    • 4/5
      Stout, Rex: Black Orchids (BC 271)This book actually contains 2 novels. Black Orchids is the first story and tells how Wolfe came to possess the black orchids by solving a murder at a flower show. The second story, Cordially Invited to Meet Death, is about a series of poison pen letters that result in murder. It is paired with the first story because those same black orchids play a small roll in this second story. Both stories were “satisfactory,” as Wolfe would say.
    • 5/5
      This is a two story book. The first story is about how Wolfe acquired black orchids and the second is about a client to whom he sent black orchids.

      The first one, in particular, is wonderful. It's Archie at his best. He has breezily decided he is in love with one of the models at a flower show. And his descriptions and behavior are quintessential. Also, the moment he gives her up and his reasons for it are so Archie.
    • 2/5
      Black Orchids is a collection of two novelettes; Black Orchids and Cordially Invited to Meet Death. I found both to be below Stout's standard. Archie states that the only thing these two cases have in common is the black orchids that appear in both. He is wrong for they have another commonality. In both cases Wolfe is disinterested in the murders. In BO he gets involved only to get three rare orchids in return for shielding their original owner from negative entanglements with the murder. In the latter case it is unclear why Wolfe ever gets involved. Archie himself does not make a good case for Wolfe's motivations. Indeed, 'Cordially' at times reads less like a minor Wolfe and more like a piece of fan fiction with every regular character acting 'like themselves only more' and two kitchen escapades that seem Mary Sue-ish.
    • 4/5
      Though Black Orchids is the ninth book that was published in the Nero Wolfe series it is the first of the short story/novella books that Rex Stout released about Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. It has the two novellas, Black Orchids and Cordially Invited to Meet Death, in this one. Both novellas are excellent, especially the first one Black Orchids. Though my favorite character and favorite quote are from the second novella. Archie goes to visit the client at her home and encounters her chimpanzee whose name is Mister. Mister insists on playing tag and making a complete nuisance of himself , not just with Archie, but with everyone in the whole household. He torments the owner of the home by tickling her and then upsets the butler's tray of drinks that he is bringing for everyone. After cleaning up the mess the butler returns with a new tray of drinks and Archie observes,".........and eventually we got back to normal, everybody with a drink, including Mister, only his was nonalcoholic, or I wouldn't have stayed. What that bird would have done with a couple of Martinis under his fur would have been something to watch from an airplane."
    • 5/5
      Actually two stories in one, Black Orchids details how Wolfe came to own the rare black orchids that give the novel its title. Of course, it all starts when Wolfe is skeptical about the black orchids reported at the flower show and sends Archie every day to inspect them; and of course, Archie gets distracted by a girl with pretty legs. And of course there is a murder which Wolfe agrees to solve in exchange for the black orchids. The second story in the novel, Cordially Invited to Meet Death, begins not with a murder, but with blackmail. But of course, as with any Nero Wolfe mystery, there is a murder and Wolfe has to solve it without acquiring a fee! As with all Nero Wolfe stories, Black Orchids combines wit, mystery and mayhem into a gripping tale that is difficult to put down.
    • 3/5
      A remarkably rare black orchid at a flower show lures Nero Wolfe from his comfortable brownstone. But before the detective and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, can stop and smell the roses, a diabolically daring murder puts a blight on the proceedings. The murderer to be weeded out is definitely not a garden-variety killer. Wolfe must also throw his considerable weight into another thorny case, this one involving a rich society widow bedeviled by poison-pen letters -- and a poisonous plot as black as Wolfe's orchids with roots even more twisted.
    • 4/5
      This book is Archie Goodwin's recounting of two different cases--one in which Nero Wolfe acquires the rare black orchids, the other one in which he sends cut flowers from his black orchids to a funeral.In the first case, Wolfe leaves his house to go to the flower show to see the newly-bred black orchids. While he is there, someone gets murdered and Cramer won't release Archie from questioning to drive Wolfe home. While waiting, Wolfe gathers some evidence, gets a client, and even works the black orchids into a deal. Once safely home, the only thing he has to do is solve the case, within the client's limiting instructions.In the second case, Archie and Wolfe are approached by a society lady who thinks someone is out to ruin her. Two of her aquaintances have received letters in which the writer claimed knowledge of certain damaging secrets and wrote that this lady (Wolfe's potential client) had told the writer about it. She wants to know who wrote the letters and she wants proof. Throw in one murder, tag with a chimpanzee, and pig chitlins, and you have the story.Almost any Archie and Wolfe mystery is bound to be fun. Here was no different. Archie was charming and bright, Wolfe was obstinate and correct. Just as things should be.