Templum Bellonae

Whatever excuses I may have for recommending Pharaohs on top of all the other times I’ve rec’d Parhelion on this site, none of them apply to this story. My only explanation is that it’s just that good.

Masquerade by Parhelion

I love this. Just a drabble, but the closing line is so very in-character.

Conversation at West Thirty-fifth Street, Not Far From the Hudson River by gosy

An AU where Wolfe and Archie meet while they’re working for a circus in the late 20’s.

I slid down the side window, took a good look, and then looked again. It was a necessary effort. “Holy smokes. Who built that?”

It was like nothing I’d ever seen in my home town. The garden was jam-packed with leafy trees, fuzzy trees, fronded trees, and huge masses of cascading shrubs that I would later learn to call bougainvillea, hibiscus, and jasmine. The house was crazier than the garden. Too much was going on in too small a space. All in all, the place seemed to have been designed for Zorro by Maxfield Parrish after his fourth or fifth shot of bad hooch in a speakeasy just outside of Baghdad.

I think my jaw dropped.

Carny by Parhelion

Parhelion introduces the paranormal to the brownstone. Good like everything she writes. Unfortunately unfinished; it’s at 15 chapters right now and I don’t know if it’s still being updated or not. Oh, and don’t worry too much about the character death.

And don’t read this at night if you’re home alone and scare easily. Chapter 2 is especially creepy.

Ash and Iron by Parhelion

Nero and Archie go to Alexandria to see a man about a book.

Warm Room by Parhelion and Coelogyne

Can I say again how beautifully Parhelion does Archie? Archie and Wolfe have such distinct speech patterns, and getting them right is what separates the mediocre authors from the really good ones in this fandom.

I asked Sam, “So, what made you peg me as being, you know?” Maybe I could change my tailor.

He snorted. “Stop, look, and listen. You notice more about a guy than how his cojones compare to yours. You check out everyone, not just the females. And you never, ever, shut up about Mr. Wilkins. Hell, I though I was bad about my Juanito.”

Well, I couldn’t explain to him how being a detective makes you look at people. But, I didn’t want to hear about Juanito, either. “Was that it?”

“Aside from the deadly Ds: dress, dancing, dining etiquette, and Dorothy Parker as your scriptwriter. You got ‘em all, son. Good thing for you that you’re such a tough guy, or we’d need a barnacle scraper to get the chorus boys off of you.”

“Ah, nuts.” I had another beer. It was that kind of a trip.

Archie and Wolfe undercover in La-La Land. Wolfe spends his days cooking and Archie runs errands for him all over Southern California.

Taste by Parhelion

Saul needs Wolfe and Archie to help him with a problem.

To Archie Goodwin, this may be the most important story about Saul Panzer, although Archie’s never heard it.

Parhelion captures Archie’s voice perfectly, and the Saul POV scenes are great, too.

Apparently Express is something of a sequel.

Liars by Parhelion

I really love Parhelion’s writing. I’ve been meaning to rec her (his?) Nero Wolfe fanfic for a while, but I haven’t been able to choose which ones to rec. This story could be classified as gen, het or slash.

“…The level of culinary competition will end up being such that Archie would have to show up in person and without a shirt to retrieve your full attention.”

A fork full of food paused on its way to Wolfe’s lips. He looked at it for a long moment, and then set his fork back down on his plate with some care. “Miss Rowan. Please understand that I correct you only because you are laboring under a misapprehension I find particularly irritating, and the two of us need to work together.” He laced his fingers. “By my count, that was the fourth time today you have implied Archie and I are physically intimate. We are not.”

She didn’t try to control her expression of skepticism. “Mr. Wolfe. Given the circles I move in, I recognize what I’m seeing when I look at you. And I, of all women, have reason to know you’re no priest. Archie’s never provided me with any details, but he doesn’t tell tales out of school. It’s one of his great charms.”

Archie and Lily Rowan are on vacation in the Caribbean when Archie disappears. Lily calls Wolfe. Parhelion does her usual fabulous job with Archie and Wolfe’s thoughts and dialogue, as well as doing the same with Lily Rowan.

Flowers and Trees by Parhelion

Saul tells us how Archie and Wolfe first met.

The boarding house was easy enough to find. I knew what it would be like without stepping a foot inside. Cramped, airless rooms, a shared bath on each floor, and 13 bad meals a week.

Aesthetics by Jennifer Lon

Archie goes home to help out his family. Nice Archie voice.

Really it was my own fault. I should have known to stay out of the central time zone. Failing that, I should have made arrangements to keep my itinerary out of the hands of my family.

Too Many Goodwins by Nancy

Nancy’s version of how Archie met Wolfe. I really do love her Archie.

I took a yellow chair near Panzer. Wolfe regarded me, not happily.

“How old are you, Mr. Goodwin?”

I cocked a glance at Panzer, who had got me into this, but he was no help. “Look, Panzer asked me to come here, so here I am when I should be sleeping. And right away you start with personal questions. Do I ask you how much you weigh?”

Lost Boys by Nancy