Rex Stout. Black Orchids (1941/42)

     Rex Stout. Black Orchids (1941/42) Two novellas with the motif of black orchids common to both. In the first a sleaze-ball is murdered at a flower show via a rig that pulls the trigger on a concealed gun. In the second, a hostess famed for her inventively staged parties is killed via iodine that isn’t, but a solution of argyrol laced with tetanus. Wolfe figures things out as usual. Archie is in top form as narrator, and the whole thing is a pleasant romp. The date tells us it’s early Wolfe, before Stout got a swelled head from his fame and financial success, and tried to imbue his novels with seriousness and meaning. *** (2004)