To an amazing degree, it’s as if the whole W. 35th
mise en scène sprang full-bodied from the head of Zeus (or Stout). Much
of what we remember so well from the other novels and novellas is there in the
beginning: Wolfe wiggling his finger, Wolfe pushing his lips in and out as he
solves a case, the daily routine in the plant rooms, the ban on business talk
at meals, Archie prodding Wolfe and Wolfe poking Archie, what Archie calls a “charade”
at the end as the killer is outed.
Many of the usual dramatis personae are also present from
the creation at least in name, including the one who turns out to be the killer
in the final outing, A Family Affair, 41 years later.
At the same time, there are a few differences. Archie drives
a roadster, and there is no mention of the Herron sedan of the later tales; his friend at the Gazette
is Harry Foster rather than Lon Cohen. Nathaniel Parker, Doc Vollmer, and
Lilly Rowan have not yet made their appearance.
As every Wolfean knows, these stories always reflect the
outside world even though Wolfe and Archie don’t age. It is not “always 1934.” As
Fer-de-Lance begins, Wolfe is testing the newly legal 3.2 beer after the
end of Prohibition and finding that, “So far, none of this is sewage.” A
Family Affair is firmly set in the Watergate era.
Speaking of which, I’ll go read that now . . .
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