Death of a Dude

By: Rex Stout

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

The mountain couldn't come to Wolfe, so the great detective went to the mountain - to Lame Horse, Montana, to be exact. Here a city slicker got a country girl pregnant and then took a bullet in the back. Wolfe's job is to get an innocent man exonerated of the crime and catch a killer in the process. But when he packs his silk pajamas and heads west, he finds himself embroiled in a case rife with local cynicism, slipshod police work, and unpleasant political ramifications.

Stout fellow: listen to all of our Nero Wolfe mysteries, including classic radio programs!

©1997 Rex Stout (P)2000 Books on Tape Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Nero Wolfe [is] part of our folklore." (The New York Times)

Wolf and Archie in the Wild West

Would you consider the audio edition of Death of a Dude to be better than the print version?

Both audio and print versions are excellent

What was one of the most memorable moments of Death of a Dude?

Wolf's arrival in Montana

What does Michael Prichard bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Prichard makes the characters' voices take on their personality.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I already knew the story pretty well, so I was not as compelled to keep listening to get to the end in a hurry. Instead, I savor the setting and the characters.

Any additional comments?

I love Archie, Nero, Fritz, Inspector Cramer, Saul, Fred, Orrie (sort of), Sgt. Stebbins, Lily, and all the regular characters in the Wolf stories. Most of them are absent in this one, but the local characters that were introduced were great fun.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Unusual Just OK Nero Wolfe

This is a very OK Nero Wolfe, but far from one of my favorites. It is unusual in a number of ways. The mystery takes place in Montana not New York and the details of the event don’t come out until half way through; indeed Nero Wolfe has a much smaller role than usual. Although the story specific characters are nicely developed there is not a lot of interplay between the regular series characters. I rarely have a quibble with the characterizations of story specific characters in Nero Wolfe novels, but in this one there were a few cases where the regional vernacular seemed overly contrived. For example there was a comment of a local comparing people to a herd of cattle. This was colorful, but did not ring true. There are some interesting scenes, events, and twists, but overall I was left unsatisfied.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

A great Nero Wolfe novel

I enjoy Nero Wolfe mystery books. This was an excellent read. Although some parts were a bit hard to follow.

1 of rare Wolfe-leaves-home books

And even more rare, he leaves the state of New York.

Another one of those greatest of Archie & Nero books, wherein, The satisfaction is not so much in the solving of the mystery, as in the comeuppance of a jerk cop.

This is a classic example once again, of how the murder mystery is truly a McGuffin, merely to propel the story forward to give some people who need it a slap in the face. But there's never as satisfying a slap in the face as when Nero Wolfe delivers it.

I typically great performance from Michael Prichard. Here, since other then Archie, Lily Rowan, and Nero Wolfe, we have none of our other usual cast of characters, Michael Prichard gets to perform some interesting local color residing in the state of Montana.

One of the greats among the greatest.

Highest recommendation.

Wolfe Leaves The Brownstone For Big Sky Country!!!

Where does Death of a Dude rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Nero Wolfe remains one of my all-time favorite characters; and Michael Prichard's interpretation of Rex Stout's immortal detective & his faithful (if uber-glib) side-kick, Archie Goodwin remains my all-time favorite!
However, this particular episode left me slightly disappointed overall; the ease with which Stout causes New York's streets to materialize in one's mind doesn't seem to transfer to less-familiar environs.
Good as a stand-alone read, tho-- seemed to be fewer-than-normal references to previous episodes...

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

If This Is The Only Wolfe Story Left For You, Might As Well Complete The Set...Right?

An excellent story and VERY SATISFACTORY. :)

I enjoyed it the first time I listened to and the second time too, but even more so the third that I just heard the final word of it one more time. Thank you Mr. Stout wherever you are.