Nero Wolfe mysteries

A case of multiple murder sends super sleuth Nero Wolfe and his quick-witted legman Archie Goodwin on a desperate hunt for clues, but they soon discover that they may be getting too close to a killer when someone sends them a fer-de-lance, one of the world's most poisonous snakes, as a deadly "gift."

In all his years of detecting, the unflappable Nero Wolfe has never encountered an investigation as damnably messy as this one. For what began as a clean case of larceny quickly sank into a quagmire of blackmail and broken promises, international scandal and cold-blooded murder. Now Wolfe and his assistant, Archie Goodwin must bridge eras and oceans to find the link between a Wild West lynching and a respected British peer. Only then can they save...

As Nero Wolfe prepares to speak at a gathering of the world’s great chefs, one is found indelicately murdered. When the target for killing shifts to himself, the great detective must close this case quickly or his next meal may be his last.
World-class cuisine, charming company . . . The secret ingredient is poison.
Everyone knows that too many cooks spoil the broth, but you'd hardly expect it to lead to murder. But that's...

When a fencing student ends up skewered through the heart, a Balkan beauty claiming to be Nero Wolfe's daughter is accused of the crime, and Wolfe and Archie are thrust into a tangle of international intrigue.

Nero Wolfe has left his comfortable brownstone for the promise of a remarkably rare black orchid at a flower show—but before Wolfe and his perennially hardy sidekick, Archie Goodwin, have a chance to stop and smell the roses, a diabolically daring murder takes place right under their noses and puts a blight on the proceedings. Now Wolfe's fancy turns to thoughts of weeding out a murderer—one who's definitely not a garden-variety killer....

Originally published in 1946, The Silent Speaker unfolds yet another mystery starring the vainglorious detective Nero Wolfe and his quick-thinking assistant Archie Goodwin. When Cheney Boone, the Director of the Bureau of Price Regulation, is murdered with a monkey wrench just minutes before he presents a speech at a National Industrial Association dinner, the Association hires Nero Wolfe to solve the troubling murder mystery.

Radio talk show host Madeline Fraser's worst nightmare comes true when one of her on-air guests collapses at the mike after drinking a glass of the sponsor's beverage.

Nero and Archie collide with America's most dangerous man. If they don't run and hide, the man may have their hides.

When a contestant is killed during the final round of the Pour Amour perfume contest, Nero Wolfe must find the person who stole the recipe to the dead contestant's perfume in order to solve the crime.

Murder lurks in the wings of the sprawling Fifth Avenue penthouse of multimillionaire Otis Jarrell, who has just retained Nero Wolfe on a case of the utmost confidentiality. But even the master detective cannot prevent tragedy when it inevitably arrives wielding Jarrell's missing revolver. Soon a second victim dies, and Wolfe must piece together the truth behind Jarrell's scandalously ill-behaved family.

Detective Nero Wolfe suspects that the death of Faith Usher, a woman who talked often of taking her life, was in fact murder, and he is more determined that ever to investigate after being warned by four men not to take the case.

Detective genius Nero Wolfe and his assistant, Archie Goodwin, are private investigators based in New York. With Wolfe's unmatchable wits and Archie's tireless legwork, no mystery is unsolvable. In this installment, Wolfe must prove the innocence of colleague Orrie Cather who is being charged with the murder of Isabel Kerr. As Archie deals with a colorful cast of characters, including Isabel's sister, brother-in-law, and benefactor, Wolfe uses mathematics...

What could make Nero Wolfe so determined to solve a crime that he would be willing to work entirely without fee or client? What would it take to put him, for the first time, at a loss for words? What would make him so angry about a case that he would refuse to speak to the police, even if he has to spend fifty-one hours in jail as a result? Never before in the Nero Wolfe books has Rex Stout shown us the extremes to which the greatest detective in...

"Two years after Wolfe's retirement, his past returns with deadly intent. It wasn't Nero Wolfe's idea for Orrie Cather to kill himself, but the great detective gave his blessing to his longtime associate's plan. Cather had killed three people, and it was only fair to pay the price. Though Wolfe reacted to Cather's death with his characteristic calmness, prize assistant Archie Goodwin could see the rotund genius of West Thirty-Fifth Street was shaken...

When a great thinker takes a nasty tumble, Nero Wolfe goes back to schoo. A conservative academic, so far to the right that he thought Ronald Reagan was a pinko, Hale Markham rules Prescott University like an intellectual tyrant---until the morning he is found dead at the bottom of one of Prescott's famously beautiful ravines. Every liberal on campus hated the crotchety old crank, but which one is responsible for giving Markham his final push to the...

Wolfe investigates a sticky matter of Cola Wars espionage For the men of Madison Avenue, the battle between soft drink giants Cherr-o-key and AmeriCherry seems heaven-sent. For years now, the firm of Mills/Lake/Ryman has fought to help Cherr-o-key become the nation's favorite fizzy cherry soda, but each time they come up with a new slogan, mascot, or jingle, AmeriCherry has beaten them to it. There is a mole inside the agency, and only Nero Wolfe...

Follow along into Wolfe's famed West Thirty-fifth Street brownstone, where the detective genius devours meals, books, and murderers with a passion--and where this time he gets the chance to send a writer's killer to the pen.

"Archie Goodwin and Saul Panzer have ventured into the wilds of northern Manhattan to watch the Giants take on the Dodgers at the Polo Grounds. Panzer spies state senator Orson Milbank, a silver-haired scoundrel with enemies in every corner of upstate New York, sitting in the box seats. In the fourth inning, a monstrous line drive brings every fan in the grandstand to his feet -- every fan save for one silver-haired senator, who has been shot dead...

"When wealthy and popular crusader and reformer Lester Pierce is gunned down in front of his Park Avenue residence, the public outcry forces the NYPD to restructure its homicide department. As the deceased was highly critical of Inspector Lionel Cramer, the longtime head of homicide is temporarily relieved of his badge. But it seems Cramer was not just a scapegoat: He was seen dining in Little Italy with mob kingpin Ralph Mars ... Despite the burgeoning...

"Archie Goodwin's aunt Edna is about to lure him away from his work at Nero Wolfe's New York brownstone. After a phone call, he heads off to Ohio, where the president of Farmer's State Bank and Trust, an elderly widower, has died in an apparent suicide. But Archie's aunt has expressed nagging suspicions--which only grow stronger when someone takes a shot at a local reporter who wrote about the case. It wouldn't be a small town without some gossip,...

"Archie Goodwin's very good friend, Lily Rowan, spends much of her time--and considerable financial resources--helping women in need, from underpaid workers to mistreated wives. But at the moment she's particularly concerned about one woman: her best friend, Maureen, a beautiful socialite who's been incommunicado for two weeks. After Archie helps Lily comb through Maureen's deserted Park Avenue penthouse, and Lily contacts each of her friend's well-heeled...