THE DOORBELL RANG.

First UK edition, first printing. Publisher's original red and black patterned cloth with gilt titles to the red cloth spine, in dustwrapper. A very good or better copy, the binding square and firm, with just a touch of fading to the lightly rubbed spine tips. The contents, with some spotting to the prelims and closed text block edge, are otherwise clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper which remains without fading, loss or tears. Not price-clipped (16s net to the lower front flap).

The twenty-eighth Nero Wolfe novel. First published in America by The Viking Press, the novel sparked controversy for its critical portrayal of the FBI. The reaction reflected a broader shift in American public opinion during the 1960s, as confidence in the Bureau declined. This erosion of trust was shaped by several factors, including Robert F. Kennedy's repeated clashes with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Hoover's outspoken criticism of Martin Luther King Jr., and investigative journalist Fred J. Cook's exposé The FBI Nobody Knows (1964), which directly inspired The Doorbell Rang. (Hubin).