Castle Skull by John Dickson Carr

A burning man runs across the battlements of an ancient castle overlooking the Rhine-and plunges to his death. English actor Myron Alison has been murdered at the sinister fortress known as Castle Skull. His death is grotesque and theatrical: witnesses see his blazing body racing along the battlements before it collapses. French investigator Henri Bencolin and his companion Jeff Marle travel to the Rhineland, where an isolated group of suspects waits inside a castle steeped in stories of murder, illusion, and the mysterious magician who once owned it. Behind the spectacle lies an intricate puzzle of old secrets, impossible disappearances, conflicting testimony, and carefully staged deception. Bencolin must separate genuine evidence from theatrical trickery before another death follows. Darkly atmospheric and relentlessly ingenious, Castle Skull brings the logic of the Golden Age detective story into a Gothic landscape of towers, shadows, and apparent impossibilities. Explore other exciting Positronic Books devoted to classic science fiction, fantasy, and mystery.