"A young beauty with a shadowy past has been savagely murdered. Her hideous wounds mirror a gruesome tableau in Barnum's wax exhibit dwon to the flawless rose between her lips causing authorities to pinder Barnum's own responsibility. He has no recourse other than to solve the crime himself with the aid of the master of morbid, criminal motivation. Having already achieved a reputation for deductive brilliance by solving Baltimore's notorious "Nevermore Murders," Poe accepts Barnum's challenge."--Jacket.