This lost novel from beloved "Nero Wolfe" creator Rex Stout-unpublished for more than 90 years!—lays out a gripping psychological puzzle about an unconventional woman, the four men in her life, and secrets that lead to blackmail, kidnapping and murder.
WHO WAS THE FIFTH MAN? The lawyer, the jeweler, the art critic, and the oil-company man...Lora Winter has had a child with each of them. But when one of these men drives up to her house with a fifth man in the car, Lora runs to hide. So begins a masterful psychological jigsaw puzzle where desperate characters nevertheless resort to kidnapping, blackmail and possibly even murder.
Long before he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, before he created the immortal Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout wrote this gripping novel, published in 1930 and then lost for more than 90 years. Hard Case Crime is thrilled to give the book its first publication in nearly a century and to give today's readers the chance to discover one of Stout's richest and most unforgettable stories.
