Carr, John Dickson - The Lost Gallows (1931)

Review by Nick Fuller

4/5

It says much for Carr’s style that he is able to make this story of a Jack Ketch who kidnaps his victims in order to hang them on a private gallows to avenge a private wrong not only entertaining but convincing. The duel between the suavely witty Bencolin and Sir John Landervorne; the superb use of the London fog and what Dr. Pilgrim saw; and the lost street, “the prettiest fancy in the whole realm of nightmare,” form a logical whole. Carr’s style has greatly improved since It Walks by Night. Even though lurid in parts, the prose is generally excellent, and gives the impression of moving through a nightmare, at once theatrical and melodramatic, but thoroughly entertaining. The only serious flaw is that Jack Ketch is far too easily spotted. Note also a very strange but effective ending.

See also: http://onlydetect.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/john-dickson-carr-the-lost-gallows-1931/