urn:oclc:877045212 Scandate 20100922045230 Scanner scribe11.sfdowntown.archive.org Scanningcenter sfdowntown Worldcat (source edition) Robert Gerald Goldsborough (born October 3, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American journalist and writer of mystery novels. He worked for 45 years for the Chicago Tribune and Advertising Age, but gained prominence as the author of a series of 17 authorized pastiches of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe detective stories, published from 1986 to 1994 and from 2012 to 2023. The first novel, Murder in E Minor (1986), received a Nero Award. I’m sure if Mr. Wolfe knew about my uncle’s trouble, he would want to do something right away, she said, twisting a scarf in her lap and leaning forward tensely. In 2005, Goldsborough turned his attention to creating books with his own characters, beginning with Three Strikes You're Dead, a mystery set in pre-war Chicago, featuring Steve (Snap) Malek, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. In February 2006, Three Strikes You're Dead was named Best Historical Mystery at the eighth annual Love is Murder awards banquet. [ citation needed] Terror at the Fair (2011), the fifth book in the Snap Malek series, received the Lovey Award in 2012. [4] Bibliography [ edit ] Nero Wolfe novels [ edit ]

After a year of reporting for the Associated Press, Goldsborough went to work for the Chicago Tribune as a reporter (1960–1963). From 1963 to 1966, he served as assistant editor of the newspaper's Sunday magazine and TV Week, which he edited from 1966 to 1967. He was assistant to the features editor (1967–1971) and editor (1971–1972), and was named Sunday editor (1972–1975) and editor of the Sunday magazine (1975–1982). In 1982, he joined Advertising Age as editor and became the magazine's special projects director in 1988. [1] He retired in December 2004. [2] Nero Wolfe [ edit ] NERO WOLFE AND I HAVE argued for years about whether the client who makes his first visit to us before or after noon is more likely to provide an interesting—and lucrative—case. Wolfe contends that the average person is incapable of making a rational decision, such as hiring him, until he or she has had a minimum of two substantial meals that day. My own feeling is that the caller with the greater potential is the one who has spent the night agonizing, finally realizes at dawn that Wolfe is the answer, and does something about it fast. I’ll leave it to you to decide, based on our past experience, which of us has it better pegged.The two books revolve around Steve Malek, a nosy and old school police reporter working for the Chicago Tribune newspaper in pre-World War II Chicago, America and in the wake of the Great Depression. In “Three Strikes You’re Dead”, the pin that bursts the balloon is the suspicious death of a prospective mayor. Steve Malek embarks on a no-holds-barred mission to seek the truth. But Malek’s scope of investigation not only irks his editor but also goes too far and Malek soon finds himself up to his eyeballs with crucial leads concerning his investigation into the apparent murder. Miss Radovich, before we talk more about these notes, tell me about your uncle, and yourself. First, you said on the phone that he and Mr. Wolfe knew each other in Montenegro. I’m sorry, but Mr. Wolfe isn’t consulting at the present time, I said, repeating a line I had grown to hate.

It is worth noting that, in the literal sense, the first two books in a series that Robert Goldsborough wrote are “Murder in E Minor” and “Death on Deadline”. However, the two books are under Nero Wolfe mystery series which is not his own. As such, we will overlook these me-too versions and focus on the Snap Malek series.

Reviews

The final Wolfe book written by Stout, A Family Affair, ends with the disgrace and suicide of one of the Wolfe team. As the new book opens, Wolfe has been in a state of virtual retirement for a while, although a good word from Inspector Cramer has allowed them to remain licensed private investigators in good standing, although inactive. I need to see Mr. Wolfe—today. May I make an appointment? It was the voice of a young woman, shaky, and with an accent that seemed familiar to me. The first two books in the Snap Malek series by Robert Goldsborough, therefore, are “Three Strikes You’re Dead” and “Shadow of the Bomb”, respectively. “Three Strikes You’re Dead” was published in early 2005 by Echelon Press. The same publishing house also published “Shadow of the Bomb” the following year.

Mr. Goodwin, for the last two weeks my uncle has been getting letters in the mail—awful, vile letters. I think someone may want to kill him, but he just throws the letters away. I am frightened. I am sure that— Other than having put his brain in the deep freeze, Wolfe kept his routine pretty much the same as ever: breakfast on a tray in his room; four hours a day—9 to 11 A.M. and 4 to 6 P.M.—in the plant rooms with Theodore; long conferences with Fritz on menus and food preparation; and the best meals in Manhattan. The rest of the time, he was in his oversized chair behind his desk in the office reading and drinking beer. And refusing to work. It wasn’t Nero Wolfe’s idea for Orrie Cather to kill himself, but the great detective gave his blessing to his longtime associate’s plan. Cather had killed three people, and it was only fair to pay the price. Though Wolfe reacted to Cather’s death with his characteristic calmness, prize assistant Archie Goodwin could see the rotund genius of West Thirty-Fifth Street was shaken to his well-fed core. Wolfe decided his sleuthing days were finished. Several of Stout's Wolfe novels made it clear that Wolfe was Montenegrin, and had once been involved in what would today be called terrorist activities against the oppressors of his homeland (in early days of the 20th century, those would be the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Hard as it is to see in the present-day corpulent agoraphobic crime-solving genius in Manhattan, he was once a man of action in Montenegro and the surrounding area. A few of his comrades from that era also survive: the present conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra, Milan Stevans (name now anglicized from Milos Stefanović), and Milan's long-estranged wife, Alexandra Adjari, now living in London. Stevans became the guardian of his great-niece Maria Radovich after the death of her parents.

Absolutely, Maria said. Uncle Milos told me they had been through some great difficulty together. He even showed me this picture from an old scrapbook. She reached again into her bag and handed me a gray-toned photograph mounted on cardboard and ragged around the edges. No, I want Mr. Nero Wolfe. My uncle has spoken of him, and I am sure he would want to help. My uncle knew Mr. Wolfe many years ago in Montenegro, and— Based on these two books by Robert Goldsborough, it is evident that the author uses both the biographical and autobiographical method in his work. A notable aspect in his literary works is his constant reference of the Chicago Tribune where he has worked for a long time and the use of real-life personalities and public figures as his characters.