In this paper, we report on a relatively new cerium doped scintillator - LaCl3 for gamma ray spectroscopy. Crystals of this scintillator have been grown using Bridgman method. This material when doped with 10 percent cerium has high light output ({approx} 50,000 photons/MeV) and fast principal decay time constant ({approx}20 ns). Furthermore, it shows excellent energy resolution for gamma ray detection. For example, energy resolution as low as 3.2 percent (FWHM) has been achieved with 662 keV photons (137Cs source) at room temperature. Also high timing resolution (264 ps - FWHM) has been recorded with LaCl3-PMT and BaF2-PMT detectors operating in coincidence using 511 keV positron annihilation gamma ray pairs. Details of crystal growth, scintillation properties, and variation of these properties with cerium concentration are also reported.