And Four to Go

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And Four to Go
Author Rex Stout
Cover artist Bill English
Country United States
Language English
Series Nero Wolfe
Genre(s) Detective fiction
Publisher Viking Press
Publication date February 14, 1958
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 190 pp (first edition)
ISBN NA
Preceded by If Death Ever Slept
Followed by Champagne for One


And Four to Go (British title Crime and Again) is a collection of Nero Wolfe mystery novellas by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1958. The book comprises four stories — three appearing previously in periodicals, and one making its debut in print:

  • "Christmas Party" (Collier's, January 4, 1957, as "The Christmas Party Murder")
  • "Easter Parade" (Look, April 16, 1957, as "The Easter Parade Murder")
  • "Fourth of July Picnic" (Look, July 9, 1957, as "The Labor Union Murder")
  • "Murder Is No Joke," later expanded as "Frame-Up for Murder" and serialized in three issues of The Saturday Evening Post (June 21–July 5, 1958)


Contents

[edit] Christmas Party

Archie goes to a holiday gathering where the hosts toasts the season with a poisoned glass of Pernod.

[edit] Easter Parade

When Wolfe sends him to photograph the uniquely colored orchid that will be worn in the Easter Parade, Archie snaps a murder scene.

[edit] Fourth of July Picnic

One of a set of fine knives is put to use at a restaurant workers union picnic where Wolfe has agreed to speak. The story is notable for the autobiographical sketches Wolfe and Archie share with the principal suspects gathered at Saul Panzer's apartment.

[edit] Murder Is No Joke

The sister of a fashionable designer asks Wolfe to ascertain what mysterious hold a woman from her brother's past has over him. When she arranges for Wolfe to speak to the woman by telephone, he and Archie hear a murder on the other end of the line.

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] A Nero Wolfe Mystery (A&E Network)

"Christmas Party" was adapted for the first season of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002). Directed by Holly Dale from a teleplay by Sharon Elizabeth Doyle, the episode made its debut July 1, 2001, on A&E.

Timothy Hutton is Archie Goodwin; distinguished character actor Maury Chaykin is Nero Wolfe. Other members of the cast (in credits order) include Bill Smitrovich (Inspector Cramer), Colin Fox (Fritz Brenner), Kari Matchett (Lily Rowan), Francie Swift (Margot Dickey), Conrad Dunn (Saul Panzer), M.J. Kang (Cherry Quon), David Schurmann (Alfred Kiernan), Richard Waugh (Emil Hatch), Jodi Racicot (Leo Jerome), Nicky Guadagni (Mrs. Perry Porter Jerome), Robert Bockstael (Kurt Bottweil) and R.D. Reid (Sergeant Purley Stebbins).

In international broadcasts, the episodes "Door to Death" and "Christmas Party" are linked and expanded into a 90-minute widescreen telefilm titled "Wolfe Goes Out."[1]

A Nero Wolfe Mystery is available on DVD from A&E Home Video. ISBN 076708893X

[edit] Nero Wolfe (CBC Radio)

"Murder is No Joke" was adapted as the final episode of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's 13-part radio series Nero Wolfe (1982), starring Mavor Moore as Nero Wolfe and Don Francks as Archie Goodwin. Written by Ron Hartmann, the hour-long adaptation aired on CBC Stereo April 10, 1982.

[edit] External links

[edit] Release details

  • 1999, Canada, Durkin Hayes Publishing, DH Audio ISBN 1552046273 December 1999, audio cassette ("Christmas Party" unabridged, read by Saul Rubinek)
  • 1997, USA, Books on Tape, Inc. ISBN 0736640592 October 31, 1997, audio cassette (unabridged, read by Michael Prichard)
  • 1992, USA, Bantam Crimeline ISBN 0553249851 November 1, 1992, paperback

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sky Movies (UK) summary retrieved October 4, 2007; run length of "Wolfe Goes Out" is recorded as 90 minutes. Program listings for Sunday, November 7, 2004, broadcast on Sky Movies 2 records broadcast as widescreen format.


v • d • e
Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout
Novels
Short story collections