The Roman Hat Mystery

The Roman Hat Mystery has been chosen by the original publishers from more than 100 selected manuscripts as their contribution to the mystery fiction of the year. The subsequent acclaim of the critics--they called it "brilliant", "ingeious", "fascinating", "intriguing", "swift-moving"--proved that the publisher's choice was a shrewd one. Following no hackneyed formula, this mystery offers a fool-proof plot of fascinating complexity, a theatrically romantic setting, and a most ingenious deductive pattern that is plausible, griping throughout, and wholly original in weave. The essential clue is a missing silk tophat. On the surface it appears to be of minor significance, yet about this elusive thread the entire amazing tale revolves. Every fact necessary to the solution is given; yet we challenge the most ardent amateur criminologists to deduce the startling dénouement.