A man who identifies himself as Thomas Yeager, head of Continental Plastics, asks Archie to ascertain whether he is being followed when he visits a certain address in one of New York's worst neighborhoods. When the real Yeager's body is found at an excavation site in the vicinity of that address, Archie crosses the threshold and finds a fantastically appointed love nest where Yeager secretly entertained many women. The case becomes more complicated when the daughter of the building superintendent is later killed; her novice attempts at blackmail provide Wolfe with critical evidence needed to solve both murders and earn a large fee, shoring up his low bank account balance. In short order, Wolfe and Archie find themselves beset by prospective clients:
the Yeager imposter, who allows himself to briefly be thought of as a client and who sparks Archie's interest
the building superintendent and his wife, who want Archie to keep the police from harassing them
an actress, who offers to pay Archie to get her cigarette case out of the love nest
the directors of Continental Plastics, who want to keep the existence of that room from becoming public knowledge and causing a scandal
Yeager's widow, who expects Wolfe to solve her husband's murder even if it embarrasses the company
In the novel, Archie jokes that he’s going to send out Christmas cards signed “Archie and Mehitabel,” implying that his wife’s name is Mehitabel. He isn’t married, and he’s making a reference to Archy and Mehitabel, a series of satiric essays and poems written by Don Marquis and originally published in the 1910s and ‘20s. Archy, the supposed writer of the pieces, is a cockroach, and his best friend is Mehitabel, a cat.
Reviews and commentary
Anthony Boucher, The New York Times Book Review — Wolfe happens to possess a fragment of inside information on the murder of unusually whole-hearted satyr. Problem: how to parlay this fragment into a sizable fee from a client? Wolfe finally accepts a unique commission to produce the murderer without ever revealing to the police the exact scene of the crime. All markedly ingenious and satisfactory.
Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime — Good treatment of the love-nest theme, integral as well as central, which implies good characterization. Several new touches prevent the reader from taking Wolfe as a cliché. The sole reservation to be made is that the villain is not well enough concealed, perhaps because he is so well cast.
Sergeant Cuff, Saturday Review of Literature — Archie Goodwin stirs stumps when body of plastics tycoon turns up in Manhattan excavation; mean Inspector Cramer rides herd on Nero Wolfe, but big fellow gets the answer. Easily among his best.
James Sandoe, New York Herald Tribune — One of Mr. Stout's brighter books, brisk, light, incisive going. Mr. Stout rarely plays "fair" and here gives Nero a lot more information than we have so that it can be concluded with a sharp surprise. Excellent diversion.
Terry Teachout, About Last Night, — Rex Stout's witty, fast-moving prose hasn't dated a day, while Wolfe himself is one of the enduringly great eccentrics of popular fiction. I've spent the past four decades reading and re-reading Stout's novels for pleasure, and they have yet to lose their savor ... It is to revel in such writing that I return time and again to Stout's books, and in particular to The League of Frightened Men, Some Buried Caesar, The Silent Speaker, Too Many Women, Murder by the Book, Before Midnight, Plot It Yourself, Too Many Clients, The Doorbell Rang, and Death of a Doxy, which are for me the best of all the full-length Wolfe novels.
Adaptations
''A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (A&E Network)
Too Many Clients was adapted for the second season of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Directed by John L'Ecuyer from a teleplay by Sharon Elizabeth Doyle, "Too Many Clients" made its debut in two one-hour episodes airing June 2 and 9, 2002, on A&E. Timothy Hutton is Archie Goodwin; Maury Chaykin is Nero Wolfe. Other members of the cast include Colin Fox, Bill Smitrovich, Conrad Dunn, Trent McMullen, Fulvio Cecere, Bill MacDonald, Marty Moreau, Jeannette Sousa, R.D. Reid, Saul Rubinek, Alex Poch-Goldin, Lucy Filippone, Kari Matchett, Christine Brubaker, James Tolkan, Debra Monk and Dina Barrington. Michael Sarrazin is uncredited in flashbacks as murder victim Thomas Yeager. In addition to original music by Nero Wolfe composer Michael Small, the soundtrack includes music by guitarist David Savcic and Angel Villaldo. A Nero Wolfe Mystery is available on DVD from A&E Home Video. "Too Many Clients" is one of three telefilms initially aired in two parts that A&E released as a "double episode," with a single set of titles and credits.
