Title: A bittersweet finale
Review: A FAMILY AFFAIR is a bittersweet finish to Stout's wonderful series. One of Rusterman's waiters is killed in Wolfe's home and the resulting investigation heads down a path that lies very close to Wolfe and Archie. All the extended cast make an appearance; Cramer and Stebbins, Lily Rowan and even Theodore Horstman, Wolfe's orchid man, all have a moment in this farewell. The killer is revealed relatively early in this one as it leads to dark ending; an ending befitting the grim circumstances of this case. This is not the best of Stout's Wolfe mysteries but it certainly is a memorable one.The closing lines bring the series to an appropriate end:Wolfe said, "Will you bring brandy, Archie? And two glasses. If Fritz is up, bring him and three glasses. We'll try to get some sleep." after forty years of wonderful adventures and possibly the most re-readable mysteries ever, they deserve it.
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