Too Many Women (novel)
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| Author | Rex Stout |
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| Cover artist | Robert Hallock |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Nero Wolfe |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
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Publication date
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October 20, 1947 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 251 pp. (first edition) |
| OCLC | 1463556 |
| Preceded by | The Silent Speaker |
| Followed by | And Be a Villain |
Too Many Women is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published in 1947 by the Viking Press. The novel was also collected in the omnibus volume All Aces (Viking 1958).
I told him I was Archie Goodwin, the heart, liver, lungs, and gizzard of the private detective business of Nero Wolfe, Wolfe being merely the brains. He asked sarcastically if I was a genius too, and I told him no indeed, I was comparatively human.
A malcontent at the Naylor-Kerr corporation charges that one of its employees, thought to have been killed in a hit-and-run accident, was actually murdered. The president of the giant New York firm hires Archie to look for proof one way or another, in the guise of a personnel consultant in the corporation's executive offices — where 500 beautiful women are employed.
Nero Wolfe is approached by Jasper Pine, the president of Naylor-Kerr Inc., a large engineering corporation. Having recently commissioned a survey into employee turnover, a report has come back from one department claiming that Waldo Moore, an employee previously thought to have been killed in a hit-and-run accident, was in fact murdered. Alarmed by the report, Naylor-Kerr's board of directors wish Nero Wolfe to investigate and resolve the matter. As Wolfe has been increasingly frustrating company of late, Archie Goodwin offers to go undercover as an outside consultant to investigate the matter, and with Wolfe's consent is duly placed on the Naylor-Kerr payroll.
Archie's investigation begins in the stock department, where Archie is amazed to discover 500 beautiful women employed as secretaries and assistants, including Hester Livsey, Moore's fiancée at the time of his death. He encounters Kerr Naylor, the eccentric and disagreeable department supervisor and the man who lodged the report claiming that Moore was murdered; Naylor is the son of one of the founders of the company and has ambitions towards becoming president. Naylor reveals that he is aware of Goodwin's real identity and reveals that Moore gained his job through the intervention of Naylor's sister Celia, who is also married to Jasper Pine. Word begins to spread that Archie is investigating Moore's death.
Archie is approached by Rosa Bendini, a filer in the company, who supports Naylor's claim that Moore was murdered and then tries to seduce Archie. During their discussion, Archie learns details about Moore's interactions with his coworkers, including Rosa herself, and develops a potential list of suspects: Livsey; Gwynne Ferris, who attempted to seduce Moore but was rebuffed; Benjamin Frenkel, a supervisor who had developed feelings for Ferris and had been rebuffed; and Summer Hoff, a technical advisor who had gotten into a physical fight with Moore, which was believed to be over Livsey.
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