Death out of Thin Air

By Clayton Rawson

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, piercing the neck of a woman who had come to speak to Don Diavolo, magician and escape artist. The police suspect Diavolo of killing her, forcing him to catch the vampire or face the chair. For his next trick, Diavolo confronts the murder of a police detective who is found shot to death in a locked office, where the sole trace of the killer is a mocking voice on the telephone. Only Don Diavolo, the Scarlet Wizard, can prove how the gunman made his escape.

• Language: English
• Publisher: mysteriouspress.com
• Release date: Jul 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781786698353

Clayton Rawson

Clayton Rawson (1906–1971) was a novelist, editor, and magician. He is best known for creating the Great Merlini, an illusionist and amateur sleuth introduced in Death from a Top Hat, a rollicking crime novel which has been called one of the best locked-room mysteries of all time. Rawson was also among the founders of the Mystery Writers of America.