“The Trackless Thing” by Justin Atholl was published in 1943 by Everybody’s Books, a short-lived wartime outfit operated by the Kelly brothers. The cover art, unsigned, was used on a handful of titles by this publisher, and also by their partner, the Mitre Press.
Superintendent Lakin must investigate the sudden is plagued by a series of crimes perpetuated by an unknown criminal, whom appears only interested in ransacking homes, tossing papers about, killing house pets (brutally), and apparently not stealing anything. At least nothing of worth.
Months go by, and the “Trackless Thing” has vanished, when suddenly, the town is struck by a pair of murders! And, in both cases, no visible means of forced entry is present.
Can Lakin solve the murders before another occurs, sending the town into a panicked tizzy? Who, or, what, is the Trackless Thing? Is it even human?
THE SPECTRE LIBRARY PRESENTS: The Pulp and Paperback Fiction Reader 