THE RUBBER BAND

In one of Rex Stout’s earliest Nero Wolfe puzzlers, the fat, droll, orchid-growing detective mixes his usual Manhattan backdrop with the Wild West, where he saves a beautiful damsel in distress from death and destitution, and rescues a British peer caught in a messy web of larceny, blackmail, and murder. Actor Michael Prichard once again becomes Wolfe’s wise-cracking, tolerant (of Wolfe’s antics) mouthpiece/sidekick/chronicler, Archie Goodwin. Prichard easily morphs into two-fisted, crude NYPD flatfoots, seductive femme fatale, stiff Brit aristocrat, and of course, the brilliant, gourmandizing, eccentric Wolfe himself. While not one of Stout’s best, this is a delightful detection diversion. M.T.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 07]