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Robert Goldsborough

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The Missing Chapter (The Nero Wolfe Mysteries Book 7) Kindle Edition

by Robert Goldsborough (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 924 ratings

Book 7 of 17: The Nero Wolfe Mysteries

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When a loudmouthed, arrogant author is silenced, the reclusive master detective Nero Wolfe looks for the killer: “A very clever mystery . . . A masterly job” (Booklist).
The gun was fired close to Charles Childress’s head, and his were the only fingerprints on it, forcing the police to conclude that the author committed suicide. But his friends know this is impossible, because Childress loved himself far too much. He had just begun attracting fame, writing new mysteries starring the iconic Sergeant Barnstable, and he had bright hopes for the future. His publisher hires corpulent genius Nero Wolfe to determine who cut Childress’s career short, and the detective finds no dearth of suspects. Among the many who may have wanted the wordsmith whacked are his agent, his editor, a corrupt book reviewer, and an enraged legion of Barnstable devotees. With the help of his indefatigable assistant, Archie Goodwin, Wolfe takes a look at those closest to the arrogant, argumentative author, hoping to decide which of Childress’s associates merely hated him, and which would have been willing to kill.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Life imitates art imitates life. In his seventh Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin caper, the writer responsible for continuing the noted series after the death of originator Rex Stout plots a case around the corpse of an author who has continued a mystery series after the original writer's demise. A publisher hires Wolfe and Goodwin to investigate the death, labeled a suicide, of Charles Childress, an ill-tempered author who had recently angered several people, including his agent, his editor and the possibly corrupt reviewer who had lambasted the latest Childress novel. Yet for all that, Childress also had a pretty fiancee, a loyal friend in a fellow author and the devotion of many fans. Goldsborough carefully draws Wolfe and company into the '90s (computers figure in the plot and hold records of Wolfe's beloved orchids), yet the corpulent sleuth still abandons himself to Fritz Brenner's high-fat meals. As always, Archie does the legwork, which in this instance takes him to rural Indiana, Childress's home state, to unearth secrets that Wolfe pieces together in an assured and effective conclusion. Goldsborough ( Fade to Black ) may not recruit new fans to the anachronistic and bulky Wolfe, but he's likely to satisfy the old Rex Stout faithful.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Goldsborough's seventh Nero Wolfe novel is both a very clever mystery and a sort of insider's joke on the whole idea of one author continuing a mystery series after the original author dies. Charles Childress was the author chosen to continue the Orville Barnstable mystery series after the originator died. When Childress is found dead in his Greenwich Village apartment, the police say suicide. His publisher and editor, Horace Vinson, disagrees and hires his Hugeness, Nero Wolfe, to investigate. Among the suspects questioned by leg man Archie Goodwin are a fired agent, an angry editor, and a snippy critic. Goldsborough, as the "continuator" of Rex Stout's Wolfe series, delights in poking fun at the continuation phenomenon--the readers who delight in pointing out small errors of trivial detail in the continuator's work; the cacophony of critical voices, some hailing Childress as a worthy successor, some denouncing him as a greedy vulture; the editors who tinker needlessly; the publishers who exploit Childress in order to boost sales of the dead author's reprints. The publishing details ring true, and--as always--Goldsborough does a masterly job with the Wolfe legacy. Here's a continuator with no reason to kill himself or to be killed. Wes Lukowsky

From Kirkus Reviews

Good news for everybody who's railed against Goldsborough's pallid Nero Wolfe pastiches (Silver Spire, 1992, etc.): this time Wolfe is investigating the death of a continuator of a venerable detective series. The posthumous air is thick with accusations: just before his death, Charles Childress had fired his agent, Franklin Ott, and had his editor, Keith Billings, canned; Childress's fiance, Debra Mitchell, and cozy fellow-writer Patricia Royce accuse each other of murder; and as Archie Goodwin learns on an amusing trip to Childress's ancestral home in Mercer, Indiana, he was involved with another woman who had reason to kill him too. With such obvious motives and such banal suspects, there's no need for any more strenuous detective work than usual; the high point of this installment may be watching the elevator in the old brownstone getting replaced. Formulaic plotting aside, this is as good as Goldsborough gets. The missing chapter, though, matters less than the missing author: Rex Stout. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

“Likely to satisfy the old Rex Stout faithful.” —Publishers Weekly “A very clever mystery.” —Booklist “Goldsborough does a masterly job with the Wolfe legacy.” —Booklist

About the Author

Robert Goldsborough (b. 1937) is an American author best known for continuing Rex Stout’s famous Nero Wolfe series. Born in Chicago, he attended Northwestern University and upon graduation went to work for the Associated Press, beginning a lifelong career in journalism that would include long periods at the Chicago Tribune and Advertising Age.

While at the Tribune, Goldsborough began writing mysteries in the voice of Rex Stout, the creator of iconic sleuths Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Goldsborough’s first novel starring Wolfe, Murder in E Minor (1986), was met with acclaim from both critics and devoted fans, winning a Nero Award from the Wolfe Pack. Nine more Wolfe mysteries followed, including Death on Deadline (1987) and Fade to Black (1990). His most recent book is Archie in the Crosshairs (2015).

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009VR4ST2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ MysteriousPress.com/Open Road; Reprint edition (November 13, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 13, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3879 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 259 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #172,421 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,526 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #1,675 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #1,704 in Historical Mysteries (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 924 ratings

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Robert Goldsborough

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Robert Goldsborough (b. 1937) is an American author best known for continuing Rex Stout’s famous Nero Wolfe series. Born in Chicago, he attended Northwestern University, and upon graduation went to work for the Associated Press, beginning a lifelong career in journalism that would include long periods at the Chicago Tribune and Advertising Age. Goldsborough’s first novel starring Wolfe, Murder in E Minor (1986), was met with acclaim from both critics and devoted fans, winning a Nero Award from the Wolfe Pack. Six more Nero Wolfe novels followed, including most recently, Archie Goodwin Meets Nero Wolfe: A Prequel to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries (2012).

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4.3 out of 5

924 global ratings

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Kindle Customer

Enjoyable

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2022

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This is a good pastiche of the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe novels. The writing is well done and seems on point. I do not claim expertise in the details, but the overall atmosphere is authentic. I found this novel to be a good and intriguing read.

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Jim Davis

Enjoyable but does not bear comparison to Stout's best

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2013

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The is was the 7th Goldsborough Nero Wolfe novel written with the permission of Rex Stout's estate. Like the rest of Goldsborough's efforts I thought the characterization was more or less spot on with a few minor reservations. Firstly, his Archie Goodwin is just a bit much; the wise cracks and sarcasm are overemphasized. Secondly, the whole broken elevator episode seemed gratuitous like Goldsborough was showing off how he can write Wolfe out of his element.

The biggest gripes I have are with the plot. There is a certain "Alice in Wonderland" feel to it as Wolfe is asked to investigate the death of a writer who has taken over writing novels about a popular detective created by a recently deceased writer. And this writer, while adequately capturing the atmosphere and character nuances of his predecessor's fictional world, has trouble constructing interesting plots. These kind of life imitating art plot devices can be made to work but I think this particular device was more annoying than clever.

Worse, I think the plot has a huge hole in it. While Wolfe's deductions are perfectly reasonable I couldn't for the life of me understand why the murderer would then confess. There didn't seem to be any proof whatsoever.

The Kindle edition of this book has a few flaws but nothing major. The worst is that the table of contents, though linked, does not appear in the Kindle menu. It can be reached by going to the beginning and going back a page. There are a couple of footnotes to previous (Stout) novels that are not linked so one has to go to the end of the chapter to see them. The book also seems to have been scanned from the print edition so there are quite a few OCR glitches like stray periods and apostrophes.

The book can be recommended but it is not up to vintage Stout levels or even the best Goldsborough. Nevertheless, it has its charms.

3 people found this helpful

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Gendotte

An Authorbiography?

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2020

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In this yarn the victim is an author continuing a series by a beloved author of mysteries.
There ‘seems’ to be some parallels here to our current intrepid Archie scion. Dare I say that there is are some very personal observations going on?
Is so, Mr. Goldsboro, you have nothing to be concerned about. Your work is first rate. My only question would be, are you channeling Rex Stout, or are you his reincarnation?
At any rate I look forward to every book that you and Archie pen together.
I didn’t figure out hoodunnit until Wolf told me. The clues were there, but I was clueless.

2 people found this helpful

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Angela Raspberry

Not even close

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2021

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The author is a brave man to attempt to continue the Nero Wolfe tradition but the result is flat. Archie's witty patter has fallen by the wayside, it's on par with Jack Webb of Dragnet fame. "Just the facts, ma'am". I can't tell what decade it is set in although it's obviously after 1975, the year Stout died. I read one of the early post-Rex Stout mysteries and now I remember why I never continued. Rex Stout as Nero Wolfe was one of a kind, never to be seen again. I continue to read the originals. My paperbacks are falling apart so i have been converting to digital as they become available.

3 people found this helpful

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Ron D. Sr.

Red Who?

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2022

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No disrespect to the real Mr. Stout,I have read all his Nero Wolfe books. Mr Gold borough d voes not miss a beat.His stories are interesting and they are paced to move right along .

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jtass

Once more Archie and Nero solve a crime

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2018

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This is not a Rex Stout Nero Wolfe mystery but one written by Robert Goldsborough which is almost, but not quite as good. Goldsborough has remained faithful to Stout's cannon, keeping all the characters and setting that have comprised this series for nearly a century. Like Stout Goldsborough has set his story in the present day so Archie has traded in his typewriter for a computer and made other accommodations to the 21st century. As Goldsborough has progressed with the series he has improved in his ability to make Stout's style and voice.

In this one though Goldborough has ventured into a bit of self parody - the plot involves a mystery writer, a continuator like Goldsborough himself who brings Archie and Nero into the world of continuing mystery novels. This is by no means a farce, just some gentle tongue in check which by no means intrudes into the business at hand.

2 people found this helpful

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DAS

A Huge Wolfe Fan

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2013

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From Mrs. Dwight Smith:

OK. For awhile I held my nose in the air and resisted Wolfe from anyone other than Rex Stout. Then--bemoaning the bare Wolfe cupboard--I reluctantly tried 'Etude in E Minor' a few years ago and thought: Not Bad. It took seeing 'Archie Meets Nero Wolfe' available on Kindle books to tempt me into reading another Goldsborough. Again--Not Bad . . . Not Bad At All. However, after reading 'The Missing Chapter' I've finally succumbed. This was delightful! Great plot-line with his semi-autobiographical murder victim! (How much sly fun Mr. Goldsborough must have had unloading some of his frustrations at being an author trying to recreate another author's beloved character!) Guess I'll have to throw in the towel and check out some of his other Wolfe books.

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Harpy

Pastiche as meta-fiction

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2021

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This is the seventh Nero Wolff book by Robert Goldsborough who was hired to take over the series when Rex Stout died. While none of his books are up the standard of the originals, this is the best I have read so far...the fun conceit of the novel is that Archie and Nero have to solve the murder of a hack writer who took over writing a series of novels about a detective who is an “eccentric curmudgeon”. The more you know about Rex Stout...and his fan club...the more you will likely enjoy this pastiche with a dose of self parody.

2 people found this helpful

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PM

Great Book

Reviewed in Canada on February 24, 2021

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Enjoyable read.

Woo Hoo!

Brilliant!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2021

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I have always enjoyed the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe novels. Needless to say this is also an entertaining read in the same vein.

CAROLY

SINOPSE DOS LIVROS E OPINIÕES DOS LEITORES

Reviewed in Brazil on May 29, 2019

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Of the seven I read of the author, this was one of the weakest. It makes a confusion of characters candidates to the culprit. Nothing works. It gives us a glimpse of who and why (with two options as a motive for crime) right at the beginning. Goldsborough goes round and round to keep suspense, but this does not exist. It also uses over-cut words, which is not part of Archie / Stout's narrative style, making reading boring. He does not limit himself to using these words "food" purposely to reproduce the lines of the characters whose dialogues would be that way. In my opinion, two stars is even too good.

Bücherfreund

Spannend, aber leider nicht das Original

Reviewed in Germany on April 26, 2020

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Ja, es ist wirklich schwierig, eigentlich unmöglich, in die Fußstapfen eines so großen Autors wie Rex Stout zu schlüpfen; Robert Goldsborough unternimmt den Versuch.
Das Buch behandelt sogar dieses Thema: Ein Autor, selbst recht wenig begabt, soll auf Wunsch des Verlegers (?) eine Romanfigur, einen Privatdetektiv im Mittelwesten, nach dem Tode des Autors "wiederbeleben"; neue Romane im selben Stil verfassen. Das geht nicht unbedingt gut! Zumal sich herausstellt, dass einige der besseren Handlungsstränge literarisch geklaut sind, also eigentlich die Ideen eines anderen sind...
Nach dem Roman "Murder, Stage left" (Mord im Theater) hat mir "The missing Chapter" schon deutlich besser gefallen, doch, leider, auch hier ewige-ewige Schilderungen von Gesprächen mit Verdächtigen, man kann's schon nicht mehr "hören". Goodwin verhält sich sehr zurückgenommen, moderiert und notiert nur. Dass die Zeit, in der der Roman spielt, ca. die 90er sind oder schon etwas später, merkt man an technischen Details wie Erwähnung von PCs oder Discs, auf denen Texte gespeichert sind.
Die lebendige, witzige, action-geladene Schilderungen des "echten" Archie Goodwin kann in keiner Weise erreicht werden.
Der erste Nero-Wolfe-Roman erschien 1934!!!
Tja, der echte Fan ist wohl selten zufrieden zu stellen.

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Luigi Foroni

The Missing Chapter

Reviewed in Italy on July 16, 2014

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Eccellente per trama e atmosfera, in linea con la caratterizzazione dei personaggi di Rex Stout. Tra i migliori lavori di Goldsborough.

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