Jerin is a mental freakโa man capable of successfully playing a dozen simultaneous chess games against first-rate players while he himself is out of sight of any of the boards. It is while thus engaged that he is killed. A millionaireโhis opponent in more realms than chessโis accused, and Nero Wolfe is given what appears to be the most hopeless case he and Archie Goodwin have ever tackled.
You need to know nothing about chess to follow this tale, but some understanding of beautiful mothers and daughters will help.
โIt is always a treat to read a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore.โโThe New York Times Book Review
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A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of Americaโs greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertainedโand puzzledโmillions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout.