The Doorbell Rang [SEP] characters
The Doorbell Rang
The Doorbell Rang is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1965.
Plot introduction.
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
Speaker", "Too Many Women", "Murder by the Book", "Before Midnight", "Plot It Yourself", "Too Many Clients", "The Doorbell Rang", and "Death of a Doxy", which are for me the best of all the full-length Wolfe novels.
- J. Kenneth Van Dover, "At Wolfe's Door" — Wolfe's return to the novel-length mystery is a strong one: the plot is solid and the characters — especially Phoebe