 | |
| Author | Rex Stout |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Robert Hallock |
| Language | English |
| Series | Nero Wolfe |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
Publication date | October 21, 1946 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 308 pp. (first edition) |
| OCLC | 1473383 |
| Preceded by | Not Quite Dead Enough |
| Followed by | Too Many Women |
The Silent Speaker is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1946. It was published just after World War II, and key plot elements reflect the lingering effects of the war: housing shortages and restrictions on consumer goods, including government regulation of prices, featuring the conflict between a federal price regulatory body and a national business association, paralleling the conflicts between the Office of Price Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.[1]
The Silent Speaker was Stout's first full-length Nero Wolfe novel since Where There's a Will in 1940. "Thereafter, though he would continue writing for another thirty years, his stories would all be Nero Wolfe stories," wrote biographer John McAleer. "He liked Wolfe and Archie. After all, they were an essential part of himself. 'During the war years I missed them,' he told me."[2]
- ^ C.f. "OPA is criticized by Chamber head". The New York Times. May 22, 1943., Tower, Samuel A. (February 19, 1946). "Quick Action Urged; New Stabilizer Tells Congress 'Speculative Fever' Is Rampant". The New York Times.. OPA chief Chester Bowles calls NAM "an irresponsible pressure group." NAM president Robert Wason replied, "His charges are obviously designed to discredit the statement that NAM has just presented to the American people by means of newspaper advertisements."
- ^ McAleer, John, Rex Stout: A Biography (1977, Little, Brown and Company; ISBN 0-316-55340-9), p. 356