Three cases bring perplexing challenges to Nero Wolfe, as a man unsuccessfully attempts suicide just before he is killed, a murder victim's family hides the identity of the killer, and a horticulturist discovers his girlfriend's body. Reissue.
Three Doors to Death: Nero Wolfe Series, Book 17
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By Alison S. Coad
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Three Doors to Death", by Rex Stout, is another compilation of three Nero Wolfe novellas, including "Man Alive" (1947), "Omit Flowers" (1948) and "Door to Death" (1949). The first concerns a young fashion designer whose uncle apparently kills himself but then turns up in disguise, only to be murdered; the second is a classic locked-room type mystery centering on a family whose patriarch has been stabbed to death in a house containing only family members and a former serious chef whom, of course, is blamed and who Nero Wolfe is certain did not do it; and the final story has Wolfe out of his comfort zone, having traveled to Westchester County in order to poach a good orchid man from a wealthy businessman - when death intervenes, it is in his own interests to clear the man of the crime. All three are tightly written and to the point; the last one was familiar to me from the "Nero Wolfe" television series, which is fresh enough in my memory that I could compare the filmed version to the original (there was very little variation, which speaks well for the television people). Again, not essential Nero Wolfe, but if you like the detective and/or his sidekick Archie Goodwin, these are good way to while away an afternoon - recommended!
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I cannot stop reading this book! The charactures are so vivid and real that I feel as though I am really there. Read this book!
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This edition boasts "As Seen on TV!" on the cover, alluding to the fact that one (as of the 2nd season) of the 3 stories herein has been adapted by A&E. The introduction is provided by Jonathan Kellerman, but otherwise the book is pure Stout. Archie provides a rare forward, having noticed that Wolfe got a fee in only 1 of the 3 cases herein, to head off any funny ideas that might turn into a nuisance. :)
"Man Alive" - Cynthia Nieder, a young model getting hands-on experience as a fashion designer, not only inherited her uncle's half of Daumery & Nieder upon his death, but can supply the creative talent that was his contribution to the business. (Jean Daumery supplied the nuts-and-bolts business talent needed.) Cynthia wasn't surprised that uncle Paul killed himself within a week of Helen Daumery's death in a riding accident, since he'd been in love with her. (Although jumping naked into a geyser is an unusual method...)
That is, she wasn't surprised until she saw him in disguise a week ago in the audience at Daumery & Nieder's fall show, a few weeks after his partner Daumery's death in a boating accident. Did she really see him? Is the business as solvent as the creative side of the house thought it was? Who is trying to befuddle whom here?
"Omit Flowers" - Marko Vukcic, Wolfe's best friend, asks Wolfe to investigate the death of Floyd Whitten, who married the wealthy widow of the founder of the AMBROSIA fast-food chain, but not because of any care for the victim. Virgil Pompa, a once great chef forfeited any claim to professional respect when he took a high paying job in AMBROSIA administration, was once 'the best sauce man in France', and Marko owes him a lot. More, he knows Pompa well, and won't see him tried for a murder he didn't commit.
"Door to Death" - I recommend A&E's excellent, faithful adaptation with Maury Chaykin as Wolfe. Wolfe hardly ever leaves the brownstone, but a crisis has arisen: Theodore, the orchid nurse (as Archie calls him) is on an indefinite leave of absence due to his mother's critical illness. Not that Wolfe is worrying about old Mrs. Horstmann - with Theodore away, he can't just relax with the plants for a few hours a day; he has to *work*, and he's not a pro like Theodore.
Wolfe trudges all the way to Westchester with Archie, to tempt Andy Krasicki away from Mr. Joseph Pitcairn's orchids and into the brownstone for the duration. Andy is willing, and Wolfe, while happy to have his problem solved and to receive a tour of Mr. Pitcairn's orchids (as grown by Andy), might just as well have waited at home for a reply to his letter. But during the tour, they find Dani Lauer, Mrs. Pitcairn's nurse, dead under one of the orchid benches - apparently knocked out, then left to die during the previous night's fumigation. Wolfe sets to work to get his stand-in orchid tender out from under.
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