Robyn asks:
What's the best Rex Stout book to start with? Critics seem to differ in their favorites, but often say one or another of his books is "good for beginners." I'm confused!
One of my favorite writers! Rex Stout and his wonderful Nero Wolfe series don't seem to be talked about much these days, but they were early favorites of mine and have retained their appeal over the years.
(Note that Stout did write a handful of books other than the Wolfe series, but I haven't read any of them, and they're not supposed to be especially good.)
The quick answer is to say that I don't think it matters a whole lot which of the Nero Wolfe books you begin with. The characters don't really change much over the years, and there isn't a great deal of continuing story matter in the books. So you should be safe reading pretty much any of them.
However, there are some plot lines that continue (most notably the Arnold Zeck books: And Be a Villain, The Second Confession and In the Best Families), and some details that carry over from book to book, so I would recommend you start reading some of the earlier novels in the series and then move on from there.
So...Try picking up one of the early books and see what you think. Titles that I recall enjoying include The League of Frightened Men, Black Orchids, Too Many Cooks, Some Buried Caesar...Really, most of them are quite good, so it's hard to go wrong.
Happy reading!
