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Rating: 
Summary: 2 novels + 3 short stories
Review: This omnibus edition of SOME BURIED CAESAR, TOO MANY WOMEN, and TROUBLE IN TRIPLICATE is titled ALL ACES only because three cases are covered, and because Stout and his publishers for reasons best known to themselves acquired a habit of naming Nero Wolfe omnibi after variations on playing cards (including both bridge and poker terms).
SOME BURIED CAESAR (1938), the 6th Wolfe book, opens with the incident that introduced Archie to Lily Rowan, resulting in her nicknaming him "Escamillo" after the bullfighter in Carmen. One of Wolfe's orchid-grower feuds has actually got him on the road with Archie to the Exposition (so as to enter his own orchids and take prizes away from his rival), but after a 1-car accident, Wolfe and Archie have to walk to the nearest house. Unfortunately, the great detectives don't notice that the *reason* one field had a gate and a guy yelling at them to go away was Hickory Caesar Grindon, the prize-winning bull *occupying* that pasture. :) (Just Wolfe's reaction to a malfunctioning car would have been worth seeing, but this was priceless.)
Caesar's current owner, Tom Pratt, is no cattleman; in fact, he owns a fast-food chain, and plans to barbecue Caesar as a publicity stunt, despite the local ranchers' outrage at this supposed crime against the breed. Caesar's former owner, McMillan, shares guard duty over Caesar since he resents the attitude he's receiving from men who wouldn't give him a fair price for Caesar, let alone Pratt's exorbitant one, after he lost almost everything to a combination of the Depression and an anthrax epidemic in his herd. Seeing the prospect of a cushier berth than the hotel rooms reserved for the Exposition, Wolfe offers Archie's services on the guard rota. But in the end, of course, *Caesar* isn't the creature found dead in the pasture.
TOO MANY WOMEN (1947), the 12th Wolfe book, was one of only two that I recall in which a private cold war between Wolfe and Archie is interrupted by a prospective client's first interview, leading to Wolfe *accepting* the client's suggestion that Archie take on an undercover job that'll get him out of the brownstone for the duration. (The other is IF DEATH EVER SLEPT.) Here Pyne, whose wife as a major stockholder bought him his job as company president, has the problem that his brother-in-law recorded one employee's reason for leaving the company as "murdered", when it's officially a hit-and-run. Archie's job is to work incognito in the stock department as a personnel expert, digging up enough to make Kerr Naylor either eat that report or back it up - either way, to shut down the gossip factory. Things start looking up when Archie discovers that the stock department is a massive open-plan office, containing about 500 good-looking women typists. (He later takes what I'd call a Turkish Delight attitude - too much of even a delicacy can glut the palate, since one can fully appreciate just so much at a time.)
TROUBLE IN TRIPLICATE (1949) was the 14th Wolfe book, a short story collection rather than a novel; the stories are mentioned below in original publication order rather than order within the book.
"Help Wanted, Male" (1945), set in 1944, is the last of the short stories covering Wolfe's work for Army Intelligence in WWII - although strictly speaking, he's receiving death-threats from the father of a man he helped convict, rather than working on a new case. (The other such stories are in NOT QUITE DEAD ENOUGH. Incidentally, Archie continually tried to get a combat assignment and couldn't. He felt he had the worst of both worlds, in his regular job but on army pay, and with Wolfe invoking secrecy oaths and whatnot to keep him in the dark even more than usual.)
"Instead of Evidence" (1946) is set in October 1945 a week after Archie's discharge from the Army, and like "Help Wanted, Male" begins with a would-be client asking for Wolfe's protection from a would-be murderer, and getting a standard brush-off, although this time the killer doesn't have Wolfe on a list as the next target, and the supposed motive is control of a business rather than revenge. Stout used the cigar-bomb method more than once, most notably in A FAMILY AFFAIR.
"Before I Die" (1947), like THE SILENT SPEAKER, is in the immediate post-war era before price controls and suchlike were dismantled. *During* WWII, Wolfe and Fritz kept strictly within the rationing rules, but now Wolfe is desperate for a controlled substance: meat. :) When Dazy Perrit, the King of the Black Market, wants help dealing with the decoy-turned-blackmailer he hired to lead his enemies away from his *real* daughter, Wolfe's willing to help for a quid pro quo, despite Archie's misgivings at knowing too much about an underworld kingpin.
For more detailed discussion of the individual works herein, see reviews of the 3 separate books; no changes were made to include them here. They have few points in common, not even being 3 back-to-back books in publication order. While they're no worse here than taken separately, this omnibus edition provides no added value.
Rating:
Summary: 2 novels + 3 short stories
Review: This omnibus edition of _Some Buried Caesar_, _Too Many Women_, and _Trouble in Triplicate_ is titled _All Aces_ only because three cases are covered, and because Stout and his publishers for reasons best known to themselves acquired a habit of naming Nero Wolfe omnibi after variations on playing cards (including both bridge and poker terms)._Some Buried Caesar_ (1938), the 6th Wolfe book, opens with the incident that introduced Archie to Lily Rowan, resulting in her nicknaming him "Escamillo" after the bullfighter in Carmen. One of Wolfe's orchid-grower feuds has actually got him on the road with Archie to the Exposition (so as to enter his own orchids and take prizes away from his rival), but after a 1-car accident, Wolfe and Archie have to walk to the nearest house. Unfortunately, the great detectives don't notice that the *reason* one field had a gate and a guy yelling at them to go away was Hickory Caesar Grindon, the prize-winning bull *occupying* that pasture. :) (Just Wolfe's reaction to a malfunctioning car would have been worth seeing, but this was priceless.) Caesar's current owner, Tom Pratt, is no cattleman; in fact, he owns a fast-food chain, and plans to barbecue Caesar as a publicity stunt, despite the local ranchers' outrage at this supposed crime against the breed. Caesar's former owner, McMillan, shares guard duty over Caesar since he resents the attitude he's receiving from men who wouldn't give him a fair price for Caesar, let alone Pratt's exorbitant one, after he lost almost everything to a combination of the Depression and an anthrax epidemic in his herd. Seeing the prospect of a cushier berth than the hotel rooms reserved for the Exposition, Wolfe offers Archie's services on the guard rota. But in the end, of course, *Caesar* isn't the creature found dead in the pasture. _Too Many Women_ (1947), the 12th Wolfe book, was one of only two that I recall in which a private cold war between Wolfe and Archie is interrupted by a prospective client's first interview, leading to Wolfe *accepting* the client's suggestion that Archie take on an undercover job that'll get him out of the brownstone for the duration. (The other is _If Death Ever Slept_.) Here Pyne, whose wife as a major stockholder bought him his job as company president, has the problem that his brother-in-law recorded one employee's reason for leaving the company as "murdered", when it's officially a hit-and-run. Archie's job is to work incognito in the stock department as a personnel expert, digging up enough to make Kerr Naylor eat that report or to back it up - either way, to shut down the gossip factory. Things start looking up when Archie finds out that the stock department's one of those massive open-plan offices, with about 500 good-looking women typists. (He later takes what I'd call a Turkish Delight attitude - too much of even a delicacy can glut the palate, since one can fully appreciate just so much at a time.) _Trouble in Triplicate_ (1949) was the 14th Wolfe book, a short story collection rather than a novel; the stories are mentioned below in original publication order rather than order within the book. "Help Wanted, Male" (1945), set in 1944, is the last of the short stories covering Wolfe's work for Army Intelligence in WWII - although strictly speaking, he's receiving death-threats from the father of a man he helped convict, rather than working on a new case. (The other such stories are in _Not Quite Dead Enough_. Incidentally, Archie continually tried to get a combat assignment and couldn't. He felt he had the worst of both worlds, in his regular job but on army pay, and with Wolfe invoking secrecy oaths and whatnot to keep him in the dark even more than usual.) "Instead of Evidence" (1946) is set in October 1945 a week after Archie's discharge from the Army, and like "Help Wanted, Male" begins with a would-be client asking for Wolfe's protection from a would-be murderer, and getting a standard brush-off, although this time the killer doesn't have Wolfe on a list as the next target, and the supposed motive is control of a business rather than revenge. Stout used the cigar-bomb method more than once, most notably in _A Family Affair_. "Before I Die" (1947), like _The Silent Speaker_, is in the immediate post-war era before price controls and suchlike were dismantled. *During* WWII, Wolfe and Fritz kept strictly within the rationing rules, but now Wolfe is desperate for a controlled substance: meat. :) When Dazy Perrit, the King of the Black Market, wants help dealing with the decoy-turned-blackmailer he hired to lead his enemies away from his *real* daughter, Wolfe's willing to help for a quid pro quo, despite Archie's misgivings at knowing too much about an underworld kingpin. For more detailed discussion of the individual works herein, see reviews of the 3 separate books; no changes were made to include them here. They have few points in common, not even being 3 back-to-back books in publication order. While they're no worse here than taken separately, this omnibus edition provides no added value.
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