OVER MY DEAD BODY.
New York, Toronto: Farrar & Rinehart, Incorporated, [1940]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1-2] 3-293 [294: blank][295-297 excerpt for SOME BURIED CAESAR] [298-300: blank], original blue-green cloth, front and spine stamped in dark blue, top edge stained orange, fore edge uncut, bottom edge rough cut. First edition. The seventh Nero Wolfe mystery novel. "There is more of Archie Goodwin than of Nero Wolfe in this book, and that is all to the good, for, although Wolfe is Archie's boss and the one who does the heavy thinking, Archie is, unless our guess is wide of the mark, the person whom readers of the Nero Wolfe stories take to their hearts. If Nero is the brains of the concern, Archie is its arms and hands and legs. When Nero wants something done, he does not need to tell Archie how to do it. Archie will figure that out for himself, and the thing is as good as done, however difficult the assignment may be. In the murder case with which this story deals there are international complications which make things unusually difficult. The police and the G-men are in it too, but the best that they can do is to watch Nero Wolfe and wait for him to come through with the solution. The book is full of surprises for everybody concerned, including not only the reader but also the police, Archie and even Nero Wolfe himself. Read one chapter of this book and you will need no urging to go on with it." - Isaac Anderson, NY Time Book Review, 7 January, 1940. "This is the tale in which we learn that Nero has been married, has adopted a daughter in his native Montenegro, and has become a U.S. citizen in order to enjoy peace and democracy. The plot hinges on international and domestic secrets but it is sober and sound. Archie, Cramer, and the rest of the cast are in top form, and Nero is noticeably more outspoken and impulsive than he subsequently became." - Barzun & Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime (1989), 3080. Hubin, pp. 777-778. Townsend, Rex Stout: An Annotated and Secondary Bibliography, A21b. A fine copy in a nearly fine dust jacket with mild shelf wear to corner tips and spine ends, two tiny tears with crease to lower front panel, several rub marks to front spine fold. (23378). Item #23378
Price: $6,500.00