In September, we are observing Pain Awareness Month, a time to educate ourselves on chronic pain conditions and sufferers and to support those in our life who deal with pain on a daily basis. Check out my blog post for some resources and my fiction book on Pain.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.
I have just finished The Battered Badge, a Nero Wolfe Mystery by Robert Goldsborough. This is the first of Goldsborough’s series that I have read, but I am familiar with the original Nero Wolfe Mystery series by Rex Stout (although noting that it is 45 books long, I suspect I have not read all of them!
The more modern series appears to be pretty true to the original. The characters, setting, and Wolfe’s daily routine were all familiar and true to Stout’s creation. No weird shifts in personality, gender, or era. In this episode, it is Cramer, the chief of homicide, who falls under suspicion, and although reluctant to investigate, Archie and Wolfe would prefer Cramer remain as chief of homicide over the alternative.
Well written. I would be happy to read any of the other books in Goldsborough’s 16 book series.
“Well, he certainly is no favorite of yours. Of course, neither is Cramer, for that matter.”
Robert Goldsborough, The Battered Badge
When wealthy and popular crusader and reformer Lester Pierce is gunned down in front of his Park Avenue residence, the public outcry forces the NYPD to restructure its homicide department. As the deceased was highly critical of Inspector Lionel Cramer, the longtime head of homicide is temporarily relieved of his badge. But it seems Cramer was not just a scapegoat: He was seen dining in Little Italy with mob kingpin Ralph Mars.
All of which amounts to little more than conversational fodder for PI Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin. But if Cramer’s provisional replacement, Capt. George Rowcliff, becomes permanent, Wolfe’s future dealings with the force will be much compromised. Loath to depart from his routine, Wolfe makes the unusual decision to take on a case without an actual client.
His investigation quickly points toward Pierce’s organization, Good Government Group, where high-minded idealism is often trampled under the competing ambitions of the staff—several of whom would clearly have benefited from Pierce’s demise. Despite the burgeoning list of suspects, Wolfe hasn’t ruled out the involvement of the underworld and its connection to Cramer. But in order to untangle an abundance of motives and end the inspector’s forced furlough, Wolfe may have to venture out of his comfort zone—and the premises of his brownstone.
Continuing his beloved series—which also includes Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, Murder in the Ball Park, Archie in the Crosshairs, and Murder, Stage Left—Nero Award–winning author Robert Goldsborough “demonstrates an impressive ability to emulate Rex Stout’s narrative voice” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
