In this novel, the reader is introduced for the first time to Carr's most established and enduring detective, the clumsy drunkard Gideon Fell, created in the manner and traditions of G.K. Chesterton, whom Carr himself idolized....The men in the Starbert family die by breaking their necks. This is the legend that exists in the village where Chatterham Gaol is located, abandoned for hundreds of years, but still keeping its terrible secrets. Scotland Yard learns of this legend after the death of Martin Starbett. But it is Gideon Fell who will have to solve one of the most insidious and mysterious crimes...