Clayton Rawson
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Series
Language
English
Description
Trapped in a dead man's office, Don Diavolo plans his greatest escape. This collection brings together two adventures with Don Diavolo, the Scarlet Wizard. The first opens in his machinist's workshop, where Diavolo perfects his newest feat: the Escape from the Double Crystal Water Casket. The men lurking outside have no interest in the magician's secrets; they are detectives, tailing him on behalf of the police inspector. Giving them the slip is no...
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English
Description
Two tall tales of mystery, the occult, and death-defying escapes The women of London have taken to wearing thin black bands around their necks. Is it a fashion accessory-or a stylish way of hiding bite marks? A string of strange deaths has struck the town, and witnesses claim to have seen a vampire bat fleeing the scene. The London police can rest easy, for the vampire has left for New York. He makes his first appearance in a Broadway dressing room,...
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Series
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English
Description
A circus owner's murder produces a roster of bizarre suspects Summer heat is choking New York, and the Great Merlini-conjurer, sleuth, and godson of P. T. Barnum-offers his friend Ross Harte a chance to get out of town. Before they can depart for the annual convention of the Society of American Magicians, a nervous woman enters Merlini's shop, begging to purchase his most popular illusion: the headless lady. When the magician refuses to sell his last...
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English
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Description
"Merlini's mastery of misdirection enables him to assist his friend with the NYPD, Insp. Homer Gavigan, who has two bizarre murder cases to solve. In one, anthropologist Cesare Sabbat was found on a pentagram in a locked room all of whose keyholes were stuffed with cloth on the inside. Around the pentagram were written the names of various deities and demons, including that of Surgat, 'who opens all locks.' The second case is quite similar. Rawson...
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English
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A murdered blackmailer haunts a captain of industry When Ross Harte gets into a screaming match with his fiancée's father, millionaire Dudley Wolff, the old man cuts Harte's beloved out of his will. As far as Wolff is concerned, this is an empty threat, because he plans to live forever. He has a team of scientists working to extend his life as long as possible, and should they fail, a renowned psychic will contact him after his death. Wolff is obsessed...
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English
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Description
A dozen compact puzzles from a master of the locked-room mystery The Great Merlini waits impatiently at the door of the Hotel Astor. Inspector Church is late for his meeting with the famed magician, with whom he consults when homicide cases venture outside the realm of the possible. A ventriloquist has attempted suicide in the wake of his wife's mysterious strangulation. Among the suspects are a snake charmer, a nine-foot giant, a tattooed man, and...
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English
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Description
Investigating a haunted house, Merlini finds a fresh murder "Wanted To Rent: Haunted House, preferably in rundown condition. Must be adequately supplied with interesting ghost." Ross Harte knows that only the Great Merlini could be behind such a strange classified ad. A magician, salesman, and occasional sleuth, Merlini is producing radio investigations of paranormal activity, and he needs ghosts to put on-air. His first target is Skelton Island,...
Publisher
Penzler Publishers
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
"For devotees of the Golden Age mystery, the impossible crime story represents the period's purest form: it presents the reader with a baffling scenario (a corpse discovered in a windowless room locked from the inside, perhaps), lays out a set of increasingly confounding clues, and swiftly delivers an ingenious and satisfying solution. During the years between the two world wars, the best writers in the genre strove to outdo one another with unfathomable...