Pandora

Odd. I likewise myself also have for some reason begun reading Nero Wolfe for the first time. What an amazing coincidence!!!!!! On Pandora, I don't have anything to add to your discussion, save that I think that this, like A Devil in a Forest, is aimed at younger readers. And I think that's why Holly does not solve the crime. In both books, the teenaged character is taught things, and one important thing is that grownups really do know a lot more than kids do, so that kids've gotta know which grownups to trust. So, Wolfe turns Nancy Drew on her head. In a letter to Wolfe shortly before my Famous Interview with him, I asked him some questions, one of which was whether there was any fantasy element in Pandora that I had, Peace-like, missed. He said no, but that there are mythic elements. That's fairly obvious, given the title and the pandora box. Aladdin had the secret to the cave in his original story, and Aladdin Blue solve the case. There's probably a good deal more along these lines; but it's been a long time since I read the book. Nutria