Eleven early tales of mystery, murder, and mayhem from the creator of
Nero Wolfe.
When Colonel Phillips begins his final game of golf, his greatest
problem in life is that he has begun to slice the ball. Playing with his
lawyer and nephews, Phillips fights his way back into the game and is on
the verge of victory when he keels over. He clutches his chest, mumbles
a few words, and is dead in minutes. The doctor has no doubt: The
colonel was poisoned. Finding the culprit falls to the president of the
golf club, amateur detective Canby Rankin, who will do whatever it takes
to find the killer on the links.
Written nearly a century ago, "The Last Drive" is now available for the
first time in book form. Clever, charming, and absolutely baffling, it
is the tale that inspired the first Nero Wolfe novel, Fer-de-Lance,
and along with the other stories in this volume represents the early
efforts of a modern genius.