Before Midnight

By: Rex Stout

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

The scent of murder is in the air at the great Pour Amour perfume contest, and the incomparable Nero Wolfe is intent on sniffing out the killer. The foul deed is committed during the contest’s final round. Only five riddles separate the contestants from the million-dollar cash prize when someone finds the sweet smell of success too intoxicating to leave to chance. Now the contest creator is dead and the answers stolen from his wallet, and it’s up to Wolfe to follow the trail of clues to a source disturbingly close to home.

Introduction by Robert Crais

“It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.”—The New York Times Book Review

A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America’s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertained—and puzzled—millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout.©1955 Rex Stout; (P)1995 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

“It is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.”—The New York Times Book Review

Complicated

A complicated plot with many threads expertly woven together. However, this very complexity weakens the pleasure of discovering the solution.

Michael Pritchard is flawless

Best voice for Archie Goodwin. Nero Wolfe is a brilliant character and this is a solid Rex Stout story.

One of the funniest

There are tons of priceless one-liners in this one, recited by Archie, Wolfe & even a couple by Cramer. You can just tell that Rex Stout was having a grand old time with this one. I have listened to this many times, as I have all the others. Ditto in terms of reading. And while I enjoy all of them, and some have better mysteries, better drawn characters, and other features which set them apart, this is one of the few where I find myself laughing out loud in multiple places every time I listen. And of course, Prichard does his usual stellar job.

You may not like him as a reader on other books. But when he reads Wolfe and Archie books, he is becomes something extraordinary. As an actor, you can tell he just loves these books. And he loves being Archie Goodwin, his greatest role, and one of he was born to play.

Wonderful writing, wonderfully performed

I love Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe books, but not for their plots. In fact, I almost never remember who committed the murder - which allows me to read them over and over again. What I love about these books is the wit and style of the writing, and his wonderful characters - particularly Archie. (I would love to go out dancing with him, but wouldn’t dare anything more serious. He is the quintessential bachelor.) So I have been reading Stout for many years, and loved the wonderful Timothy Hutton TV series, but have never heard the books read aloud. I wasn’t sure about Michael Pritchard from the audio sample, but decided to trust the reviews. They were absolutely correct; I can’t imagine a better narration. The book is one of Stout’s best, and it is read perfectly. I can’t recommend this recording enough.

One of my favorites

Nero Wolfe has been my favorite detective since I began reading mysteries years ago. This one is one of my favorite Wolfes.