Rex Stout is one of my favorite authors, so it’s sad to be disappointed in a Nero Wolfe novel.

Two female fencing instructors from the old country (!) become embroiled in a double murder.

There’s some vague international subterfuge which doesn’t really have to make sense.

The weakness here is a large group of characters introduced, and nobody has any distinguishing characteristics.

Then it piddles around until the solution.

Archie makes two pretty successful tricks, and Wolfe doesn’t have any big tricks up his sleeve. We do learn that Fritz is terrified of women, which explains why he stays with Wolfe for decades.

It was good, but pretty forgettable, which is why I’m going into detail in my review. There’s nothing worse than reading a book and then, years later, forgetting what it was about.