The Hand in the Glove

by Rex Stout

Book Overview

Wealthy industrialist P. L. Storrs has never approved of lady detectives, and he normally would not have made an exception of Theodolina Dol Bonner. But faced with a very delicate problem and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553228579
• ISBN13: 9780553228571
• Release Date: April 1992
• Publisher: Crimeline
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Not Nero Wolfe

This is a pretty good "period" mystery. However, Nero Wolfe does not figure in it. A girl detective, which I guess was a novelty in the 30's has to solve the murder of a rich man who she had reason to dislike.

Introducing Dol Bonner

From time to time Nero Wolfe and Archie realized that they needed a female operative to help solve a case. They always hired the best, Dol Bonner, who had her own private detective agency. In this novel, for the first and only time, the focus is on Dol and describes how she came to be in this most unusual occupation. Before the novel opens Dol had been a happy young woman, her father was wealthy, she was engaged to be married and then things began to go wrong. First her father lost his fortune, then killed himself, then her fiance left her and Dol was faced with the necessity of fending for herself. She considered her prospects and decided on the highly unusual occupation of private detective. As the novel opens Dol's business partner and friend is being pressured by her guardian to disassociate herself with the agency. Soon Dol finds herself without a partner but with the guardian as a client, at least for a short time. Before the final pages the body count has risen but Dol has been one step ahead of the police to solve the crimes. THE HAND IN THE GLOVE was originally published in 1937 and the only novel featuring Dol although she appears from time to time in Nero Wolfe adventures. Stout's style is evident here, the characters are well defined, the problem is clever and complex but the snappy banter that marks the Nero Wolfe stories is missing. Another deviation from the Nero Wolfe novels is that the story is not told just from one point of view but jumps from Dol to her friend Sylvia's and others which is a bit confusing for the reader at times. Although this is not quite as good as the Nero Wolfe stories it is interesting for Wolfe fans to learn a bit more one of the few women in Wolfe's life.

Not Nero Wolfe, but Pretty Good

Rex Stout is, of course, seated at God's right hand even now for having written the sublime and always amusing Nero Wolfe mysteries. Rush right out and read EVERY ONE of them right now. I'll wait. Okay, done? I was right, wasn't I? The Nero Wolfe novels really are that good. Well, Stout wrote some other detective novels featuring Tecumseh Fox (3 novels, all okay) and Dol Bonner-- this novel, "The Hand in the Glove," is the only full-length Bonner, and it's very good. She also shows up in some of Nero Wolfe's adventures, doing work for the Great Man when Archie Goodwin is too busy or the wrong sex to do the job. The plot is fine and the writing is up to Stout's usual sterling standards, and Inspector Cramer, Wolfe's red-faced nemesis, even shows up late in the book. If you've read all the Nero Wolfes, read this-- you'll enjoy it.

A good fit

High-pitched and grating? We can't disagree with the one-star reviewer more. The voices are consistent and carefully chosen. We listened to this book while painting an apartment and found it thoroughly absorbing and well produced. We can't claim to own 30 unabridged Stout mysteries with which to compare this, but we can claim to know strong female characters strongly portrayed. Having listened to stories by writers such as Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton, we think this performance ranks. It's consistent throughout, intelligently performed, and completely satisfying.