A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America&#8217;s greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of fiction&#8217;s greatest detectives. Here, in Stout&#8217;s first two complete Wolfe mysteries, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth and his trusty man-about-town Archie Goodwin solve their most baffling cases.<br><br><b>Fer-de-lance<br></b>The fer-de-lance is among the most deadly snakes known to man. When someone makes a present of one to Nero Wolfe, his partner, Archie Goodwin, suspects it means Wolfe is getting close to solving the devilishly clever murders of an immigrant and a college president. But this is a case with more twists than an angry rattler...and if Wolfe doesn&#8217;t handle it with extreme care, he&#8217;ll be the next one struck by a killer with poison in his heart.<br><br><b>The League of Frightened Men<br></b>Paul Chapin&#8217;s Harvard cronies never forgave themselves for the hazing prank that left their friend a cripple. Yet they believed that Paul himself had forgiven them&#8212;until a class reunion ends in death and a series of poems promising more of the same. Now this league of frightened men is desperate for Nero Wolfe&#8217;s help. But can even the great detective outwit a killer smart enough to commit an unseen murder&#8230;in plain sight?