Clayton Rawson

About The Author

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 (1938). Rawson followed the character through three more novels, concluding the series with No Coffin for the Corpse (1942). In 1941 and 1943 he published the short-story collections Death out of Thin Air and Death from Nowhere, starring Don Diavolo, an escape artist introduced in the Merlini series.

Books by Clayton Rawson

Footprints on the Ceiling
By Clayton Rawson
Introduction by Tom Mead
A sleuthing magician investigates an allegedly haunted house on an island off Manhattan—and uncovers a murder.
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Death from a Top Hat

A Great Merlini Mystery

By Clayton Rawson
Introduction by Otto Penzler
A detective steeped in the art of magic solves the mystifying murder of two occultists.
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