Glass on the Stairs [Paperback]

Margaret Scherf (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 159 pages
• Publisher: Rue Morgue Press (March 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915230909
• ISBN-13: 978-0915230907
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,024,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Originally written in 1954, February 26, 2007

By 

Lundie62 (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glass on the Stairs (Paperback)

This is a very well written, light reading mystery. This book was very enjoyable to read. Henry and Emily have the most interesting/colorful neighbors. This book features a married couple, Henry and Emily Bryce. Without even trying, end up in the middle of a murder mystery. Link Simpson a good friend of Henry and Emily, who runs a gun and antique shop. Has a hysterical customer commit suicide with one of Link's guns. Or so the police thought.
If you enjoy a good mystery with a side of laughter, you will enjoy this book.

11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Margaret Sherf's idea of great mystery writing consisted of entertaining people and keeping it light, April 2, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glass on the Stairs (Paperback)

Born in 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia, Margaret Scherf's father was a high school teacher. The family eventually moved to Montana, and Scherf graduated from high school in Cascade, Montana (which sounds lovely) and went on to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She left college before graduation to take a job as an editorial assistant with the Robert M. McBride publishing company in New York. She spent much of her life traveling, and also held positions as a secretary and copywriter before quitting to become a full-time writer. During World War II she took a job as Secretary to the Naval Inspector at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Brooklyn. She eventually returned to Montana and married at age 57, and was elected the same year as a Democrat of the Montana State Legislature.

Mrs. Otis Carver apparently shot herself in Link Simpson's gun shop after he had run up to Henry and Emily Bryce's apartment for help, as Madge was a decidedly depressed person. Her husband, Otis, didn't seem to grieve as he should, and then there was the matter of Lucille Marsh. Lucille was an "actress" being directed by Otis, and his caustic sarcasm forced her to collapse during a performance. Or did it. It is up to Henry and Emily to sort out the murder, based on their only evidence...a pink glove found in Link's shop after an apparent burglary:

"Henry didn't say anything, and Emily dialed Hilda's beauty shop across the avenue. 'Did you leave a pink cotton glove over here, Hilda?' Emily inquired. Hilda evidently said no, and Emily went on. 'I knew you didn't. They were the burglar's, but Henry hates to admit it because it was my idea.' Link came in as this conversation ended, and he had to be shown the glove and the invisible marks on the stairway. 'I don't want to make light of your interesting deductions, Emily,' he said, 'But I find the idea of a burglar in pink gloves a trifle bizarre.'"

Margaret Sherf's idea of great mystery writing consisted of entertaining people and keeping it light. She did this to perfection. The interaction between Emily (an gifted artist who dabbles as people eagerly wait for her projects to come to fruition) and husband Henry are hilarious and intentionally disjointed. Scherf wrote original, witty, and engrossing tales.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer