In this book, Archie Goodwin is in the Army, but he has been assigned to get
Nero Wolfe to give up on his health kick (which
he has gone on with the intention of joining the Army himself) and use his detective talents to help ferret out murder, corruption, treason and betrayal in the Armed Services itself. When one of the Army officers is blown up by the souvenir grenade that Wolfe made Archie give up, it becomes personal, as it is apparently an impossible deed -- and yet it has happened.
Nero Wolfe also ferrets out a murderer, when a young woman engaged to a pigeon fancier and breeder, who supplies the Army with messenger pigeons, is found dead exactly as he has been told it happened -- but with an unbelievable timeline. Archies's longtime friend, Lily Rowan, is one of the prime suspects as well, although she had been the one who sent Archie to help her friend.
It is an
interesting book, and seeing how Archie transforms Wolfe is one of the more interesting experiences in the reading of detective fiction. Seeing Archie as an independent person is also very interesting, especially to those of us who are Stout's devoted fans.