The Cat and the Corpse: A Philip Tolefree Mystery

by R.A.J. Walling

“What I’m going to tell you, Tolefree, is complicated..." Philip Tolefree is invited to Wolborough Castle, ancestral seat of the Meriden family, by Stratton, a mutual friend of Tolefree's associate Farrar. Staying at the Castle whilst brokering a deal to sell a valuable triptych, Stratton suspects that some sort of sinister conspiracy is being played out. First, his room is ransacked, apparently in an attempt to steal the money he has brought with him to pay the antique painting. Secondly, Eric Yves, a longstanding thorn in Stratton's side, and a fellow-guest at the Castle, has completely vanished - but how did Yves get out of the building when every single entrance and exit had been locked and bolted for the night? When Tolefree himself discovers a corpse in a secret passage, the riddle of Yves's disappeance is apparently solved. But what is the significance of the dead man's pyjamas? Originally published in 1935, this is a vintage murder mystery from the golden age of crime fiction.

183 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 31, 2019

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 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

This fellow Walling must have had a mind like a computer to work out the complications of the plot of this story. I found it quite hard to follow at times although I did enjoy it. Tolefree is a likeable sleuth but doesn't always play fair and keeps the odd fact up his sleeve thus making it difficult for the reader to work out what happened. The setting in an English castle was good and the characters of the woolly peer who owned it and his rather disreputable brother were well drawn. I would have given it four stars but I found the ending a little unsatisfactory.

[Alex McCall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable.

Great yarn, very interesting characters. Just a little bit disappointed in the ending. But well worth the time taken to read.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 65%