Rating: 
Summary: An early Wolfe
Review: A very fun read and worth it even if a little stiff. Stout had not quite arrived at the equality of relationship between Archie and Nero that made the books after the first three so much fun. The Red Box, Too Many Cooks, and Some Buried Caeser are the wonderful following books, but Where there's a will is still fun and good.
Rating: 
Summary: Wolfe hits rock bottom
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer (except I don't like Over My Dead Body either). Where There's a Will is the worst Wolfe novel (some of the short stories are also terrible). It's turgid stuff and I'd hate it to be anyone's first and last encounter with Wolfe.
Rating: 
Summary: Competent
Review: I had really hoped that A&E would "do" this one. I would have loved to see how the female repertory cast members would have handled the brilliant spring sisters in this book.
It's a good, vigorous read. I'm hoping to get a copy of Michael Pritchard's reading of it, based on how well he's handled the other Wolfe books. They're coming out on CD audio now, which is great for clarity and ease of use.
Not the best, I suppose, but this book belongs on the shelves of any mystery fan.
Rating:
Summary: For Wolfe Junkies
Review: If you have read three or four Nero Wolfe books, and liked them, you will like this book. What's not to like about three sisters named April, May and June?
This is somewhat of an "inside baseball" of Wolfe -- lots of characters, constant action. Not a long book, but alot of content.
Wolfe leaves his home, which is always an interesting twist, given how much he hates it.
Wold almost gets arrested and taken to Police HQ. He dictates a letter before he is to be taken, and staves it off. The letter is vintage Rex Stout.
Rating:
Summary: For Wolfe Junkies
Review: If you have read three or four Nero Wolfe books, and liked them, you will like this book. What's not to like about three sisters named April, May and June?
This is somewhat of an "inside baseball" of Wolfe -- lots of characters, constant action. Not a long book, but alot of content.
Wolfe leaves his home, which is always an interesting twist, given how much he hates it.
Wold almost gets arrested and taken to Police HQ. He dictates a letter before he is to be taken, and staves it off. The letter is vintage Rex Stout.
Rating:
Summary: Stout's WORST, they say? Absolutely not!
Review: Millionaire Noel Hawthorne has just died in a hunting accident. In his will, he leaves his sisters (named April, May, and June) a peach, a pear, and an apple, respectively. But, to a young woman who was _not_ his wife, he leaves a huge chunk of his fortune. The sisters come to Wolfe to find out what's behind this wacky will. But Wolfe suspects that maybe the hunting accident was no accident...I am stunned to read that other reviewers consider this book to be one of Stout's worst. I completely disagree. How can this be a bad Wolfe entry when: Wolfe is faced with _three_ women in his house at once
Wolfe faces the threat of arrest from Cramer
Fred Durkin has his best scenes in the series so far
Archie has one of his best outings
(And finally,) Wolfe leaves the house! Sure, this is not the _best_ Wolfe story Stout ever wrote. It does have some character inconsistencies that later stories don't have. There are also some real problems with the plot. And, true, this would not be the book to start with for first-time Wolfe readers. But should it be included in the trash pile? Definitely not. An average Nero Wolfe story, after all, is better than most writers' "above average" output. Dig in.
Rating:
Summary: Stout's WORST, they say? Absolutely not!
Review: Millionaire Noel Hawthorne has just died in a hunting accident. In his will, he leaves his sisters (named April, May, and June) a peach, a pear, and an apple, respectively. But, to a young woman who was _not_ his wife, he leaves a huge chunk of his fortune. The sisters come to Wolfe to find out what's behind this wacky will. But Wolfe suspects that maybe the hunting accident was no accident... I am stunned to read that other reviewers consider this book to be one of Stout's worst. I completely disagree. How can this be a bad Wolfe entry when: Wolfe is faced with _three_ women in his house at once
Wolfe faces the threat of arrest from Cramer
Fred Durkin has his best scenes in the series so far
Archie has one of his best outings
(And finally,) Wolfe leaves the house! Sure, this is not the _best_ Wolfe story Stout ever wrote. It does have some character inconsistencies that later stories don't have. There are also some real problems with the plot. And, true, this would not be the book to start with for first-time Wolfe readers. But should it be included in the trash pile? Definitely not. An average Nero Wolfe story, after all, is better than most writers' "above average" output. Dig in.
Rating: 
Summary: Where There's A Will...there's a death...
Review: Nero Wolfe and Archi Goodwin are asked to help break a will. It seems a very rich man, name of Noel Hawthorne, died and left most of his money to the 'OTHER WOMAN' and the wife is going to fight over it. His sisters DON'T want her to do so, as they all have good names they don't wish to be splashed through the mud of a very public, and very ugly, court battle. They want him to either stop the wife, break this will, find another will or maybe even get the 'OTHER WOMAN' to cough up some of the millions she will get.
Right when it looks like Wolfe will just dismiss it all with a 'Pfui!' the police show up. It seems Mr. Hawthrone was murdered.
Now Nero, with help from Archie, will have to get to the bottom of the murder if he wants any peace (or any money).
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe hits rock bottom
Review: The previous reviewer seems rather hesitant in praising "Where There's a Will", doesn't he? With good reason: of the perhaps 30 Nero Wolfe novels or short story collections I have read so far (I'm writing this in Slovakia where most of Stout's books are impossible to get) "Where There's a Will" stands out as Stout's poorest achievement. The novel is so boring it causes you physical pain to get over with it. In "Where There's a Will", Stout pays the price that all extremely prolific writers have to pay: some of their efforts are just unbearable. What's strange, but in a way logical about the novel's failure, is that it's embedded within the body of some of Stout's finest works (as the previous reviewer correctly mentioned): "Too Many Cooks", "The Silent Speaker", "Over My Dead Body" et al. Having immortalized himself by producing those masterpieces, Stout should have taken a break from writing; instead, he chose to pain us with the excruciatingly insipid "Where There's a Will"... But I think that in evaluating a writer one should always only take into account the best that he or she has given us: with Rex Stout, these are at least half a dozen imperishable, classic novels (yes, not so much classic mysteries as classic humorous novels!). Therefore we will gladly forgive Mr. Stout his greatest literary blunder.
Rating:
Summary: Grandmaster's Embarrassing Failure
Review: The previous reviewer seems rather hesitant in praising "Where There's a Will", doesn't he? With good reason: of the perhaps 30 Nero Wolfe novels or short story collections I have read so far (I'm writing this in Slovakia where most of Stout's books are impossible to get) "Where There's a Will" stands out as Stout's poorest achievement. The novel is so boring it causes you physical pain to get over with it. In "Where There's a Will", Stout pays the price that all extremely prolific writers have to pay: some of their efforts are just unbearable. What's strange, but in a way logical about the novel's failure, is that it's embedded within the body of some of Stout's finest works (as the previous reviewer correctly mentioned): "Too Many Cooks", "The Silent Speaker", "Over My Dead Body" et al. Having immortalized himself by producing those masterpieces, Stout should have taken a break from writing; instead, he chose to pain us with the excruciatingly insipid "Where There's a Will"... But I think that in evaluating a writer one should always only take into account the best that he or she has given us: with Rex Stout, these are at least half a dozen imperishable, classic novels (yes, not so much classic mysteries as classic humorous novels!). Therefore we will gladly forgive Mr. Stout his greatest literary blunder.
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