The Doorbell Rang

The Doorbell Rang is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1965. An hour later we were having a pleasant evening. The three guests and I were in the front room, in a tight game of pinochle, and Wolfe was in his one and only chair in the office, reading a book. The book was The FBI Nobody Knows. He was either gloating or doing research, I didn't know which. – Archie Goodwin writing in The Doorbell Rang, ... more

The Doorbell Rang is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1965. An hour later we were having a pleasant evening. The three guests and I were in the front room, in a tight game of pinochle, and Wolfe was in his one and only chair in the office, reading a book. The book was The FBI Nobody Knows. He was either gloating or doing research, I didn't know which. – Archie Goodwin writing in The Doorbell Rang, chapter 12 Nero Wolfe is hired to force the FBI to stop wiretapping, tailing and otherwise harassing a woman who gave away 10,000 copies of a book that is critical of the Bureau and its director, J. Edgar Hoover. The Doorbell Rang generated controversy when it was published, due largely to its unflattering portrayal of the FBI, its director and agents. It was published at a time that the public's attitude toward the FBI was turning critical, not long after Robert F. Kennedy and J. Edgar Hoover clashed and the Bureau was coming under fire for... less