Too Many Clients by Rex Stout
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"We were now out about five Cs on the Yeager operation, and we had four clients and two bucks in retainers, plus a damn good chance of ending up in the coop for obstructing justice."

Too Many Clients (1960) is the seventh book in the Nero Wolfe series that I am reviewing here and the thirty-fourth installment, chronologically, in this deservedly acclaimed series of mysteries featuring the obese genius, Nero Wolfe, and his intrepid, manly, and charming helper, Archie Goodwin.

Archie is worried: with just $14,000 bank balance and $5,000 monthly household expenses things do not look good for the occupants of the brownstone on West 35th Street. Luckily, a Mr. Yeager, the executive VP of a large company, arrives at Wolfe's office and wants to hire Mr. Goodwin to find out who is following him. But when Archie arranges the details of the tail-the-tail operation, Mr. Yeager is found murdered. And to complicate things, Archie learns that his visitor was not in fact the deceased Mr. Yeager.

Archie commences the investigation, using - in Wolfe's words - his "discretion and sagacity." The case brings him to a house owned by the deceased; the house holds a secret, crucial for the plot. The manager and his family who live in the building play an important role in the story. Even though the purported client is dead Wolfe and Goodwin have no scarcity of clients: the president of the company, the deceased's wife, and a famous actress are among them. The problem is that while there are too many clients none of them is a paying one. Inspector Cramer of the police arrives and demands Wolfe's cooperation. There is another murder and things really begin to look bleak for the detectives.

Obviously, Wolfe and Goodwin solve the case and eventually get paid. The plot is interesting and keeps the reader's attention. The setup of the plot, with the fake Mr. Yeager, is first-rate, one of the best I remember of all Wolfe's stories. This installment of the series is not as outstanding as the unforgettable Murder by the Book but it is a solid and very readable mystery. I like the prose, which has some nice passages as, for instance:

"'Curiosity creeps into the homes of the unfortunate under the names of duty or pity. [...]'
'Is that Pascal?'
'No, Nietzsche.'"

Three stars.

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