Door to Death


"Door to Death" is a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, first published in the June 1949 issue of The American Magazine. It first appeared in book form in the short-story collection Three Doors to Death, published by the Viking Press in 1950.

Plot summary

When orchid nurse Theodore Horstmann leaves the brownstone indefinitely to tend to his sick mother, Nero Wolfe goes out — in the snow and on foot — into the raging wilds of Westchester to find a replacement. He and Archie find a corpse in the greenhouse, as well.

Publication history

"Door to Death"

''A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (A&E Network)

"Door to Death" was adapted for the first season of the A&E TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Directed by Holly Dale from a teleplay by Sharon Elizabeth Doyle, the episode made its debut June 24, 2001, on A&E.
Timothy Hutton is Archie Goodwin; Maury Chaykin is Nero Wolfe. Other members of the cast are Colin Fox, James Tolkan, Marian Seldes, Kari Matchett, Nicholas Campbell, Beau Starr, Conrad Dunn, Ken Kramer, Kristin Booth, Christine Brubaker, Boyd Banks, Nancy Beatty and Francie Swift.
In addition to original music by Nero Wolfe composer Michael Small, the soundtrack includes music by Angel Villaldo and Tony Clout.
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".
A Nero Wolfe Mystery began to be released on Region 2 DVD in December 2009, marketed in the Netherlands by Just Entertainment. The :Image:Wolfe-NWM-Dutch-3.jpg|third collection released in April 2010 made the 90-minute features "Wolfe Goes Out" and "Wolfe Stays In" available on home video for the first time; until then, the linked episodes "Door to Death"/ "Christmas Party" and "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo"/"Disguise for Murder" were available only in the abbreviated form sold in North America by A&E Home Video. The A&E and Just Entertainment DVD releases present the episodes in 4:3 pan and scan rather than their aspect ratio for widescreen viewing.