Clayton Rawson

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,...

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...

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...

"Now retired from the tour circuit on which he made his name, master magician The Great Merlini spends his days running a magic shop in New York's Times Square and his nights moonlighting as a consultant for the NYPD. The cops call him when faced with crimes so impossible that they can only be comprehended by a magician's mind. In the most recent case, two occultists are discovered dead in locked rooms, one spread out on a pentagram, both appearing...