Rex Stout's PLOT IT YOURSELF

In preparing for the move, I stumbled on an audio book on TAPE. That's how old it is for me. Books on tape haven't been produced for years.

The book was, Plot it Yourself, a Nero Wolfe mystery, by Rex Stout.

I'm a big fan of murder mysteries and the Nero Wolfe's are, at the very least, among my favorites.

They're short, masterfully written, whimsical and Stout is a world-class wordsmith. If you want to expand your vocabulary, read a Nero Wolfe.

And, Plot it Yourself, is wonderful.

It has Nero Wolfe figuring out who's responsible for a series of plagiarism claims made against successful authors which leads to several murders.

As a murder mystery, the book is so-so.

But, Stout uses the book to, well, philosophize about writing and a writer's style.

I first listened to it a decade ago or more. Much of what I write, even here on this blog, traces to what I learned about writing from that book.

In many ways, that book is the most helpful English course I've ever taken.