The Doorbell Rang

By 1965 Rex Stout was at the height of his powers with the Nero Wolfe series. Having dispatched any number of nefarious bad guys over the previous 30 years, Stout turned his rotund detective's attention to the nation's top law enforcement officer, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. It's one of the rare instances when Stout featured a real person, though Hoover himself doesn't have a speaking role in the book.The plot unfolds when wealthy widow Rachel Bruner hires Wolfe to stop FBI surveillance on her and her family and staff. She attracted the unwanted attention when she bought 10,000 copies of Fred Cook's exposé on unethical FBI activities, The FBI Nobody Knows (a real book, by the way), and sent them to prominent Americans around the country. Woilfe doesn't disapprove of her actions, having read the book himself, but he thinks she should have known the kind of reaction she would get and that, in any case, trying to stop the FBI from doing something is futile. He's compelled to try when she offers him a $100,000 retainer (that's more than three-quarters of a million in 2018 dollars), to be paid whether he succeeds or not.But how can an agoraphobic private detective, even one with a crackerjack man of action like Archie Goodwin to do his leg work, supposed to get the FBI to cry uncle? Wolfe initially sets out to find evidence of FBI wrongdoing in another case and use that to persuade the FBI to leave Bruner alone. But when he learns of the murder of a journalist who was investigating the FBI, and that the FBI believe one of their agents is the killer, he comes up with a better plan that involves one of the intricate stunts that Wolfe is so fond of.The dialogue is crackling, and the interplay between Archie (who is adamantly opposed to trying to trap the FBI out of an abundance of self-interest) and Wolfe (who has his eye on that gigantic fee and an ego that admits no shortcomings in his abilities). The espionage shenanigans — spy-nanigans? — are elaborately farcical, as when Archie briefs their client on how to avoid wiretaps: "There's absolutely no telling what's going to happen. It's even possible that Mr. Wolfe and I will have to leave his house and hole up somewhere. If you get a message, by phone or otherwise, no matter how, that the pizza is sour, go at once to the Churchill Hotel and find a man named William Coffey. He's a house dick there — an assistant security officer. You can do that openly. He'll have something for you, either to tell you or give you. Pizza is sour. Churchill Hotel, William Coffey. Remember it. Don't write it down." "I won't." She was frowning. "I suppose you're sure we can trust him?" "Yes. If you knew Mr. Wolfe better, and me, you wouldn't ask that. Have you got it?" "Yes." She pulled the collar of her coat, not the sable, something else, closer. "Okay. Now your getting us if you have to, for something not to be spilled. Go to a phone booth and ring Mr. Wolfe's number and tell whoever answers that Fido is sick, just that, and hang up. Wait two hours and go to the Churchill and William Coffey. Of course this is just for something they are not to know. For anything they have done or already know about, just ring us. Fido is sick." She was still frowning. "But they'll know about William Coffey after the first time if I go to him openly." "We may use him only once. Leave that to us. What is sour?" "The pizza." "Who is sick?" "Fido." "What's his name?" "William Coffey. At the Churchill." "Good enough. You'd better get back in, your ears are red."

4.5 * for this audiobook edition. Michael Pritchard did a decent job narrating but his voice just didn't match what I had imagined Archie's voice to be.This Nero Wolfe mystery is one of Stout's best. It's so satisfying when he outsmarts the FBI and I particularly love the very end.

Nero and Archie take on the FBI. This book was written back when people were just beginning to realize the awfulness of J. Edgar Hoover. A wealthy woman has purchased and distributed a thousand copies of [book: The FBI Nobody Knows] (a real book) and now believes she and her associates are being tailed by FBI agents. Wolfe's investigation leads to some puzzling information about a murder that may or may not be connected to the Bureau. Wolfe and Archie also find themselves secretly allied with Inspector Cramer. One of the main clues to the identity of the murderer comes when Archie finds a photo with a misquotation from Keats's On a Grecian Urn written on the back -- this was a piece of synchronicity because my husband was taking a Keats course just at the time we were reading this book.
Some people consider this the best of the Wolfe canon; I'm not sure I agree, I really liked [book: Some Buried Caesar], [book: The Father Hunt] -- well, actually it's hard to pick a favorite or best one! However, this one would be right up there. Well worth a read or re-read.

I simply do not care for Mr. Wolfe. Genius or no genius, he is a priss, and prisses do not exist in my literature.His assistant makes his adventures liveable and, frankly, i think archie sees his boss as a priss as well.

Maybe the best of Nero Wolf and Archie Goodwin, the real mystery is who rings the door bell.

Somehow I had reached quite an advanced age without meeting Nero Wolfe or Archie Goodwin. I like Archie quite well and enjoyed his narration of the story. Wolfe is almost a caricature of the brilliant, eccentric thinker who tends his orchids, argues with his world-class chef about the details of preparing exotic dishes, and devises awesomely clever solutions to impossible dilemmas while never leaving his home. Archie, on the other hand, is the legman, the guy who carries out Wolfe's instructions, and who gives us his view of the proceedings. He's not as creative as Wolfe, but he's got a lot on the ball.In The Doorbell Rang, Wolfe accepts the challenge of forcing the FBI to stop harassing a rich woman. He takes advantage of a rumor of FBI involvement in another issue to concoct a clever plan. The novel is very timely and topical in that FBI surveillance of individuals was becomg an issue in the mid-sixties. A fun read with idiosyncratic characters. I'll read some more if only to hear Archie's voice again.

Mrs. Rachel Bruner has hired Nero Wolfe to stop J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI from annoying her. She read a book titled "The FBI Nobody Knows" and was so impressed she bought ten thousand copies and sent them to cabinet members, Superior Court judges, senators, representatives, state legislators, newspaper and magazine publishers and editors, bank and corporation presidents, broadcasters, columnists, district attourneys, police chiefs, educators and more. Now she, her family, friends and business associates are being tailed, having their phones tapped and questioned. Mrs. Bruner wants it to stop!To make her point, she has given Wolfe a check for one hundred thousand dollars and is good for any further expenses that may be incurred. How can Wolfe turn it down? How can Wolfe stop the FBI?Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's assistant, may do the footwork, as usual, but once the FBI knows Wolfe is involved Archie finds himself being tailed, Wolfe's townhouse is being watched and the phones are being tapped. With the possibility of the townhouse being bugged, the only way to have any conversations regarding any investigation is with a radio blaring in an effort to make it hard to hear or records any conversations. Phone calls are made from payphones and Wolfe even leaves the house to meet with someone in regards to the case. Something Wolfe doesn't normally do!When Wolfe learns of an unsolved murder and the theory is that the FBI might have been involved and has let the investigation drop, Wolfe sees a way to look into the FBI activities annoying his client while appearing not to be actually investigating the matter. Wolfe and Archie will solve the murder!I thoroughly enjoyed this book. But then I enjoy Wolfe and Goodwin!

One should never use the term "satisfactory," to describe a Nero Wolfe story; it's entirely too corny. But one is hard pressed to think of another term for this one. Short, snappy, briskly paced and logical. Plus, perhaps, a satisfying comeuppance, especially at the very end. Recommended.

Another Nero Wolfe mystery. This one involves the f.b.i. and is a little more modern. Still a good one!

At one time my family had two first edtion copies in dj in something like collectable condition, and I deliberately did not keep either of them because I disliked the political side of the story, which is much more blatant than I like. However, the actual solution of the case is not political but literary and I decided I liked the literary clue more than I disliked the poltiical overtones.

New York, ca 1965Nero Wolfe bliver i januar bedt om at få FBI til at holde op med at genere enken Rachel Bruner. Hun har penge nok og er blevet pikeret over hr J. Edgar Hoover's måde at behandle landets love på. Hun har derfor købt 20000 eksemplarer af bogen "Det forbundspoliti, som ingen kender" og sendt til alle sine venner og bekendte og folk, der betyder noget. Nu skygger FBI hende og det er hun træt af.???

Re-reading Nero Wolfe, starting with a (surprisingly short) novel that I better remember as an episode from the TV adaptation. Another wealthy widow - reminding me that I had a kink about Archie and older women - pays Wolfe to trip up the FBI, and he succeeds, via a murder investigation. Or in Friends parlance, The one where Saul, Fred, Orrie and two body doubles for Wolfe and Archie are crated into the brownstone. Not a bad book, but not the best fuel to reignite my Nero Wolfe fire.

Nero Wolfe is hugely fat, loves orchids and hates to leave his house. And he seems to almost always solve everything just by sitting in an armchair and directing our trusty narrator (Archie Goodwin) to do most of the work. In this book he gets in trouble when he tangles with the FBI. Wolfe feeds himself, reads a lot, and lets Archie get himself knocked around. But, Archie always gets to poke fun at his mean boss - admiring him in the process.

Nero Wolfe tangles with the FBI while searching for a murderer. One of the best Rex Stout plots I have read!

Rex Stout recedes into history,not because his Nero Wolfe novels lack imagination but simply because time passes and new authors continue the genre. But those new writers owe Mr. Stout (and I say "Mr. Stout" because to call him by his forst name only would be a major gaffe in his time) a great deal. Clever construction, delightful repartee, including one learning at least one new word per book (how can you not love "rhodomontade" used in place of bull hockey). In this novel Nero and Archie take on both the New York Police Department AND the FBI and perhaps not bringing them to their knees at least causing the head men to appear on the doorstep of that famous brownstone to apologize. Plenty of twists and turns to satisfy the most ardent of mystery devotees and all done with that touch of elegance as Archie moves about the city doing the spadework and Nero resting his "one seventh of a ton" body in the special chair.A fine exampole of Nero Wolfe at work.

i don't like rex stout, so i'm not unbiased.i could barely follow this one. a lot of unexplained stuff which ends up being sort of connected. archie/y hopping around manhattan. the whole household is just too precious. wolfe seemed to go out a lot but maybe i had the locations mixed up too. i know mysteries are to be read quickly and i had two long interruptions in this one but i had to ask--who is this murdered guy and how did he get in the book! and who is the murderer and what is her connection? does she sell oysters(they got mentioned more than her)?