Another two-in-one book, like Black Orchids before it. This time, the unifying thread is not Wolfe's rare flora, but his work for the United States Army during World War II. In 'Not Quite Dead Enough', Archie, now a major and working in domestic counter-intelligence, is sent to recruit Wolfe's help with various military intelligence issues. To Archie's surprise, Wolfe is neither reading in his office nor up playing with his orchids, but is in fact 'training' to join the Army as a soldier so he can kill some Germans. Archie is flabbergasted, and must figure out a way to convince Wolfe that he is far more useful to the Army as a brain than as a soldier. The trouble is, any argument would require Wolfe to use his brain, and it appears that he simply will not do so. So Archie sets out to use the only hook left--Wolfe's ego. Before long, Archie himself is a murder suspect, and Wolfe is faced with the ignominy of having his former assistant tried for murder ... unless Wolfe can figure out whodunit.As for the second story, well, with a title like 'Booby Trap', you probably already have a pretty good idea of what happens. Wolfe is now working for the Army in an investigative capacity. There have been accusations that some of the technologies and inventions and whatnot that have been temporarily turned over to the Army to aid in the war ware in fact being stolen and sold to private competitors. So far, one officer investigating these allegations has died by falling--or jumping, or being pushed--out a window. When another officer is blown to bits by a grenade that detonates in his office, Wolfe must determine whether it was an accident, suicide, or murder. And of course, it wouldn't hurt to figure out who the murderer is, either ...The first story here is much stronger than the second. In addition to the entertaining sight of Wolfe 'exercising'--to say nothing of his new diet and habit of using the orchid rooms as his own private sauna--we get to see Archie in uniform, a likable damsel in distress, and Lily Rowan throwing a nasty temper tantrum. The picture we get of Miss Rowan's temperament and her relationship with Archie across the various books is absolutely fascinating. They are both extremely independent, competent, and quite intelligent, and, most of the time, they know exactly what the relationship is and what it isn't. It's true that Lily here is the jealous party, but the fact remains that Archie is clearly attached enough to her to keep her around despite her idiosyncrasies, so there's clearly some strong attraction on his part.Also, there are racing pigeons, two crazy old ladies, and a rather surprising murder. It's fun, is what I'm saying.The second story certainly raises an interesting wartime problem that really has nothing to do with the politics of the war. And presumably, it's still a wartime problem. I imagine the U.S. government still asks private companies to loan the use of various technologies and innovations, and those companies who accommodate such requests must face the risk that their confidential corporate secrets will be leaked to their competitors. Still, aside from this admittedly interesting idea, the story itself is a bit of a dud, and Wolfe's big 'trap' seems ... less than impressive. There is some sparkle in Archie's interactions with Sergeant Dorothy Bruce, but beyond that, the cast is pretty dull--including the murderer.Definitely worth reading, if only for the first story. Prichard does a decent job with the narration, so the audiobook is a legitimate alternative to the paperback if you're into that sort of thing.
There are two mysteries in this book. 1) Not Quite Dead Enough - It's WWII and Archie Goodwin has joined the US Army and the army wants Wolfe. But when Major Goodwin comes back to the old brownstone, he finds a shocking state of affairs. Nero Wolfe and his master chef, Fritz Brenner have gone into hard training. They are dieting on lettuce, tomatoes and prunes only and are out walking twice a day - and they think next week they will start running! There isn't even a decent pat of butter left in the refrigerator. What flummery is this? None! Wolfe has decided he will get into fighting trim. But it is his mind the army wants and that's enough. But first, Lily Rowan's friend Ann Amory wants a lawyer. Lily thinks she needs Nero Wolfe and in a short time, she really does because she's dead. Can Wolfe sort through the Nuts, Squirrels, Pigeons involved and get to the truth?2) Booby Trap - Major Goodwin finally gets Wolfe down to go down to meet with the Army brass. Archie has an experimental grenade - very hush hush military secret stuff . Wolfe does not want that thing in his house so makes him take it back to the army. Shortly after it is returned it is used as a murder weapon and one of the men they have met with dies horribly. One of the others in that meeting must be a murderer. Wolfe will expose and deal with him in his own way.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SPOILERS HIDING UP IN THE PIGEON LOFT AND IN SUITCASESCover Art - Very good for the first mystery. Nothing for the second.If you're not careful and don't know this is a two-mystery book they can run together. I was thinking from the amount of book left that the police hauling away the murderer in the first mystery was a red herring or ploy to make the real murderer relax and make a mistake. Bah!It really is alarming to think of the fridge in Wolfe's place being so barren. By the second mystery things are back to normal. Phew!In the second, Wolfe is not his usual self. You expect him to turn the criminal over to the police, MPs or regular and let the chips fall where they may. It is strange that he gives him an honorable if horrible way out.
What do You think about Not Quite Dead Enough (1992)?
This book consists of two novellas both of which take place during the World War II. Not Quite Dead Enough. Major Archie Goodwin (you did not think he would stay away from the war, did you?) comes to New York to convince his boss to join military counter-intelligence. He found what can be best described as Nero Wolfe Goes to War. The whole idea of this and Archie's POV are very funny; they were the major deciding factor for the rating. Eventually the crime is committed and it is up to the Dynamic Duo to solve it. Booby Trap. The technologies from companies that turned to the army are being sold to competitors and the main suspect seems to committed suicide (yeah, right!). Nero Wolfe to the rescue!!! As a whole this book is weaker than an average Nero Wolfe mystery. The trap set by Nero Wolfe in the second story seems to be contrived and I see no reason it would work in real life. The resolution of both stories seems to be way too simple after of the buildup. I already mentioned the comic situation in the first novella which helped to raise the rating. Another reason was some very interesting personal information about recurring characters given here. For example, I think this is the only time we learn Inspector Cramer has a son.The resulting rating is (fairly weak) 4 stars. This review is a copy/paste of my LeafMarks one: https://www.leafmarks.com/lm/#/users/...
—Evgeny
Really two in one, and neither is up to snuff. It's as if Rex Stout took a couple of weekends out of his time working for FDR to do his thing for the war effort. This proclivity in the entertainment sector led to some inspired works (Casablanca springs to mind as the ultimate best.) But this reminds me of the really bad Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone chasing Nazis over the moors, and Agatha Christie's worst Tommy and Tuppence books. I actually liked the plot of the first one, and had a good laugh when Archie got to say "...not quite dead enough." The military one: meh.
—Jz
This installment in the series always leaves me feeling...eh. It's not like I don't enjoy parts of it, but it's not Stout at his best. A lot of it feels forced actually, as if Stout felt compelled to write something in support World War II and just couldn't find a way to work it into the series naturally.Let me say upfront, I don't blame Stout for falling a little flat here--while he wrote this he was working a lot to support FDR and the war effort through various means. If you haven't read McAleer's biography of Stout, I'd highly recommend it, particularly over this period. It makes sense that he wasn't at his best here.Like Black Orchid, Not Quite Dead Enough is made up of two novellas. In the first, we are introduced to Major Archie Goodwin, of Army intelligence. He's sent to NYC to recruit his once and future boss to the effort. Wolfe's far more interested in joining the infantry (see the quote below), and has given up the detective business and his assorted comforts and indulgences in order to train. The description of his training and his appearance at this time are worth the effort alone.Archie uses a case that his long-time friend, Lily Rowan, was trying to get him involved with to rekindle Wolfe's dormant detective skills as a way to move him from his focus on the infantry to intelligence. The case isn't that interesting, really, but there are some fun characters.The second novella, Booby Trap shows us the Major acting as Wolfe's handler while he acts as a civilian consultant to the intelligence service. In this particular instance, Wolfe gets to play to his strength, dealing with a couple of murders of Intelligence officers investigating some fraudulent arms sales. I find it disappointing, really, but I do read it occasionally.My lukewarm feeling toward these stories carries over to the quotes I jotted down: Not Quite Dead Enough [Wolfe speaking:] "I am going to kill some Germans. I didn't kill enough in 1918." Wolfe pronounced a word. It was the first time I had ever heard him pronounce an unprintable word, and it stopped me short. Booby Trap "Indeed," I said. That was Nero Wolfe's word, and I never used it except in moments of stress, and it severely annoyed me when I caught myself using it, because when I look in a mirror I prefer to see me as is, with no skin grafted from anybody else's hide, even Nero Wolfe's. [Wolfe speaking:] "Archie. I submit to circumstances. So should you."
—Hobart
