Three at Wolfe's Door (Nero Wolfe)

The price was great, the quality superb and delivery prompt. This is one of the final pieces in completing my collection of Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout, and I was very happy to find it at such a good price.

Nero Wolfe leaves his home in each and every one of these stories - perhaps that's why A & E picked up "Poison A La Carte." Was it easier or cheaper to produce than "Too Many Cooks?" There are a lot of similarities - the Ten for Aristology stages a dinner at which a murder occurs. Wolfe has to defend Fritz's innocence - a very tricky set of circumstances. "Method Three for Murder" is not all that cryptic. When you're accused of something, there are three optionsL stand mute, tell the complete truth, or lie without embellishment. Remember: for methods one or two, you never have to remember what you said... "The Rodeo Murder" prefigures "Death of A Dude" (1969) in that Lily Rowan's extensive land in Montana is the base of operations for some cowboys with personality limitations. These are good stories, all, but you do sense that Stout's milking the cow pretty hard...

Three stories of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Three murders to solve, two meals, a taxi cab with a lady driver who isn't its owner and lots of cowfolk. The stories are all delightful to a Nero Wolfe fan and are all linked by a very rare event. In each story Mr. Wolfe leaves his house! True, sometimes there was a good meal involved, but it is still rare to see him outside his brownstone. He has also been known to leave it because of flower related affairs, but you know how he hates cars, thinks they're death traps. And he might be right.Anyway, if you are a fan, buy it. If you're not a fan, buy it anyway. Get three stories for the price of one and become a fan of the greatest detective of all time!

The cases herein occur in April 1958 and August-September of 1960."Poison a la Carte" - Adapted for A & E's 2nd Nero Wolfe season. Lewis Hewitt talked Wolfe into loaning Fritz to the Ten for Aristology for an evening - an elite group of gourmets who have a special dinner every April 1st, marking the birthday of Brillat-Savarin (Fritz keeps a bust of the great gastronomist in his room). Archie, attending as a friend of the cook and to keep an eye on Wolfe, passes the time by collecting the names and phone numbers of the twelve beautiful girls serving dinner (actresses hired for the occasion). But when someone serves poison to 'theatrical angel' Vincent Pyle, he of the nasty reputation for sexual harassment in the theater world, Wolfe's client is Fritz Brenner - for no fee, although he and his friends from Rusterman's who were assisting would be willing to ante up if Wolfe would let them - they take exception to being used as cat's-paws. Good story, but even Wolfe and Archie can't solve it by pure deduction - be prepared for a charade. :)"Method Three for Murder" - Archie has quit (or Wolfe has fired him) for effect in an argument about 30 - 40 times, but never in front of company. Archie's almost serious this time, when he stalks out of the brownstone after a post-dinner quarrel, only to find Mira Holt parked out front with a cab containing only the murdered body of Phoebe Arden. Mira borrowed the cab from its real driver, Judith Bram, and came to hire Wolfe for help after finding the victim. Archie takes her on. After the cops show up, Wolfe stomps out to the front step to find out what's going on, and Archie takes Wolfe on as a partner. :) The title refers to Archie's advice to Mira that there are 3 methods for coping with police questions: 1) stand mute, 2) the complete unvarnished truth, or 3) a simple basic lie with no trimmings. Very good story, and the puzzle gives the reader a fair chance."The Rodeo Murder" - Some of the characters later reappear in _Death of a Dude_, working at the Bar JR (Lily's ranch in Montana). She's throwing a party in her penthouse for various competitors in the World Series Rodeo (being held at Madison Square Garden), and since she's serving blue grouse cooked by Felix of Rusterman's, Archie persuades Wolfe to accept an invitation. When one of the few other guests who isn't a cowboy or cowgirl - rodeo promoter Wade Eisler - is found murdered via lasso, Lily takes exception to the violation of hospitality and engages Wolfe to catch the killer. Unfortunately, Eisler had a caveman approach to women and was dumb enough to apply it even to girls who were crack shots and could catch and rope struggling calves, so nobody else is terribly eager to see the killer caught.