Rex Stout





Of course, Rex Stout is the author of all of the Nero Wolfe books. This bio appears in the Wolfe books that are currently in print.

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Author Rex Stout was born in Noblesville, Indiana, on December 1, 1886. He established himself as one of the premier mystery writers of all time, primarily as a result of his 73 novels about the corpulent, eccentric sleuth Nero Wolfe. During his youth, Stout's family moved to Kansas, where he was soon recognized as a child prodigy. His college career at the University of Kansas was cut short by a stint in the navy. After leaving the service, he divided his time between banking and freelance writing, and eventually moved to New York.

Stout's first novel was Fer-de-Lance, published in 1934. This book, and the many that followed, featured the orchid-loving, reclusive genius Nero Wolfe, along with his dapper assistant Archie Goodwin, personal chef Fritz Brenner, and a variety of part-time trackers and exasperated police detectives.

The often tense, symbiotic relationship between Wolfe and Archie, Wolfe's far more adversarial alliance with Detective Cramer, and his abiding obsession for good food and beautiful orchids are never far from the center of the stories of murder, intrigue, and mayhem.

Outside of his writing, Stout was a founder of the Vanguard Press and active in many patriotic organizations. His final Nero Wolfe mystery was published only one month before his death on October 27, 1975. A decade later, a 73rd Nero Wolfe book was discovered and published, entitled Death Times Three.

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