The Fatal Five Minutes: A Philip Tolefree Mystery

by R.A.J. Walling

When Farrar drives down to join a house party at Midwood, the country home of the Wellington Burnet, the only other guest he is acquainted with is Philip Tolefree, the insurance broker and clandestine detective. In fact, it is Burnet's sudden decision to marrry and move to the country that has brought Farrar and Tolefree together in the first place, the latter taking Burnet's place as Farrar's main clubland companion. And Burnet is about to bring the two men together again - for when the erstwhile financier is murdered, Tolefree and Farrar embark together on a dangerous hunt for the identity of their friend's killer... Originally published in 1932, this is a vintage murder mystery from the golden age of crime fiction, and the first novel to feature R.A.J. Walling's unassuming City-dwelling sleuth, Philip Tolefree.

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Robert Alfred John Walling (11 January 1869, Exeter – 4 September 1949 Plympton) was an English journalist and author of detective novels, who signed his works "R. A. J. Walling".

See also Robert Alfred John Walling.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad plot but the book was spoiled a bit by the very stilted prose. The main protagonist, Tolefree
has a gift for being able to read guilt in any suspects physiognomy (Fizzog to a Londoner like myself)
by just looking at him or her. He then seeks the evidence to support his gift. All rather far fetched. His Watsonesque sidekick and the narrator of the story, Farrar has the usual lack of intelligence. Lots of "Surely you don't suspect her ? She's a lady" sort of stuff.

[Joe B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up at a youth hostel in Paris and couldn’t put it down: finished it in a 200 page marathon dual-end candle burner session. It was a mystery in British with some good vocabulary and stilted British style, but a typical detective story.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: the suave, insurance PI Philip Tolefree was featured in many novels. An old friend gets bumped off.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

The murder of financier Wellington Burnet takes place in his palatial country house and the tale has other conventional elements such as an awkward marriage to a younger wife, an odd will, a mysterious woman, tight-lipped suspects and a slightly dim Watsonesque narrator.

Despite the talk of 1920s-type nightclubs, the writing and social attitudes are redolent of the Edwardian era. The plot is of the kind which despite all the convolutions is effectively quite simple. The murderer was visible early on and some of their trickery was obvious.

Although this was the first novel to feature his series detective, Tolefree, Walling had been publishing mystery short stories and serials for a number of years prior to 1932. He was an experienced journalist and this novel would have benefited from some editing.

There are some humorous touches:-

“Tolefree and I were perhaps the only persons in the room who would be able to judge whether Cossor was fulfilling his oath or lying like a gas meter.”

‘“…If there’s one document in which, more than another, a man will insist on expressing his worst peculiarities, it’s his will and testament. At least, that’s my observation. Wills are the most eccentric exhibits in all literature.”’

Overall this was a bit stodgy but I find Tolefree as a character fairly interesting so will try a few more in the series.

3.25 stars

[Jeff Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly different type of Golden Age Mystery and sometimes difficult to follow with R.A.J. Walling referring to characters by their last name and never recapping. Written in the first person, James Farrar, he and his insurance broker friend Philip Tolefree who also does a bit of detecting on the quiet. On a visit to a house party at Midwood, host Wellington Burnet is bludgeoned to death with a candlestick. Farrar admits that this is his first case and despite this, Tolefree runs an investigation in conjunction with the police. Having said all this the book is a good read the pair go through the murky life of Wellington Burnet and his much younger wife. The ending is clever and it's quite possible Walling's style may go on me but at the moment the jury is out.

[Kim Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just re-read this book and find myself having to write an almost completely different review. I initially thought this book was overlong but I can only think that for some reason I was just not in the right frame of mind for reading. This time round I just flew through it! I do still think that some of the characters were too silly for words. By that I mean that every time Philip Tolefree suggested this person could have done it, or that person could have done it, his friend, in particular, looked incredulous, either that PT could have suggested such a thing or that so and so could have done it! A man had been murdered and therefore obviously someone in the house had done it! To claim that everyone was innocent was naivety bordering on stupidity. That aside it was a pretty good read this time round.

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tra i bassotti che ho letto, questo è di sicuro tra i più deboli. Un delitto che viene presentato come impossibile, in quanto tutti i sospettati avrebbero un solido alibi, ma che in realtà non è così. La trama non mi ha preso molto, tanto che lo avevo abbandonato in un primo momento, poi ripreso e riletto in quanto odio lasciare un libro inconcluso. Forse sarebbe stato meglio.