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The Toff Goes On
by
John Creasey
amateur sleuth, vintage mystery in a Kindle edition on July 28, 2023 and has 202 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Unbegotten, Gideon and the Young Toughs and Other Stories, Introducing the Toff, The Peril Ahead, The Death Miser, Redhead, Carriers of Death, First Came a Murder, Death Round the Corner, Death by Night, Sabotage, A Kind of Prisoner
Third in The Toff, a mystery vintage series and revolving around an amateur sleuth, the Honorable Richard Rollison. The focus is on Russian agents. The Toff Goes On was originally published August 1939.
My Take
I suspect Richard Rollison intrigues me as much as Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey. It’s fascinating to read a contemporary story about a vintage past, especially in the Golden Age of mystery writing.
I love the peek into the cultures, mores, and manners of a past. Of course, I also enjoy the fantasy of no money worries and staff to help with behind-the-scenes work.
In a number of ways Rollison is similar to Wimsey in that he’s not fussed about minor crimes but more concerned with the major ones: drugs, trafficking, blackmail, murder, corruption, etc.
Creasey is using a third person global subjective point-of-view, primarily from Rollie’s perspective, but others have their “say”.
There’s action and yet Creasey doesn’t pull it together as well as Sayers. He’s left a number of holes in the story. Still it’s a fun and easy read.
The Story
A frightened ballerina and a panicked Sussex village set the Toff off as he pursues the trail of a Russian bad guy who inspires fear everywhere he goes.
The Characters
The Honorable Richard Rollison, a.k.a. the Toff, has quite the reputation on both sides of his name. As Rollison, he’s a man-about-town. As the Toff, he’s respected and feared by criminals with more respect from the cops and the general public. The melancholy Jolly is Rollie’s valet-cum-chef-cum-housekeeper. Richard “Dick” Pemberton is the chief crime reporter with the Daily Post and a friend of Rollie’s.
Mademoiselle La Danson is the ballerina who fled Russia and Pallukin. Other ladies Rollie is seeing include Miss Westhanger, Lady Westerhampton, and Mrs D’Arcy Alcester.
Colonel Hargreaves has a home, the Grange, in Nettleham, Sussex. Elise is his daughter, who is engaged to Whittaker. Lucy Porter is the cook. Farmer Lloyd manages one of the estate farms.
PC Sam Rogers is the village constable. Giles has a farm. Mrs Appleby works at a café. Victims of the Thing in Nettleham include Jim Emery, the smith’s son; Janet is the maid (at the Grange) that Jim has been seeing; and, Charlie Snow, who is the new barman at the Blue Boar.
Scotland Yard
Chief Inspector Horace McNab appreciates Rollie’s help and is also frustrated with him. Inspector Dawson is quite the stickler. Sir Ian Warrender is the head of the CID. Detective-Sergeant Whittaker knows the Toff’s reputation. Sir John.
Detective-Inspector Entwhistle is with the Petworth PD. Sir George Mannering is the deputy chief constable of Sussex.
Jim Whittaker is an English agent for the Society of Royalists. His father, Sir Gerald, had been shot by a firing squad in 1918. Vornoff is an agent for the Society of Royalists coming from Russia with plans.
Gregaroff Pallukin is the worst Russian, an official feared by many. Alexis Petrov owns an antiques shop and runs errands. Ramon Garth is a thug. Ivan Zenkel owns the Zenkel Shipping Corporation. The no-eared Barruk is Zenkel’s bodyguard. Ossov is a sailor. Carson is an English mechanic who had worked in Russia.
The Rivol is an exclusive restaurant the Toff frequents. Shapelli is the head waiter always ready to cater to Rollison; Gaston; and, Henri is the chief wine steward. Lady Elstey is the fair widow with Grull.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a grayed blue background with the title, in white, angled from left down to right. The author’s name is in a greenish yellow in the middle with an info blurb beneath it in a scripted white. At the very bottom is another info blurb in the same yellow. The graphic is a disconnected Toff with his head, monocle, and top hat above the title. A gloved hand with a gun is beneath the title on the left while his right, gloved, hand rests on a cane. Between the info blurbs is a pair of black shoes with one crossed at the ankle.
The title is true enough, for The Toff Goes On , even though he doesn’t connect the crimes too quickly.
