The Black Mountain, a Nero Wolfe novel

By Rex Stout.

Synopsis: Marko Vukcic, Nero Wolfe's oldest friend, is murdered in New York. Wolfe actually leaves not only his brownstone, but the country to go to Montenegro (at the time it was Yugoslavia) and find the murderer.

Review: I normally thoroughly approve of an author trying something new with their characters, and taking them in a new direction. And, while this was definitely in Wolfe's character, I just didn't enjoy this book very much at all. Yes, the mystery was there, but it was more of a MacGuffin than the point of the book. The point seemed to be "get Wolfe completely out of his element. A lot." The mystery was dealt with only tangentially, and the "adventure" of Wolfe and Archie in Montenegro dominated the book. It was "solved" as an afterthought, and required no mental effort whatsoever on Wolfe's part. As a Wolfe novel, it was disappointing. There was none of the usual banter, none of the "Archie hassles Wolfe", and in general, none of their usual behaviours. Since I read, and re-read the books for the people, rather than the MacGuffin / mystery, I wasn't impressed with this one.

It really didn't read like a Wolfe novel at all, but rather like another "adventure" novel in a different series Stout may have been working on - with Wolfe and Archie shoehorned in at the last minute.

1.5 out of 5 bones.