If Death Ever Slept

Infobox Book |
name = If Death Ever Slept


image_caption =
author = Rex Stout
cover_artist = Bill English
country = United States
language = English
series = Nero Wolfe
genre = Detective fiction
publisher = Viking Press
release_date = October 25, 1957
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 186 pp. (first edition)
isbn = NA
preceded_by = Three for the Chair
followed_by = And Four to Go "If Death Ever Slept" is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1957 and collected in the omnibus volume "Three Trumps" (Viking 1973).

Plot introduction

Millionaire Otis Jarrell retains Nero Wolfe to get a snake out of his house – the snake being his daughter-in-law, whom he believes is ruining his business deals by leaking information to his competitors. Since Archie and Wolfe are in the midst of one of their periodic squabbles, it is decided that Archie will move into Jarrell's Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment, posing as his new secretary, While he's away, Orrie tests out Archie's desk.

Cast of characters

*Nero Wolfe — Private investigator
*Archie Goodwin — Wolfe's assistant (and narrator of all Wolfe stories)
*Otis Jarrell — Millionaire
*Trella Jarrell — Otis Jarrell's second wife
*Lois Jarrell — Otis Jarrell's daughter by his first wife, and a good dancer
*Wyman Jarrell — Otis Jarrell's son by his first wife
*Susan Jarrell — Otis Jarrell's daughter-in-law
*Roger Foote — Trella's brother
*Nora Kent — Stenographer
*James L. Eber — Ex-secretary
*Corey Brigham — Friend of the family
*Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin, Orrie Cather, Dol Bonner, Sally Colt — Private detectives employed by Wolfe
*Inspector Cramer, Sergeant Purley Stebbins — Manhattan Homicide investigators

Literary significance and criticism

"Though Archie Goodwin is here in top form, not much else can be said for this dose of the mixture as before. Archie is put in as secretary to a rich operator whose business secrets are being stolen. Wolfe neither foresees nor prevents a couple of murders. His activities are limited to three lengthy interviews, at the last of which the killer is unmasked by the use of evidence supplied largely by Inspector Cramer."Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. "A Catalogue of Crime". New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8]

Adaptations

"Circuito chiuso" (Radiotelevisione Italiana)

"If Death Ever Slept" was adapted for a series of Nero Wolfe films produced by the Italian television network RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana). Directed by Giuliana Berlinguer from a teleplay by Margherita Cattaneo, "Nero Wolfe: Circuito chiuso" first aired March 7, 1969.

The series of black-and-white telemovies stars Tino Buazzelli (Nero Wolfe), Paolo Ferrari (Archie Goodwin), Pupo De Luca (Fritz Brenner), Renzo Palmer (Inspector Cramer), Roberto Pistone (Saul Panzer), Mario Righetti (Orrie Cather) and Gianfranco Varetto (Fred Durkin). Other members of the cast of "Circuito chiuso" include Mario Pisu (Otis Jarrell), Marzia Ubaldi (Trella Jarrell), Romina Power (Lois Jarrell), Umberto D'Orsi (Roger Foote), Pier Luigi Zollo (Wyman Jarrell), Barbara Valmorin (Nora Kent), Luciano Tacconi (Corey Brigham), Laura Tavanti (Susan Jarrell) and Germano Longo (Jim Eber).

Release details

*2002, USA, The Audio Partners Publishing Corp., Mystery Masters ISBN 0553762966 March 12, 2002, audio cassette (unabridged, read by Michael Prichard)
*1995, USA, Bantam Books ISBN 0553762966 January 2, 1995, paperback

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0352628|title=Nero Wolfe: Circuito chiuso
* [http://avenarius.sk/Quotations:If_Death_Ever_Slept wiki collection of quotations from "If Death Ever Slept"]