Brood of the Witch-Queen

Although best known as the creator of the Fu-Manchu series of mystery novels, British author Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (who usually wrote under the pseudonym Sax Rohmer) also penned a number of science fiction, fantasy, and supernatural novels. Long himself associated with the occult, Rohmer brings captivating depth and detail to his story of a dabbler in the supernatural whose dark interests spin out of control -- with tragic results. The novel begins with the strange murder of Sir Michael Ferrara. A horrifying series of events follows, leading to a woman being used against her will to prey on her husband and then abducted and killed in inside a secret chamber in an old Egyptian pyramid. Only after a series of adventures and investigation is Antony Ferrara made powerless by Dr Bruce Cairn destroying the source of his control - the famed Book of Thoth - upon which Ferrara is no longer able to control the elemental he has summoned and is found as a burned corpse the day after.