And Be a Villain
Written by Rex Stout
Narrated by Michael Prichard
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
From the Paperback edition.
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 And Be a Villain
225 ratings19 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting. There is a lot of personality, and quick dialog. The characters are a bit cartoonish for my taste, and don't feel real. I can see how one could grow into them. I like the bits of humor, but in the mystery genre I'd rather see keen observations of humanity, and those were just missing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A radio show guest is murdered live on the air, poisoned after drinking some of the sponsor's beverage. Was the guest the intended victim or did the bottle end up in the wrong person's hand? What was the motive? While there were a few places the plot bogged down, it rarely did so while Nero Wolfe was in the detecting mode. We listened to this on audiobook downloaded from Overdrive and were amused every time it told us to change the cassette or to flip the cassette or hit reverse. Could these directions not be edited out? Still, it provided a laugh every thirty minutes or so, and the rating is unaffected by this oddity.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5When a radio talk show guest is murdered during a live broadcast, Nero Wolfe is hired to investigate. The fee will come in handy to pay the IRS the large sum he owes. Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin uncover additional criminal activity as they investigate the murder. As usual, they beat Inspector Cramer to the solution of the crime and the identification of the criminal.I borrowed the audio version from OverDrive, and it has not been updated for the digital era. Every 30-40 minutes, the reader instructed us to either flip the cassette over or insert the next cassette. The reader's voice also reminded me very much of radio broadcaster Paul Harvey. If you think either of these things would annoy you, I suggest sticking with the print version.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not his best but better than most of that genre
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Also released under the title "More Deaths Than One".
A radio guest on Miss Fraser's program dies on air. Nero Wolfe takes the case because he's broke but Archie reckons Wolfe is "too conceited, too eccentric and too fat" to work. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The first in the "Zeck" trilogy. The mystery isn't very difficult here, but Wolfe and Archie are fun. Read this recently with the Black Orchid group on LT.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Archie & Wolfe were up to their standard forms and this book introduces the criminal mastermind Arnold Zeck (Stout's version of Moriarty) who appears in several other later books in the series.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another excellent Wolfe mystery, this may have been my favorite so far in the series.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A guest on a popular radio show is poisoned with the sponsor's soft drink, and Wolfe is called in. It turns out that the motive for murder was blackmail, and the blackmailer was an agent of Arnold Zeck, Nero Wolfe's Dr. Moriarty. So, oddly enough, in their first encounter Wolfe and Zeck are on the same side --Wolfe 's actually avenging one of Zeck's men. However, as the murderer killed two other people, one of whom was genuinely innocent, justice was served. I note this is another Wolfe story in which the poison of choice is cynanide,
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A talk show guest is poisoned and Nero Wolfe needs money so he injects himself into the case. The plot is a bit intricate and at times confusing to a light reader, but enjoyed the usual quips from Archie.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've been watching a lot of private investigator television and films lately on Netflix, which put me in the mood to go back and read some of the great detective fiction from the 40s. This one has been sitting in my to-read pile for too long, so I figured it was time.Nero Wolfe, armchair detective extraordinaire. The man solves crimes without ever leaving his home. Instead he relies on his associate, Archie Goodwin, to seek out all pertinent information and report back for Wolfe to put his mind to it and solve the case.In this adventure, a guest of a radio show is murdered live on air, and from the start it is obvious that the cast and crew of the show are hiding something, but what?This is my second Nero Wolfe read, and I felt this one got a little bogged down in the middle. There was so much extemporaneous excitement regarding another, seemingly unconnected murder, the myriad secrets of the radio program staff, a game of cat and mouse with a young girl who is a member of the radio host's fan club and always around the set helping out, and a mysterious caller who advises Nero to drop the case for his own good. It all connects, of course, but it certainly takes its time with it. Even Archie, who works as narrator for these cases, gets fed up with how long it takes for things to come together.Still, a fun read and definitely recommended if you like the classic detective tale.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I am in the process of rereading (listening to the perfectly matched Michael Pritchard) many of the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin mysteries. They hold up very well; in fact, as each novel takes place contemporaneous to its writing, many could be considered period pieces. And be a Villain takes place in 1948 so there are no cell phones, everything is typed, etc. Commercials were done live on the radio, and that features prominently in the mystery as one of the murders is committed on-the-air during a live broadcast, the featured product being spiked with cyanide.
The usual marvelous characters are in place: Inspector Cramer, Fritz (the incomparable cook,) Sgt. Stebbins, and delightfully the Asst. police commissioner O’Hara who, because the case is high-profile insist on horning in. (“Wolfe said to tell you. you’re a nincompoop but I’m too polite to mention it.”) For those not familiar with the series, Nero Wolfe (pay absolutely no attention to the execrable TV series with Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin - they make me gag) is an enormously fat and brilliant detective who never leaves his house (well, almost never) and his wise-cracking side-kick, Archie who follows Wolfe’s directions and reports conversations verbatim.
The language is precise and clever replete with comments such as “Someday, sir, you’ll get on the wrong train by trying to board yours before it arrives,” and “there was no finger pointed without wavering,” and finding a solution by “tramping down the improbabilities.”
One could argue that the books are formulaic and I suppose they are, but when you have such a perfect combination, what’s not to enjoy? - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I felt this was an above average Nero Wolfe mystery. It begins with Wolfe soliciting a client, which is unusual. Someone drank the sponsor's product on a radio show and died. It was murder by cyanide poisoning. Bad publicity for everybody. Wolfe comes up with a clue and then turns it over to Cramer. Archie doesn't like Wolfe being so lazy so he stirs things up a bit.Wolfe gets a phone call and according to other sources this is the first time we hear from "Zeck". The plot turns 180 degrees and then Wolfe invites all the usual suspects over to his office.The end (without naming anyone) is the classic question all around the room and then name the murderer.The dialogue was very good and once Wolfe got back to work so did the plot. Four Stars
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A return to earlier form with a murder and a solution that are well executed. There are a few moments of stunning misogyny but since the world in which the murder takes place revolves around a highly intelligent and emotionally strong woman those moments feel less annoying than they do in other books.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wolfe's bank accounts are getting low, and he proposes to a radio personality to solve a murder she was unfortunately involved in. First he must sort out whether the victim was the intended victim, or whether he was accidentally murdered by someone who wished to kill the popular host of the radio show he was a guest on at the time. And he must work out how, or if, the betting tip sheet published by the victim figures into it.I always enjoy Nero Wolfe mysteries - it always feels like I'm visiting old friends, because nothing ever changes. This one is no different.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A&E’s Nero Wolfe has long been one of my favourite television shows, but I’ve actually read only five or six of the novels by Rex Stout, on which the show is more-or-less faithfully based. I do enjoy the books, though, and this one is no exception.And Be a Villain (a.k.a. More Deaths Than One) features eccentric genius Nero Wolfe’s investigation into the murder of Cyril Orchard, who died by poisoning while a guest on a popular radio programme—while the show was on the air. This book also marks the first appearance of Wolfe’s arch-nemesis, Arnold Zeck.The mystery was a good one, and as usual, Wolfe’s antics were entertaining, as was Archie Goodwin’s narration.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Any impulse to abandon this tale after the first couple of chapters should be resisted stoutly. This early section is loose to the verge of incoherence, but that is wholly attributable to an overabundance of Archie Goodwin's literary jejunity. There is marked improvement as the central character assumes his proper position, "at the helm" of the proceedings, to borrow a phrase. An ingenious extortion scheme is detected in short order and Goodwin so far redeems himself as to submit a most satisfactory performance. The imbecility of the city's officialdom is depicted and appropriately reprehended. All is reavealed by the protagonist in a scene that is carefully prepared for and admirably begun. Regrettably, the ultima, as it were, is hurried and huddled, detracting somewhat from the brilliance of the solution. Pfui!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is one of the best Wolfe books. It is very well written and although the crime is not a very complicated one you still enjoy joining Archie and Wolfe on the trip. I stronly recommend this book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With its setting in radio, satire on advertising, subtlety, tightly-written scenes, and cast of interesting, distinct female characters, this is one of my favorite Nero Wolfe mysteries. The villain is one of his best. And to top it all, Arnold Zeck is introduced, and used with a controlled menace I still admire.