To This Great Stage of Fools: Born December 1st

A great compilation of information about Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and creator of both, Rex Stout.

Rex Stout, b. 1886. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are two of my very favorite fictional detectives.

Anyone in the mood for some Christmas mysteries? The following list of Christmas mystery novels is mostly taken from the book Murder Ink; I’ve not read all of them, but I have tried most of these authors. If you read one this Christmas, let me know how you liked it.

Agatha Christie: Murder for Christmas (Holiday for Murder)
Mary Higgins Clark: Silent Night
Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Martha Grimes: Jerusalem Inn
Georgette Heyer: Envious Casca
Michael Innes: A Comedy of Terrors
M.M. Kaye: Death in the Andamans
Ngaio Marsh: Tied Up in Tinsel
Elis Peters: A Rare Benedictine
Ellery Queen: The Finishing Stroke
Dell Shannon: No Holiday for Crime
Peter Tremayne: The Haunted Abbot

As for Rex Stout, his only Christmas contribution is a short story called “Christmas Party” featuring Nero Wolfe dressed up as Santa Claus. If the costume seems a bit out of character for Wolfe, he does have a good cause–he’s concerned about Archie Goodwin’s impending wedding! This story is one of four in the book And Four To Go.

9 thoughts on “To This Great Stage of Fools: Born December 1st”

M. C. Beaton has a nice little Hamish MacBeth Christmas Mystery, titled A Highland Christmas.

Ellis Peters also has The Virgin in the Ice, which is part of the Cadfael series. The title notwithstanding, it’s definitely a Christmas-themed mystery with a beautiful ending.

Oooh, I really love Ngaio Marsh. I think I even remember that book, although it’s been 20 years since I read it. My mother was a big Ngaio Marsh fan, and had all her books. I was very spoiled reading her mysteries before any other writer — they’re so good and dense.