An invitation to a treasure hunt open to thriller writers and lesser
mortals confronts Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Macdonald with two
baffling deaths.-- Kirkus Reviews
It's all fun and games (and fake names) until someone ends up dead...
Amidst the confusion of too many fake names, clues, ciphers, and
convoluted alibis, Chief Inspector Macdonald and his allies in the CID
must unravel a truly tangled case in this metafictional masterpiece,
which returns to print for the first time since its publication in 1937.
This edition includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger
Award-winning author Martin Edwards.
Should detectives go to parties? Was it consistent with the dignity of
the Yard? The inspector tossed for it--and went.
Chief Inspector Macdonald has been invited to a treasure hunt party at
the house of Graham Coombe, the celebrated publisher of Murder by
Mesmerism. Despite a handful of misgivings, the inspector joins a guest
list of novelists and thriller writers disguised on the night under
literary pseudonyms. The fun comes to an abrupt end, however, when
Samuel Pepys is found dead in the telephone room in bizarre
circumstances.