by Clayton Rawson
Clayton Rawson created the magician detective The Great Merlini in 1938. He first appeared in the novel Death From A Top Hat (1938), then The Footprints on the Ceiling (1939), and then The Headless Lady (1940). Rawson’s last Merlini novel was No Coffin For The Corpse (1942).
Under the pseudonym Stuart Towne, Rawson created another magician detective, Don Diavallo, who appeared in four novellas, published in four issues of Red Star Mystery magazine. These were later combined into two books: DEATH OUT OF THIN AIR (1941) featured Death from the past (Ghost of the Undead)and Death from the unseen (Death out of Thin Air). DEATH FROM NOWHERE (1943) featured Act I (The Claws of Satan) and Act II (The Enchanted Dagger).
Rawson kept busy with editing duties for various mystery magazines and publishers. In 1945, he was one of the founding members of the Mystery Writers of America. In 1949 they awarded him a Special Edgar for launching Clue Magazine.
In 1946, he wrote three short short stories for a contest for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, which appeared in three consecutive issues. Readers were supposed to supply the solutions and winners were awarded prizes. These first three stories were 'The Clue of the Tattooed Man' (1946), 'The Clue of the Broken Legs' (1947), and 'The Clue of the Missing Motive' (1947). Therefore – these first three stories in this collection are extremely short…and since they are fair play mysteries there is every chance that the reader will be able to guess who the murderer is.
The contest was popular and very successful, but it was not repeated until eight years later, with the same format and these stories: 'Merlini and the Lie Detector' (1955), 'Merlini and the Vanished Diamonds' (1955) and 'Merlini and the Sound Effects Murder' (1955). 'Merlini and the Sound Effects Murder' does not involve the murder of a radio sound effects man. It’s 1955, and television has taken over. But the tube still needed sound effects!
The rest of the stories are longer, allowing more development of the plot (or more complication of the plot, if you prefer). Like his novels, Rawson’s short stories are well written, intriguing and perfect puzzlers. They evoke the world of the magician perfectly. They are fun reads, and doubtless many a soul will decide to take up magic on the strength of them!
List of stories and when they were first published:
The Clue of the Tattooed Man (December 1946 issue of EQMM)
In 1963, long after most of his stories had appeared in the magazine, Rawson became managing editor of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and did not relinquish the reins until forced to do so by illness, in 1970. He trained Eleanor Sullivan as his successor. Clayton Rawson died in 1971.
The Clue of the Broken Legs (January 1947 issue of EQMM)
The Clue of the Missing Motive (February 1947 issue of EQMM)
From Another World (June 1948 issue of EQMM)
Off the Face of the Earth (September 1949 issue of EQMM)
Merlini and the Lie Detector (July 1955 issue of EQMM)
Merlini and the Vanished Diamonds (October 1955 issue of EQMM)
Merlini and the Sound Effects Murder (December 1955 issue of EQMM)
Nothing is Impossible (July 1958 issue of EQMM)
Miracles-All in a Day’s Work (1958)
Merlini and the Photographic Clues (1969)
The World’s Smallest Locked Room (August 1971 issue of EQMM)
This review copyright
May 24, 2000.
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