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."

Nero Wolfe must track down a killer who murders his victims only during holidays and who, so far, has left Wolfe with four puzzling cases to unravel.

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. After a million-dollar contest judge is murdered and his contest answers stolen, Nero Wolfe and right-hand man Archie Goodwin take the case in an attempt to find the guilty party. As if the case wasn't difficult enough, the company that sponsored the contest...

When a renowned theater director senses something amiss during his latest production, he calls in Nero Wolfe. Though the corpulent genius wouldn't normally accept a job this vague, a mutual friend dangles the prospect of a very rare orchid in exchange for his services, and Wolfe can't resist. With a mind to suss out useful backstage gossip, Wolfe turns to his faithful assistant, Archie Goodwin, to impersonate a journalist in order to speak to the...

Trying to determine why his last two clients were ruthlessly murdered, Nero Wolfe wonders if the answer is linked to a young boy who turns up at his brownstone apartment and finds clues in a gray Cadillac, a mysterious woman, and spider-shaped earrings.

Nero Wolfe helps a pawn accused of murder at a private chess club. Can he checkmate the real killer?