Margaret Scherf

The Green Plaid Pants (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) Margaret Scherf

Why does everyone suddenly want to get their hands on Bonnie Prince Charlie's trousers?

Emily Bryce was complaining that life had been a bit dull since she and Henry got married. That was before she went to England on a decorating job and brought back to New York not only an entire eccentric (is there any other kind?) English family but a pair of Bonnie Prince Charlie's green plaid trousers. The pants weren't much to look at, but it seemed like just about everyone wanted to snatch them away from Emily.

As an historical rarity the pants weren't particularly valuable and probably not even genuine. Emily was quite puzzled by all the fuss and decided the pants no doubt concealed a fortune. All her probing, however, yielded little more than some dubious royal lint. The cops didn't seemed too concerned about the pants. They were far more interested in how one of the Brits met an untimely death at the edge of a sword. Since the victim didn't know anyone in the United States, it seemed likely that the swordsman was a member of the entourage from England. And somehow those multi-colored pants of Charlie's seemed linked to his death.

Emily does a bit of unorthodox sleuthing and gets knocked on the head for her trouble while Henry is nearly poisoned. Then the last person in the world you'd suspect pulls a gun on our heroes. It all adds up to another sparkling comedy of misnames by one of the funniest mystery writers of the twentieth century.

The Green Plaid Pants was first published in 1951 and was the second book to feature Emily and Henry Bryce. The first, The Gun in Daniel Webster's Bust, was reprinted by The Rue Morgue Press in 2004. The other two Bryce books are scheduled to be reprinted as well.