The Battered Badge, Paperback

Lester Pierce, the head of a good government group often critical of the police department, is gunned down. The murder ignites a firestorm of political controversy, with newspapers demanding that the killer be brought to justice, and top brass using it as an excuse to restructure the department.

One of the first to go is Inspector Lionel Cramer, longtime head of the Homicide Squad, and a reluctant ally to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. He's replaced by Captain George Rowcliff, a good enough cop who isn't suited for the role--someone Wolfe and Archie aren't too keen on working with. The situation is only complicated when it's discovered Cramer was recently spotted dining with a reputed mafioso.

Although Wolfe is generally content to let the situation sort itself out, he and Archie are slowly sucked into the investigation, looking at Pierce's family, friends, and mistress, until finally Cramer and Wolfe end up working together.

Though the denouements of the Wolfe novels famously take place in his brownstone, this book moves the final act to Centre Street, giving Cramer an opportunity in the spotlight, and putting an interesting spin on the formula.