Murder in the Ball Park

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

By: Robert Goldsborough

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Nero Wolfe earns a big league call-up after a senator gets taken out at the ball game.

Archie Goodwin and detective Saul Panzer have ventured into the wilds of northern Manhattan to watch the Giants take on the Dodgers at the Polo Grounds. The national anthem is just winding down when Panzer spies a notable in the box seats: State Senator Orson Milbank, a silver-haired scoundrel with enemies in every corner of upstate New York. In the fourth inning, a monstrous line drive brings every fan in the grandstand to his feet - every fan save for one silver-haired senator, who has been shot dead by a sniper in the upper deck.

Archie’s employer - the rotund genius Nero Wolfe - has no interest in investigating the stadium slaying, but Archie is swayed by the senator’s suspiciously lovely widow. Her husband was mired hip-deep in corruption, and sorting out who killed him will be a task far less pleasant than an afternoon at the ball park.

©2014 Robert Goldsborough (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Nailed it!!

As many of these as I have listened to, I've never been able to pick the murderer before they all gather at the brownstone for the final reveal. This time I got it. And I got it about a quarter of the way in. My clue was when Archie was interviewing the senator's party and asked what they recalled about the events leading up to the shooting. When it was revealed that Mona had slipped as everybody rose at the home run and broke the heel of her shoe and staggered to the right, and the senator leaned over to her side to keep her from falling and got shot, that was my AHA! moment. At that instant, I solved the case. Turns out I was right. I knew 3 things: 1. The senator was not the intended target. 2. Mona's husband was responsible and 3. The marine who actually pulled the trigger committed suicide because he shot the wrong person. Then I just sat back and listened as it all came together. It's a good feeling to beat Nero Wolfe to the punch! As usual, the writing was excellent. L.J. Ganser is superb as the narrator, and the banter never gets old. If I had a complaint, it's that these books are too short. A 6 hour novel is a barely a hard day of yard work. I'm used to listening to novels in the 11 and 12 hour range. I even listened to a Stephen King book that was 21 hours. I'm glad more of these are being written and Goldsborough has the character down pat. Rex Stout would be proud.

Best ever

Never had a clue until the very end. Ingenious! I’m ready for the next one!

Excellent follow-up to Rex Stout

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I Love Nero Wolf, but

Red Stout was concise, witty, gave the clues you need and respected your time. The new franchise is wordy with too many adjectives and adverbs. Lot's of cute insertions that add nothing. The new words are 50% longer with less mystery. Not worth TBE time except as a soporific.

Painful to listen to

The plot is okay, although most readers will know immediately what happened, but the dialogue is truly awful; Rex Stout is spinning in his grave.