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A review by cardica
Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout
5.0
In this novel [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg] has done the unthinkable, marrying the concepts of food and murder mystery, creating a delicious abomination that sinks itself into your tastebuds and just won’t let go. If you are looking for some light eating, err reading, to put you in the mood for some crime solving, this novel starring our rotund detective Nero Wolfe will set you straight.
The story follows Wolfe as he is barrelled up and shipped off to a holiday resort hotel called Kanawha Spa. A picturesque location for Wolfe to take some well-deserved time off, or at least that’s what he would like this novel to be about. As we are put in the perspective of his partner Archie Goodwin, we get to take in all the sights and sounds of a grand cook-off. The event is attended by the Fifteen Masters, a group of international chefs who meet every five years to test their culinary skills and uphold their own reputations in their secret chef society, and with Mr Wolfe being brought in to oversee it all. It’s obvious nothing could go wrong. It is during a public event that tragedy strikes, and the rest of the novel is spent traveling in the shoes of resident good boy Archie as he acts in the position of well, legs for the good detective.
The gimmick that this series of novels plays with relies heavily on the dynamics between the Detective Wolfe, and the Watson Archie. While Nero Wolfe is predominantly the brains of the outfit, he absolutely HATES travel. So we result in a rather terse back and forth between the two halves of this crime solving outfit as we dash back and forth through the action. Too Many Cooks is a novel that isn’t afraid to separate these staple pieces of the detective genre and in a way that adds so much spice to the dish. Archie himself is a pleasure to follow through as he is quite the snarky gentleman. Sometimes voicing his sarcasm out loud, other times keeping it locked in his head, either way, the dynamic that Archie and Nero pull off is endlessly entertaining.
The main course of this meal is the chefs themselves, and honestly why I couldn’t put this book down. So much of the setup of this crime and even the puzzle itself relies on the relationships that the different characters impose upon each other, for better or worse. Rex Stout shows his knowledge of good character cooking, mixing and matching theme with each other to really bring out the flavour of the scene. The novel is able to weave a web of characters while still keeping that organic touch, bringing out the best and worst qualities of everyone involved, it keeps it feeling very… human.
It would be remiss of me to not mention the single ingredient that pulls Rex Stout’s story above the rest of the stories we have read this past year, and that is the heart of the characters. Despite having these snippy back and forths and Nero Wolfe being quite unpleasant in a lot of his bossing about of his sidekick, they are both characters who are shown to have tremendous heart when dealing with the case. Rex Stout used this novel as an opportunity to evolve the Black Rights cause of his time, portraying black characters with respect and dignity, and when characters put them down in the story for the colour of their skin Nero is there to pull them back up. It’s actually an important part of solving this mystery and it’s the tremendous heart here that puts Too Many Cooks at the top of our list for 2019 on Death of the Reader. You can catch our full thoughts on the podcast.
The story follows Wolfe as he is barrelled up and shipped off to a holiday resort hotel called Kanawha Spa. A picturesque location for Wolfe to take some well-deserved time off, or at least that’s what he would like this novel to be about. As we are put in the perspective of his partner Archie Goodwin, we get to take in all the sights and sounds of a grand cook-off. The event is attended by the Fifteen Masters, a group of international chefs who meet every five years to test their culinary skills and uphold their own reputations in their secret chef society, and with Mr Wolfe being brought in to oversee it all. It’s obvious nothing could go wrong. It is during a public event that tragedy strikes, and the rest of the novel is spent traveling in the shoes of resident good boy Archie as he acts in the position of well, legs for the good detective.
The gimmick that this series of novels plays with relies heavily on the dynamics between the Detective Wolfe, and the Watson Archie. While Nero Wolfe is predominantly the brains of the outfit, he absolutely HATES travel. So we result in a rather terse back and forth between the two halves of this crime solving outfit as we dash back and forth through the action. Too Many Cooks is a novel that isn’t afraid to separate these staple pieces of the detective genre and in a way that adds so much spice to the dish. Archie himself is a pleasure to follow through as he is quite the snarky gentleman. Sometimes voicing his sarcasm out loud, other times keeping it locked in his head, either way, the dynamic that Archie and Nero pull off is endlessly entertaining.
The main course of this meal is the chefs themselves, and honestly why I couldn’t put this book down. So much of the setup of this crime and even the puzzle itself relies on the relationships that the different characters impose upon each other, for better or worse. Rex Stout shows his knowledge of good character cooking, mixing and matching theme with each other to really bring out the flavour of the scene. The novel is able to weave a web of characters while still keeping that organic touch, bringing out the best and worst qualities of everyone involved, it keeps it feeling very… human.
It would be remiss of me to not mention the single ingredient that pulls Rex Stout’s story above the rest of the stories we have read this past year, and that is the heart of the characters. Despite having these snippy back and forths and Nero Wolfe being quite unpleasant in a lot of his bossing about of his sidekick, they are both characters who are shown to have tremendous heart when dealing with the case. Rex Stout used this novel as an opportunity to evolve the Black Rights cause of his time, portraying black characters with respect and dignity, and when characters put them down in the story for the colour of their skin Nero is there to pull them back up. It’s actually an important part of solving this mystery and it’s the tremendous heart here that puts Too Many Cooks at the top of our list for 2019 on Death of the Reader. You can catch our full thoughts on the podcast.