Death from a Top Hat (1938) is a locked-room mystery novel written by Clayton Rawson.

It features The Great Merlini, a stage magician and Rawson's favorite protagonist.

Plot

When a magician is found dead inside his locked and (thoroughly) sealed apartment, the police call in Merlini to help explain the impossible. All the suspects, however, are magicans. Figuring out which one was responsible is a real pickle. Luckily, Merlini is an old hand at this sort of thing. The solution, though, is more involved than even he thinks.