"All three are ingenious and colorful, with as much plot-interest as a full-length mystery."

Poison a la Carte:
"Confound it, Felix! I have avowed my responsibility. I have apologized. Are you here for the gloomy satisfaction of reproaching me?" (p. 58)

Method Three for Murder: [Mr. Kearns, an irate visitor :]"'I demand an explanation! I intend to hold you to account for alienating the affection of my wife.'
'Affections,' Wolfe said.
'What?'
'Affections. In that context the plural is used.' He lifted the glass and drank, and licked his lips.
Kearns stared at him. 'I didn't come here,' he said, 'to have my grammar corrected.'
'Not grammar. Diction.'" (p. 118)

Rodeo Murder: "I have nothing to contribute to this frolic." (p. 156)

Poison a la Carte: Opens with Archie's hilarious attempt to collect the phone numbers of twelve professional actresses dressed in stolas, while Fritz Brenner prepares this year's banquet for the Ten for Aristology. We hear about this famed group of gastronomes here for the first time. A good mystery.

Method Three for Murder: Wonderful Wolfe-Archie polemics -- opens with Archie storming out of the house after quitting, and running into would-be cab driver Mira Holt on the threshold. The following exchange noted above, between Wolfe and a client, is one of my all-time favorites.

Rodeo Murder: Also known as The Penthouse Murder. Opens up at Lily Rowan's penthouse suite, where a host of Western caricatures are about to compete in a New York-style rodeo. Wolfe has been lured out of his retreat by the promise of endangered, protected birds, casually slaughtered at Ms. Rowan's orders. Not one of my favorite stories, mostly because of the cowboy characters.