Kings full of aces : a Nero Wolfe omnibus
(Book)

TOO MANY COOKS: Originally published in 1938, this book follows the gourmand Nero Wolfe to a meeting of the greatest chefs in the world, where he is to be the honored dinner guest. This is a rare vacation for the corpulent sleuth - until a four-star killer serves up a side dish of murder. In order to solve the crime, Wolfe and Goodwin must deal with inept local law enforcement, recalcitrant witnesses, and Wolfe's fervent desire to get back to his orchids and his specially constructed brown leather chair.

PLOT IT YOURSELF: It's bad enough to steal someone's idea; but it takes real guts to claim it is your own, then sue the originator. That's just what a gang of hack writers do, ingeniously planting evidence to back up their claims. The frustrated authors call on Nero Wolfe for help. But when someone dies, Wolfe realizes it's no simple extortion scheme. He'll have to draw on his critical skills to close the book on a killer well-versed in the ABCs of murder.

TRIPLE JEOPARDY: Don't tempt Nero Wolfe to find the culprit. When foul play's the game, he always wins -- and in these three crime puzzles, the stakes are high. First, there's little nourishment for the detective when someone drops a poison pellet into a vitamin addict's pillbox. Then, a murdered policeman leaves a clue folded in a newspaper, and Wolfe has to read the fine print to decipher his killer's identity. And what do you do when a chimp is the only witness to a crime? This is no time for monkeyshines from the world's most celebrated armchair detective.