Over My Dead Body, by Rex Stout

Arguably, this is Rex Stout’s best Nero Wolfe novel. First, we learn a little about Wolfe’s background, including fighting for the Montenegrin army during the Great War: “I then believed that all misguided or cruel people should be shot, so I shot some.” AND that he apparently has an adopted daughter.

That daughter puts in an appearance. She is teaching fencing in New York and is a primary suspect when a man is murdered with an epee. Archie is there when the murder occurs and the sharpened device that had been attached to the epee to give it a point somehow ends up in the pocket of his overcoat. This necessitates him sneaking away from a murder scene and reporting this to Wolfe.

From there, the investigation takes a number of twists and turns, all unexpected and all building on the inherent fun of the story. The murder involves international intrigue & finances, multiple suspects--several of which are annoying and unhelpful--and leads to Inspector Cramer camping out in Wolfe’s brownstone because he figures Wolfe has a better chance of making progress than he does. There’s also an interesting meta moment when Cramer admits he discounts Wolfe’s client as a suspect because Wolfe’s clients never turn out to be guilty.

“Over My Dead Body” is a great mystery full of memorable characters and has one of the best climaxes you’ll ever run into in any mystery novel.