Pocket Book 436 (1947)

There have been no British editions.

Synopsis:

It started when El Moulk's automobile roared crazily through a London fog, its driver dead as a herring. The car screeched to a stop in front of that creaky relic of ancient horrors, the Brimstone Club. Through its cavernous rooms and gaslit passages a murderer hunted victims for a private gallows. The calling cards of a notorious hangman, a miniature gibbet, a length of rope, and an inscription from the tomb of Egyptian kings warned El Moulk and his dazzling French mistress that death was on their trail. It was a perfect case for Bencolin, a detective who preferred fantastic murders.

The Lost Gallows is John Dickson Carr at his best - a baffling mystery that moves to a terrifying climax with the speed and impact of a whip-lash.