What do You think about Three Men Out (1991)?
Sometimes in a murder mystery, the detective arrives on the scene after the body has been found, and must gather clues about the crime after the fact. Think of Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, or any episode of Law and Order. Some murder mysteries unfold with the murder happening right under the detective's nose. I like that kind better because everything that happens from the beginning could be a clue. The first novella in this series, Invitation to Murder, is structured that way and, of the three, it was the one I liked the best. It is not impossible to figure out who did it before Wolfe reveals all. The second novella was the weakest, to me, with a lot of obviously extraneous informatioand an abrupt ending.
—Frances
Three Men Out is another in Rex Stout's long series of books about Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, this one being a compilation of three novellas, as most titles in this series with the number "Three" in them are. In "Invitation to Murder," we meet a man whose wealthy father left his fortune to the man's sister; when the sister dies, the fortune passes to her husband, a disabled man who appears willing to continue to send an allowance to the man, but who is being pursued by three women who might subsequently cut him off without a cent. The man wants Wolfe to investigate and so Archie goes to the household, only to find the client is the first victim. "The Zero Clue" concerns a mathematician-turned-prognosticator, who is making a good living by resolving questions of probability for individuals, for a hefty fee of course. When he suspects a client of criminal activities, the mathematician sends for Nero Wolfe, but he is killed before Archie has had time to do more than notice the six people in the waiting room. It is among those six people that the criminal and now murderer must be found, but will Wolfe have enough clues to solve the case? Finally, "This Won't Kill You" features Wolfe leaving his house to attend, of all things, the seventh and last World Series baseball game; when four New York players are seen to be drugged, causing the team to lose the World Series to Boston, and another player turns up dead, Wolfe must try to determine who did what to whom, relying on Archie's knowledge of women and baseball....Four highly enjoyable tales, not at the top of the game in Rex Stout's world but solid and entertaining. As always, recommended.
—Alison C
