Cloak & Dagger #9

I read this for the 2015 Cloak and Dagger Mystery Reading Challenge

Black Orchids – Rex Stout

This was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a novel, but in fact it is two novelettes, “Black Orchids” and “Cordially Invited to Meet Death.” I think the novelettes are just as enjoyable about the post-WWII novels, which are better than first ones published in the Thirties.

Archie Goodwin, investigator for PI Nero Wolfe, says the only point that connect the stories is that black orchids play a part in both. In fact, in both cases Wolfe is uninterested in the murders. But In the first story he gets involved only to squeeze three legendary orchids out of the originator. In the other case, the murderer overplays a hand, thus making for a less satisfying story.

First class summer reading.