A Good Mystery

While I’m primarily a fantasy and science fiction reader, I like to cast my net wide and try other genres.  Today I’d like to mention my favorite mystery series of all time, the Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout.  If you haven’t had a chance to read them, consider giving them a try.  Rex Stout published dozens of novels and short stories featuring Nero Wolfe, and there was a solid TV adaptation featuring Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin.

Nero Wolfe falls directly into the “eccentric genius” style of mysteries, similar to Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.  All of the hallmarks are there, from murders that seem impossible to solve, hosts of potential suspects, and of course, the big meeting at the end where the detective puts the clues together and reveals the truth.

But what sets Nero Wolfe apart?  In my mind, it’s his assistant Archie Goodwin who really sells the stories.  Sidekicks are nothing new in detective literature.  Holmes had Doctor Watson and Poirot had Arthur Hastings.  The reason for these characters is clear.  The eccentric genius is, after all, a genius.  If the genius is the perspective character, it’s all but impossible to hide his or her thoughts from the audience.  That would give the secret away all to soon.  We have to see the story from the eyes of someone else to keep the mystery going.  A good sidekick can also ask the very questions the audience would like to ask while avoiding that obnoxious “maid and butler” style dialog.

Sure, it can be more than that.  There have been countless adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, and plenty of those feature Doctor Watson as the heroic everyman adding some much needed humanity to the larger than life (and often abrasive) Holmes.

However, there have been very few detective sidekicks who were any good at detecting.  That’s what makes Archie Goodwin so unique.  Nero Wolfe definitely puts the eccentric in eccentric genius.  Amongst his many quirks, he refuses to leave his house on business.  As Archie Goodwin once put it, he wouldn’t look out his window to inspect the scene of a crime.  That’s what he has Archie for.

You see, Archie Goodwin is a detective as well, he’d just a different archetype.  Whereas Nero Wolfe is the eccentric genius, Archie Goodwin is the gumshoe.  Is he a genius who can see to the heart of a mystery after examining a handful of clues?  No, that’s Wolfe’s job.  However, Archie is a slick operator with a quick wit and sharp tongue.  When it comes time to search the scene of a crime, or tail a suspect, or woo the beautiful ladies, Archie Goodwin is you man.  It certainly helps that Archie and Wolfe both have plenty of personality, and are constantly bouncing off each other in entertaining ways.

In a literary sense, I think this illustrates just how fun it can be to mix up the standard formula.  In this case, Stout simply took two detective archetypes (the eccentric genius and the gumshoe) and stuck them into a novel together.  It’s brilliantly simple and it works.  If you’re plotting out a novel, considering mixing up your archetypes.  See what you can come up with.

Happy Reading,

Russell Pike