Glass on the Stairs

If you really ant to commit the perfect murder; you probably shouldn't do it directly below Henry and Emily Bryce. Mrs. Otis Carver walked into Link Simpson's gun and antique shop one hot August morning and shot herself. At least that's what everybody thought. Those delightfully mad interior-decorator sleuths -- the Bryces -- were upstairs conferring with Link about the legality of selling guns to hysterical women without permits when they heard the shot. When they got downstairs, Mrs. Carver was dead. Link's lawyer suggested suicide because Mrs. Carver was so unattractive. The Bryces had their hearts set on murder. By the time they had uncovered a pink glove, poisoned toothpaste, glass on the stairs, and several motives -- including a luscious TV actress who was an intimate friend of Mr. Carver -- the plot had thickened considerably. And the Bryces were happily off on one of the zaniest cases in the history of homicide. Glass on the Stairs was first published in 1954 and is the third of the four mysteries featuring the Bryces to be printed by The Rue Morgue Press. The Gun in Daniel Webster's Bust and The Green Plaid Pants were warmly welcomed by today's critics.