Character details
- First Name
- Lily
- Last Name
- Rowan
- Notes
- Attractive blonde. Daughter of millionaire sewer man James Rowan, owns the Bar JR ranch in Montana.
- Reserved Notes
-
Becomes Archie's romantic partner.
Character cases:
Ch. 1 - witnesses Archie and Wolfe evasion and rescue from the aggressive bull they encountered in Thomas Pratt's field. She names Archie "Escamillo" for his efforts.
Ch. 2 - drops by the Pratt ranch with Caroline and Clyde Osgood and Mr. Bronson, after attending the exposition. Exchanges pleasantries with Jimmy Pratt who seems to be infatuated with her.
Ch. 4 - keeps Archie company in the field guarding Caesar.
Ch. 6 - meets Archie for lunch (insists he order Mrs. Miller's chicken fricassee and dumplings) at the Exposition; Lily explains her aversion to marriage and her past romantic entanglement with Clyde Osgood, including his sister's (Nancy) hatred of her. She expresses disappointment when Archie is called away by Wolfe on business.
Ch. 11 - loans Archie her camera.
Ch. 14 - shows up at Wolfe's orchid exhibit and requests he give her an orchid (Wolfe agrees to do so after the judging).
Ch. 17 - visit Archie in jail, hoping she can help make him more comfortable during his imprisonment (Archie asks only that she call Wolfe later at midnight with nonsense to annoy him).
Ch. 20 - agrees to work with Wolfe and Archie to pin a murder on a man Archie assures her is guilty.
Reserved notes for this caseCh. 4 - present with Archie when he discovers Clyde Osgood's corpse in the field.
Mentioned.
Reserved notes for this case
Suspected of murdering Ann Amory.
Reserved notes for this caseShe arranged for Archie to help her friend Ann Amory as a means of seeing him and spending time with him because Archie would not return her telegrams or phone calls. When she saw Archie and Ann holding hands at the Flamingo, she was incensed. She only told Archie that Ann was murdered so he would open the door and let her in.
Agrees to help Archie and Pete Roeder meet by pretending to be romantically involved with Roeder for all potential Zeck informants.
Roeder and Goodwin meet in Lily's apartment where Roeder is supposedly having a good time with Lily.continues to have a smallish part in story afterwards.
Reserved notes for this caseQuickly deduces that Roeder is Nero Wolfe.
Enjoys the distinction of being the only woman in New York to have necked with Nero Wolfe ("He has a flair"). Travels to Norway with Archie once the case is concluded.
Archie knows Gifford James by sight because "I have occasionally let Lily Rowan share her pair of opera seats with me."
Reserved notes for this case
Prepared dinner for Archie Goodwin then went to a show and dancing at the Flamingo.
Reserved notes for this case
She introduced Archie to goat's milk.
mentioned a few times.
Reserved notes for this case
Archie's weekend with Lily is cancelled when Wolfe sends Archie to investigate Huck.
Reserved notes for this case
When Archie telephoned her to cancel their date at the Polo Grounds, "she began to call Wolfe names, and thought of several new ones that showed her wide experience and fine feeling for words." Otherwise she is barely mentioned.
Reserved notes for this case
Mentioned in comparison to Alice Hart. Owns a Van Gogh.
Reserved notes for this case
A disagreement between Lily and Archie leads to her phoning the brownstone all night, which leads to a quarrel between Wolfe and Archie just before the case opens. The atmosphere is the reason they took the case. Hardly mentioned at all.
Reserved notes for this case
Mentioned.
Reserved notes for this case
Mentioned. A Gallant customer, who (upon request) provided some background for Archie.
Reserved notes for this case
Archie spent Saturday, May 6, 1959 and Sunday, May 7, 1959
with Lily at her place in Katonah, N.Y.
Reserved notes for this case
Rodeo party hostess, engages Wolfe to clear up the murder. The perfume-squirting incident that Archie refers to in passing occurred in _In the Best Families_.
Reserved notes for this caseBet Archie a sawbuck that Wolfe wouldn't stay for coffee.
She arranged for Susan to get her job with Carl, Archie having passed Susan along.
Reserved notes for this casePhones Archie after Susan asks her for a lawyer.
The day after the discovery of Isabel's body, Archie attends a poetry reading / Sunday luncheon at Lily's.
Reserved notes for this case
Attends a Mets-Giants game with Archie, who sees her at least once or twice a week and has a key to her penthouse. Introduces him to Amy Denovo.
Reserved notes for this case
She and Archie alibi each other. She won't hear of Wolfe staying at a hotel when the mountain comes to Mohammed.
Reserved notes for this case
Mentioned.
Reserved notes for this case
She invited Archie up to her place in the city and to 'The Glade' in Westchester.
Reserved notes for this case
Character quotations:
Culture: Escamillo
Escamillo is a character in the opera "Carmen" by Bizet. He was the toreador (a kind of bullfighter) for whom Carmen left Don Jose.
Lily gave Archie this sobriquet as a facetious acknowledgement of his prowess in escaping from the aggressive bull present in the field Archie and Wolfe entered as they sought help after their car accident.