What do you think?
Rate this book
Toff #11
Accuse the Toff
It began with a Commando walking along Cheswick High Road in battle dress. A car brushed against him, and he went berserk. Firing his revolver, screaming oaths, he roared off in the vehicle, leaving wounded and dying scattered in the streets. Something about this curious case attracted The Toff's attention.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1943
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
John Creasey
705 books79 followersAKA Gordon Ashe, M E Cooke, Norman Deane, Robert Caine Frazer, Patrick Gill, Michael Halliday, Charles Hogarth, Brian Hope, Colin Hughes, Kyle Hunt, Margaret Lisle, Abel Mann, Peter Manton, J.J. Marric, Richard Martin, Rodney Mattheson, Anthony Morton, Jeremy York, Henry St. John Cooper and Margaret Cooke.
John Creasey (September 17, 1908 - June 9, 1973) was born in Southfields, Surrey, England and died in New Hall, Bodenham, Salisbury Wiltshire, England. He was the seventh of nine children in a working class home. He became an English author of crime thrillers, published in excess of 600 books under 20+ different pseudonyms. He invented many famous characters who would appear in a whole series of novels. Probably the most famous of these is Gideon of Scotland Yard, the basis for the television program Gideon's Way but others include Department Z, Dr. Palfrey, The Toff, Inspector Roger West, and The Baron (which was also made into a television series). In 1962, Creasey won an Edgar Award for Best Novel, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Gideon's Fire, written under the pen name J. J. Marric. And in 1969 he was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.
John Creasey (September 17, 1908 - June 9, 1973) was born in Southfields, Surrey, England and died in New Hall, Bodenham, Salisbury Wiltshire, England. He was the seventh of nine children in a working class home. He became an English author of crime thrillers, published in excess of 600 books under 20+ different pseudonyms. He invented many famous characters who would appear in a whole series of novels. Probably the most famous of these is Gideon of Scotland Yard, the basis for the television program Gideon's Way but others include Department Z, Dr. Palfrey, The Toff, Inspector Roger West, and The Baron (which was also made into a television series). In 1962, Creasey won an Edgar Award for Best Novel, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Gideon's Fire, written under the pen name J. J. Marric. And in 1969 he was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 6, 2020
The Toff said to SuperintendentGrice '...I suppose if the truth were known, I’m intrigued by the Chiswick business.'
'You aren't natural.' declared Grice. 'A man who’s been trained to the limit, living under a considerable strain—you’d assume that, as he’s a Commando—cracks up and goes haywire. It’s happened often enough before. Now and again there’s an unsuspected neurotic amongst the special troops and it comes out when least expected. Why shouldn’t it be just that?’
What did you read into it?’ asked Grice, obviously genuinely interested in the other’s opinions. ‘Just a single question,’ Rollison admitted. ‘Here’s a man who goes haywire after a slight jolt from a car, sprays bullets about him and then tears off in the said car. But he doesn’t dash along the main road until he has a crash; he doesn’t do the things that a man suffering from a brainstorm is likely to. He goes down a narrow turning leading to a maze of streets—I’m quoting the Echo—and disappears completely. He could have turned off at several other points but without a maze of streets conveniently handy for losing himself in.’
'You aren't natural.' declared Grice. 'A man who’s been trained to the limit, living under a considerable strain—you’d assume that, as he’s a Commando—cracks up and goes haywire. It’s happened often enough before. Now and again there’s an unsuspected neurotic amongst the special troops and it comes out when least expected. Why shouldn’t it be just that?’
What did you read into it?’ asked Grice, obviously genuinely interested in the other’s opinions. ‘Just a single question,’ Rollison admitted. ‘Here’s a man who goes haywire after a slight jolt from a car, sprays bullets about him and then tears off in the said car. But he doesn’t dash along the main road until he has a crash; he doesn’t do the things that a man suffering from a brainstorm is likely to. He goes down a narrow turning leading to a maze of streets—I’m quoting the Echo—and disappears completely. He could have turned off at several other points but without a maze of streets conveniently handy for losing himself in.’
August 28, 2012
This is a snappy little police procedural that takes place in Britain during WWII. It's very formulaic and, frankly, lost me several times. Creasey wrote hundreds of these books and the assembly-line nature of it shows through. However, The Toff character is a reliably heroic one, British to the core.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews