Rex Stout's eleventh collection of Nero Wolfe novellas, published in 1960.
"Poison à la Carte" opens the collection, as Lewis Hewitt invites Wolfe to the annual dinner of the Ten for Aristology, a group celebrating fine dining, with Fritz Brenner cooking the meal. However, one of the Ten, Vincent Pyle, succumbs to arsenic poisoning during the meal, humiliating Fritz and enraging Wolfe. Investigation quickly reveals that one of five women who served the Ten must have poisoned Pyle's first dish, but with no clues as to which, Wolfe must rely on the help of Zoltan Mahany, of Rusterman's Restaurant and present at the dinner, to set a trap for the murderer.
"Method Three for Murder" sees Archie finally driven to the limit and walking out on Nero Wolfe - just as Mira Holt walks up the seven steps, having driven there in a taxi with a dead body in the seat behind her. Archie takes on Mira as a client and, at Wolfe's urging, hires Wolfe to assist him; as the two mend fences, they investigate a love triangle that resulted not only in a body in the back seat but a police officer discovering it.
Lastly, in "The Rodeo Murder," Lily Rowan has set up a roping contest in her luxury penthouse. Unfortunately for Cal Barrow, his rope has gone missing and he has to compete with a borrowed rope; even worse, he finds the rope wrapped around the neck of Wade Eisler, rodeo backer. As Wolfe finds himself in Lily's debt due to her serving of wild Montana grouse, he takes on the case, while Archie must deal with lie after lie and a cowgirl willing to kill to protect Cal.
A Nero Wolfe Mystery adapted "Poison à la Carte" during their second season.
Tropes in this work: (Tropes relating to the series as a whole, or to the characters in general can be found on Nero Wolfe and its subpages.)
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Carol Annis has "corn-silk hair" in the book, but is a brunette in the TV adaptation.
- Asshole Victim: Vincent Pyle in "Poison a la Carte". The story opens with him being unnecessarily snide about the food and the decorations, so we're not overly sorry when he comes down with a case of arsenic-in-the-caviar, but then it's revealed that he liked to pull the Casting Couch move on aspiring actresses and engaged in conduct that was at the very least Questionable Consent, if not outright rape. Wolfe vocally concedes that the killer has been "intolerably provoked" by him.
- Bluff the Impostor: Archie reveals Laura Jay's story that Wade Eisler tried to assault her in his home as a lie by asking about fictional statues and bird cages in Eisler's home. The trope applies because Eisler did try to assault one of the cowgirls in his home, but it was Nan Karlin, not Laura.
- Bluffing the Murderer: In "Poison a la Carte," Wolfe has Zoltan, one of the chefs from the dinner party, call all five suspects pretending to be a blackmailer. Helen Iacono and Lucy Morgan agree to meet him and then tell the District Attorney and Wolfe, respectively, intent on having him arrested. Peggy Choate and Nora Jaret call him a liar, but don't go to the police out of fear. Carol Annis agrees to meet Zoltan and tries to kill him during their meeting.
- Casting Couch: Pyle is a theatrical producer who isn't shy about making hopeful actresses come back to his apartment. Helen Iacono (who once stabbed him in the arm for trying to rape her) says that it's rumored that he only backs shows in the first place as an excuse to come into contact with desperate actresses.
- Clueless Mystery: There is nothing to distinguish between the five suspects who might have poisoned Vincent Pyle, so Wolfe has to set a trap for the culprit to reveal herself.
- Everyone Can See It: Gilbert Irving insists, and apparently has genuinely convinced himself, that he is merely a good and loyal friend of Mira Holt. The entire rest of the world can see otherwise. Including, as it turns out, his wife...
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Vincent Pyle annoys at least five of his fellow club members by insulting the floral arrangement that everyone else likes. The others aren't shy about gossiping about the many flops Pyle has produced. As Pyle is dying of poisoning a few rooms away, they are unaffected enough to compliment Fritz on the superb meal he prepared (although some of them aren't convinced Pyle is really dying at that point, and others may be displaying a Stiff Upper Lip).
- Have You Told Anyone Else?: When Laura Jay comes to the brownstone after Wade Eisler's murder, she asks if Archie has told anyone about the story she told Cal Barrow at the breakfast table (detailed under Bluff the Impostor). When Archie says no and turns to answer the telephone, she pulls out her gun to shoot him and is only stopped by Wolfe speaking from behind the peephole.
- It's Personal: In "Poison a la Carte", Wolfe is beyond enraged that someone would dare sully Fritz's cooking by poisoning it to commit murder.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Mrs. Irving murdered Phoebe Arden so that Mira Holt, mutually in love with her husband Gilbert, would hang for the crime.
- Questionable Consent: There is some ambiguity in "Poison a la Carte" over whether Vincent Pyle, who was fond of the Casting Couch move, was guilty of this trope towards Carol Annis or whether it was outright rape. At least one other woman reveals that he tried to force himself upon her after his advances were rejected, and Wolfe himself concedes that the woman in question had been "intolerably provoked" either way.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Since Laura believes Cal killed Wade Eisler, she gives serious thought to killing Archie so he can't tell anyone, confesses to the murder herself, and later tries to frame another suspect.
- Waiting for a Break: The suspects in "Poison a la Carte" are all young actresses who take a job as waitresses (dressed in Greek costumes) for a high-society dinner party.
