Strega vs The doorbell rang: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: New york, Private investigators, Mystery, Fiction
Strega
More
Andrew Vachss's implacable private eye has a new client, Strega. She wants Burke to find an obscene photograph--and that search will take him into the ocean that flows just beneath the city, an ocean whose currents are…
The doorbell rang
More
There’s no one and nothing the great detective Nero Wolfe wouldn’t take on if the price was right. That’s something wealthy society widow Rachel Bruner is counting on when she writes him a check for a whopping hundred…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The doorbell rang is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 5 for Strega.
- The doorbell rang has the widest readership — 7928 ratings behind its score.
- Strega runs the darker storyline; The doorbell rang stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Strega | The doorbell rang | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (2887) | 4.2 (7928) |
| Hardcover | 4.1 (7) | 4.3 (16) |
| Apple Books | 5.0 (9) | 4.5 (128) |
Reception
| Strega | The doorbell rang | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 2887 | 7928 |
| Editions | 14 | 27 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 706 | 1648 |
| Reading it now | 30 | 467 |
| Written reviews | 120 | 466 |
| Wikipedia attention | 179 | 367 |
| Pages | 293 | 178 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Strega or The doorbell rang?
The doorbell rang has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The doorbell rang 4.2/5, Strega 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: Strega or The doorbell rang?
The doorbell rang is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The doorbell rang (178 pages, ≈ 3 h 18 m); Strega (293 pages, ≈ 5 h 26 m).
Which is harder to read: Strega or The doorbell rang?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Strega: Moderate; The doorbell rang: Challenging.