CLAYTON RAWSON, writing as Stuart Towne – Death from Nowhere: Don Diavolo Mysteries. Mysterious Press, ebook, two novellas, May 2012.

— The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo. Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, hardcover, March 2005.

    “Overall, I really enjoyed Death from Nowhere. The stories are creative and imaginative, and although there are flaws, the book still manages to be quite enjoyable.”

— Patrick, Review of Death from Nowhere, “At the Scene of the Crime.”

http://at-scene-of-crime.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-scarlet-wizard.html

      See also:

    “Nicolas Alexander Houdin, alias Don Diavolo, is a crime fighting stage magician detective who routinely faces seemingly supernatural horror and mystery in all four of these circa 1940 stories. Despite his Latin-esque name, the 30-something vaudeville conjurer is blond and wiry with a lithe and powerful physique, the endurance of 6 men, and capable of lightning fast thought and action. He often wears a scarlet suit of impeccably cut clothing, and may sometimes adopt the clothing over far and near Eastern illusionists in his stage and public acts.

    “Don Diavolo finds himself routinely dragged into adventures in crime-fighting, often at the instigation of his suspicious nemesis, Inspector Church of NYC’s Homicide Division. Rather than using hand waving and spooky mysticism to fix things right and routinely clear his sullied name, Don Diavolo solves these baffling mysteries using modern techniques of science and psychology, along with a healthy dose of vaudeville drama and stage hocus pocus.”

— Review of The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo, “Age of Menace.”

http://docmystery.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/book-39-pulp-the-magical-mysteries-of-don-diavolo-by-clayton-rawson-reprint-2004/

    “Rawson wrote four novellas in 1940 about magician-sleuth Don Diavolo. They have recently been collected in book form as The Magical Mysteries of Don Diavolo. The first three Don Diavolo stories are Rawson’s richest impossible crime tales… The Don Diavolo stories often feature dying messages, a kind of mystery puzzle that rarely appears in impossible crime tales. Rawson is throwing every possible mystery idea into these tales.”

— Mike Grost

http://mikegrost.com/laterimp.htm#Rawson

    “Don Diavolo is the fabulous Scarlet Wizard, a magician detective created by author and illustrator Clayton Rawson (1906-1971) writing under the pen-name Stuart Towne. Himself a magician as well as writer, Rawson is mainly remembered today for his magician detective, the Great Merlini, but not to be ignored are the four short novels he wrote about Don Diavolo.”

— “The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box.”

http://www.batteredbox.com/LostTreasures/07-DonDiavolo.htm

From The Saturday Review, 27 May 1939, “The Criminal Record”:

    “Title and Author: THE FOOTPRINTS ON THE CEILING – Clayton Rawson (Putnam: $2.00)

    “Crime, Place, Sleuth: Poisoned corpse of agoraphobic heiress found in East River island mansion beneath sole-marked ceiling. Merlini unmagicks three incredible killings.

    “Summing Up: Encyclopedically fascinating, with amazing bits about sunken treasure, catalepsy, ‘the bends,’ assorted poisons — also gun-play and sky-high suspense.

    “Verdict: Immense!”

http://www.unz.org/Pub/SaturdayRev-1939may27-00020

From The Saturday Review, 16 July 1938, “The Criminal Record”:

    “Title and Author: DEATH FROM A TOP HAT – Clayton Rawson (Putnam: $2.00)

    “Crime, Place, Sleuth: Occultist found slain in pentagon: death deals card-trickster Black Lady. Merlini, ex-magician, helps cops fathom riddle.

    “Summing Up: Amazingly good dope on magicians and their art, keen foolery, extra-tricky plot, and conclusion that lifts the roof.

    “Verdict: Dazzling.”

http://www.unz.org/Pub/SaturdayRev-1938jul16-00020a02