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Don Diavolo #2
Death from Nowhere
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 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 trouble, but it proves a mistake, for Diavolo is about to be implicated in a murder. Diavolo is blackjacked as soon as he walks through the circus owner’s door, awaking just in time to be found standing over the corpse. To prove his innocence, the Scarlet Wizard must escape a trap more cunning than any crystal casket. His next adventure begins when an explorer lands at La Guardia airport, returning from India with a secret for which many men will die. Before Don Diavolo can unmask the killer, he must unlock the perplexing puzzle of the vanishing corpse.
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 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 trouble, but it proves a mistake, for Diavolo is about to be implicated in a murder. Diavolo is blackjacked as soon as he walks through the circus owner’s door, awaking just in time to be found standing over the corpse. To prove his innocence, the Scarlet Wizard must escape a trap more cunning than any crystal casket. His next adventure begins when an explorer lands at La Guardia airport, returning from India with a secret for which many men will die. Before Don Diavolo can unmask the killer, he must unlock the perplexing puzzle of the vanishing corpse.
- GenresMystery
436 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1943
About the author
Clayton Rawson
42 books16 followersAka Stuart Towne.
Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971) was an American mystery writer, editor, and amateur magician. His four novels frequently invoke his great knowledge of stage magic and feature as their fictional detective The Great Merlini, a professional magician who runs a shop selling magic supplies. He also wrote four short stories in 1940 about a stage magician named Don Diavolo, who appears as a principal character in one of the novels featuring The Great Merlini. "Don Diavolo is a magician who perfects his tricks in a Greenwich Village basement where he is frequently visited by the harried Inspector Church of Homicide, either to arrest the Don for an impossible crime or to ask him to solve it.
Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971) was an American mystery writer, editor, and amateur magician. His four novels frequently invoke his great knowledge of stage magic and feature as their fictional detective The Great Merlini, a professional magician who runs a shop selling magic supplies. He also wrote four short stories in 1940 about a stage magician named Don Diavolo, who appears as a principal character in one of the novels featuring The Great Merlini. "Don Diavolo is a magician who perfects his tricks in a Greenwich Village basement where he is frequently visited by the harried Inspector Church of Homicide, either to arrest the Don for an impossible crime or to ask him to solve it.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 2, 2016
The keen amateur conjurer Clayton Rawson wrote four novels and a bunch of short stories featuring the magic-trick designer The Great Merlini, none of which I've read (unless I read a Merlini short story or two long ago). The June, August, October and December 1940 issues of Red Star Mystery contained four novellas, written by Rawson under the nom de plume Stuart Towne, featuring a different detective, the stage magician Don Diavolo. This volume, Death from Nowhere, originally published in 1943, collects two of these: The Claws of Satan (October 1940) and The Enchanted Dagger (December 1940).
In the first, people turn up murdered in impossible circumstances, each time with a set of five parallel scratches running down the front of their face. How can this be connected to the Leopard Man, a supposed were-leopard from somewhere obscure in the Far East who's now appearing as a carney attraction in a local fleapit circus? Dunderheaded Inspector Church of the NYPD thinks Don Diavolo is the obvious suspect, so that, as the body count rises, Don and his pals must solve the mystery at the same time as dodging the cops.
In the second, an explorer who's returned to NYC from somewhere else obscure in the Far East is the target of an assassin -- an assassin who apparently can materialize and dematerialize, cast out a tulpa (a sort of astral duplicate of himself), and much more. Dunderheaded Inspector Church of the NYPD thinks Don Diavolo is the obvious suspect, so that, as the body count rises, Don and his pals must solve the mystery at the same time as dodging the cops.
You will notice that the second sentence of both those two paras is the same, reflecting the fact that the structure of these two Don Diaviolo tales hints that the other two -- collected as Death Out of Thin Air in 1941 -- may follow a similar formula. Despite this formulaic trait, the two novellas are really quite fun -- although only quite. In the first, there seems to be a plotting error in that the villain escapes the scene of the first crime in a particular way (Diavolo unwittingly witnesses him) while later Diavolo reveals that the bad guy left the scene in quite a different way. (The rationale behind this second means of "invisible" escape is, too, pretty damned thin.) Similarly, in the second and lesser of the two tales, "The Enchanted Dagger," the solution relies on a chemical unknown to science -- a somewhat limp plotting device.
I gather the best of all Rawson's mysteries was the first Great Merlini novel, Death from a Top Hat (1938), and I'm certainly planning to lay hands on that. Whether I'll be as tempted by the other Don Diavolo collection is up to whim: as I say, I enjoyed these two tales, but with reservations.
In the first, people turn up murdered in impossible circumstances, each time with a set of five parallel scratches running down the front of their face. How can this be connected to the Leopard Man, a supposed were-leopard from somewhere obscure in the Far East who's now appearing as a carney attraction in a local fleapit circus? Dunderheaded Inspector Church of the NYPD thinks Don Diavolo is the obvious suspect, so that, as the body count rises, Don and his pals must solve the mystery at the same time as dodging the cops.
In the second, an explorer who's returned to NYC from somewhere else obscure in the Far East is the target of an assassin -- an assassin who apparently can materialize and dematerialize, cast out a tulpa (a sort of astral duplicate of himself), and much more. Dunderheaded Inspector Church of the NYPD thinks Don Diavolo is the obvious suspect, so that, as the body count rises, Don and his pals must solve the mystery at the same time as dodging the cops.
You will notice that the second sentence of both those two paras is the same, reflecting the fact that the structure of these two Don Diaviolo tales hints that the other two -- collected as Death Out of Thin Air in 1941 -- may follow a similar formula. Despite this formulaic trait, the two novellas are really quite fun -- although only quite. In the first, there seems to be a plotting error in that the villain escapes the scene of the first crime in a particular way (Diavolo unwittingly witnesses him) while later Diavolo reveals that the bad guy left the scene in quite a different way. (The rationale behind this second means of "invisible" escape is, too, pretty damned thin.) Similarly, in the second and lesser of the two tales, "The Enchanted Dagger," the solution relies on a chemical unknown to science -- a somewhat limp plotting device.
I gather the best of all Rawson's mysteries was the first Great Merlini novel, Death from a Top Hat (1938), and I'm certainly planning to lay hands on that. Whether I'll be as tempted by the other Don Diavolo collection is up to whim: as I say, I enjoyed these two tales, but with reservations.
May 25, 2021
Two pulp stories of magician/escapologist. Don Diavolo and his crew of of assistants, factotums, and handy reporter get embroiled in mysteries the police can't solve. Diavolo is always under suspicion of the police due to his skill, and being in the wrong place, as sleuths of this era were wont to do. The solutions, are a bit iffy, but the ride is worth taking.
July 5, 2017
So, just a bit of background. I got through reading the Great Merlini stories, and find it amusing to see that Rawson wrote - a very similar set up for another magician detective, Don Diavolo, but a younger version with a different reporter and added some other crew to his team, twins who perform in his shows, a prop creator and others.... So with this in mind.
I like the Don Diavolo character quite a bit, he tends to show up and get caught in a situation where he is generally considered a prime suspect. He actively works to help clear himself but also to help debunk persons trying to dupe and exploit others. In this book there are two stories. In the first story, Merlini's store is mentioned as a place where people would get the props for certain magic apparitions, ha!
1. The Claws of Satan, where D.D. literally walks into an office sees a dead body and gets knocked out. In order to solve this mystery of he must find out where a circus is, and how the victim's connection to it connected to his death. The title being explained in that there were mysterious scratches (4 in a row) like a cat's claw on the face. Here Don is at home with people from the circus world, and knows enough to get around and hide and unfortunately be on hand to find several other dead bodies. However, the solution is well worth it. The solution is obvious in terms of who the murderer is, and you can easily miss it, there is a lot going on. I also like the fact that the world of traveling circuses is brought to light, how they survived and were also hindered by local law as well.
2. The Elegant Dagger, starts off with a man - clearly desperate to shake someone chasing him, ends up in a hotel calling Don and leaving a mystic message. Then we swing to Don Diavolo's place where Mr. Sayre asks him to see if he can debunk a mystic whose tricks are convincingly real. Without giving too much away, the solution is a unique, and interesting. You must really pay attention to figure it all out before the end (which I didn't.) Inspector Church ends up meeting Don Diavolo at Sayer's mansion right after Shivara(the mystic) has shown off his impressive skills, trying to investigate the victim seen in the first chapter. With the team all in place, another murder happens of course and this is where Don Diavolo gets a bit more info to help him put it all together.
The story lengths are novella length. Very glad to have stumbled upon this author, and am grateful for the Mystery Bookshop to have got these into ebook format. (These both kindle and ibook available)
I like the Don Diavolo character quite a bit, he tends to show up and get caught in a situation where he is generally considered a prime suspect. He actively works to help clear himself but also to help debunk persons trying to dupe and exploit others. In this book there are two stories. In the first story, Merlini's store is mentioned as a place where people would get the props for certain magic apparitions, ha!
1. The Claws of Satan, where D.D. literally walks into an office sees a dead body and gets knocked out. In order to solve this mystery of he must find out where a circus is, and how the victim's connection to it connected to his death. The title being explained in that there were mysterious scratches (4 in a row) like a cat's claw on the face. Here Don is at home with people from the circus world, and knows enough to get around and hide and unfortunately be on hand to find several other dead bodies. However, the solution is well worth it. The solution is obvious in terms of who the murderer is, and you can easily miss it, there is a lot going on. I also like the fact that the world of traveling circuses is brought to light, how they survived and were also hindered by local law as well.
2. The Elegant Dagger, starts off with a man - clearly desperate to shake someone chasing him, ends up in a hotel calling Don and leaving a mystic message. Then we swing to Don Diavolo's place where Mr. Sayre asks him to see if he can debunk a mystic whose tricks are convincingly real. Without giving too much away, the solution is a unique, and interesting. You must really pay attention to figure it all out before the end (which I didn't.) Inspector Church ends up meeting Don Diavolo at Sayer's mansion right after Shivara(the mystic) has shown off his impressive skills, trying to investigate the victim seen in the first chapter. With the team all in place, another murder happens of course and this is where Don Diavolo gets a bit more info to help him put it all together.
The story lengths are novella length. Very glad to have stumbled upon this author, and am grateful for the Mystery Bookshop to have got these into ebook format. (These both kindle and ibook available)
August 15, 2019
Rawson è uno dei grandi nomi nel panorama giallo americano: grande mago, divenne famoso per la serie di romanzi e racconti incentrati sulla figura di Merlini, illusionista professionista che aiuta la polizia in casi intricati e spesso impossibili.
Egli è anche autore di quattro "novelette" in cui figura il suo secondo e ultimo personaggio, Don Diavolo, escapologo, spesso inviaschiato in casi di omicidio di cui ne è considerato erroneamente colpevole (suscitando l'ira dell'ispettore Church per le sue fughe impossibili).
Premetto che il connubio tra delitti impossibili e magia mi fa impazzire: sono due mie passioni che si fondono in un unicum memorabile. E Rawson ci riesce alla grande, con uno stile fresco e ironico.
"Death from Nowhere" è la seconda raccolta pubblicata dalla casa editrice "The head of Zeus", contenente due delle novelle in cui figura Don Diavolo, l'omonimo "Death from Nowhere" e "The enchanted dagger".
DEATH FROM NOWHERE
Don Diavolo si reca infuriato nell'ufficio di R.J. Hagenbaugh, uomo losco che ha acquistato uno dei suoi gadget magici, bloccando successivamente i pagamenti. Il nostro escapologo non si aspetta mica di trovarsi coinvolto in un caso bizzarro di omicidio! Una volta entrato con forza nel suo ufficio, qualcuno lo tramortisce e si risveglia assieme al cadavere, sfigurato da quelli che sembrano cinque tagli causati da artigli, di Hagenbaugh. Fatto sta che la camera è sigillata, una sedia è posta sotto il pomello in modo che non possa aprirsi e le finestre si affacciano su una superficie liscia e senza possibilità di fuga. Dopo ulteriori delitti impossibili in cui pare sia coinvolto un "leopardo bianco", Diavolo riuscirà a capire la verità e ad inchiodare il vero colpevole. Storia molto interessante, con una soluzione semplice ma molto logica. Intelligente l'uso del messaggio criptico "LEOPARD SNOW".
THE ENCHANTED DAGGER
Storia che vede Don Diavolo misurarsi con uno strano fachiro indiano che pare sappia compiere prodigi: sa muovere oggetti tramite il pensiero, sa sdoppiarsi davanti agli occhi attoniti dei presenti, sa rendersi invisibile in un batter d'occhio. E se ci sono di mezzo dei delitti, tutto questo non viene preso alla leggera, tanto più che pare siano stati perpetrati con un pugnale che pare dotato di vita propria, uccidendo davanti a più testimoni senza che nessuno lo impugnasse.
La trama è magnifica e l'ho trovata più interessante della precedente, ma la soluzione fa un po' storcere il naso a chi di gialli, e soprattutto gialli impossibili, ne ha letti parecchi:è troppo semplicistica e perlopiù deludente. Non metto in dubbio la sua funzionalità (l'autore infatti riporta anche dei testi di riferimento a conferma delle sue teorie), ma in un mystery non è mai un bel vedere.
Dunque una raccolta molto interessante e scorrevole, da 4 stelle.
Egli è anche autore di quattro "novelette" in cui figura il suo secondo e ultimo personaggio, Don Diavolo, escapologo, spesso inviaschiato in casi di omicidio di cui ne è considerato erroneamente colpevole (suscitando l'ira dell'ispettore Church per le sue fughe impossibili).
Premetto che il connubio tra delitti impossibili e magia mi fa impazzire: sono due mie passioni che si fondono in un unicum memorabile. E Rawson ci riesce alla grande, con uno stile fresco e ironico.
"Death from Nowhere" è la seconda raccolta pubblicata dalla casa editrice "The head of Zeus", contenente due delle novelle in cui figura Don Diavolo, l'omonimo "Death from Nowhere" e "The enchanted dagger".
DEATH FROM NOWHERE
Don Diavolo si reca infuriato nell'ufficio di R.J. Hagenbaugh, uomo losco che ha acquistato uno dei suoi gadget magici, bloccando successivamente i pagamenti. Il nostro escapologo non si aspetta mica di trovarsi coinvolto in un caso bizzarro di omicidio! Una volta entrato con forza nel suo ufficio, qualcuno lo tramortisce e si risveglia assieme al cadavere, sfigurato da quelli che sembrano cinque tagli causati da artigli, di Hagenbaugh. Fatto sta che la camera è sigillata, una sedia è posta sotto il pomello in modo che non possa aprirsi e le finestre si affacciano su una superficie liscia e senza possibilità di fuga. Dopo ulteriori delitti impossibili in cui pare sia coinvolto un "leopardo bianco", Diavolo riuscirà a capire la verità e ad inchiodare il vero colpevole. Storia molto interessante, con una soluzione semplice ma molto logica. Intelligente l'uso del messaggio criptico "LEOPARD SNOW".
THE ENCHANTED DAGGER
Storia che vede Don Diavolo misurarsi con uno strano fachiro indiano che pare sappia compiere prodigi: sa muovere oggetti tramite il pensiero, sa sdoppiarsi davanti agli occhi attoniti dei presenti, sa rendersi invisibile in un batter d'occhio. E se ci sono di mezzo dei delitti, tutto questo non viene preso alla leggera, tanto più che pare siano stati perpetrati con un pugnale che pare dotato di vita propria, uccidendo davanti a più testimoni senza che nessuno lo impugnasse.
La trama è magnifica e l'ho trovata più interessante della precedente, ma la soluzione fa un po' storcere il naso a chi di gialli, e soprattutto gialli impossibili, ne ha letti parecchi:è troppo semplicistica e perlopiù deludente. Non metto in dubbio la sua funzionalità (l'autore infatti riporta anche dei testi di riferimento a conferma delle sue teorie), ma in un mystery non è mai un bel vedere.
Dunque una raccolta molto interessante e scorrevole, da 4 stelle.
June 9, 2017
Disappointing all round.Two novellas which never really got going at all.
Apart from an interesting premise,both were let down by anti-climatic and cop out reveals
of the impossible crimes.
The mysterious goings on turn out to be induced by a hallucinatory drug?Really?
Poor storytelling indeed.
Apart from an interesting premise,both were let down by anti-climatic and cop out reveals
of the impossible crimes.
The mysterious goings on turn out to be induced by a hallucinatory drug?Really?
Poor storytelling indeed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews