Toff Books In Order

Publication Order of Toff Books

The Toff series is a series of crime fiction and adventure novels written by well known British author John Creasey. All the books in this series feature the main character named Honorable Richard Rollison, popularly known as The Toff. Rollison is described by author John Creasey as an upper class, law bending, villain hating crime sleuth. His character is similar to that of Simon Templar, but he does not a earlier life related to crime. The calling card of Rollison is a caricature of a posh person or a Toff. In all the novels, he is depicted by author John Creasey as being popular with his exploits and reported in the newspapers on a number of occasions. The criminals fear and respect him at the same time. Author Joh Creasey wrote and published a total of 60 books in The Toff series, which were released between the years 1938 and 1978. The last novel of the series titled ‘The Toff and the Dead Man’s Finger’ was released posthumously five years after his death. Even though the main character Richard Rollison is similar in description to Simon Templar, author Creasey believes that his other character named The Baron bears a closer resemblance to him. Although Richard Rollison does not have an earlier life involved in crime, unlike Simon Templar, he goes on to break or bend the laws frequently in order to pursue his investigations and catch the criminals. His unique calling card consists of a line drawing with a monocle, top hat, a bow tie, and a cigarette along with a holder.

The flat in which Richard Rollison lives has a trophy wall which is comprised of mementos from each and every case that he helped to solve as a crime sleuth. Being a well known personality of the city, Richard Rollison equally makes appearances in the high class gatherings as he goes to London’s East End in relationship to his investigations. The important characters described by author John Creasey in The Toff series include Richard Rollison a.k.a The Toff, Jolly, Superintendent William Grice a.k.a Bill, Richard Shuttleworth, Willaim Ebbut, lady Gloria Hurst, and a few others as well. The Toff is described as a wealthy bachelor who lies in a flat in Mayfair located at 22, Gresham terrace. He is believed to be around 40 years old, a little more than 6 feet tall, with dark hair. Richard Rollison is often referred to as Rolly by his friends. He is even called as Mr. Ar by the acquaintances living in the East. Jolly is depicted as the valet of Rollison. He also works as his partner in carrying out the investigations. Jolly is described as sad looking and dour, and a proper gentleman of a gentleman in every way. Bill Grice works in the Scotland Yard. He respects the contributions and abilities of Rollison, but does not approve of his methods. He suffered a scarred face due to Rollison during one of his cases.

Richard Shuttleworth is described as the owner of a few stables located at Shoreditch Lane’s end. He also helps Rollison in his investigations in a number of cases. William Ebbut or Bill is introduced as the owner of the Blue Dog Gymnasium. He gives training to the fighters at the gym. Bill also owns a public house called as The Sailor’s Arms. He is known to provide trustworthy men quite frequently to act as trail suspects or guards. In one of the books, Bill is described as having pendulous jowls, a big head, very small neck, and a big chest merged with a huge waistline. Whenever he breathes, he wheezes. Lady Gloria Hurst is depicted as the aunt of Richard Rollison. She owns a home called as the Marigold Club. Gloria takes in women who require temporary help and occasionally protects the women involved in the adventures of Richard Rollison. A couple of movies have been adapted from the adventures of this series, Hammer the Toff and Salute the Toff. Two BBC adaptations were also developed featuring actor Terence Alexander.

One of the initial novels in The Toff series written by author John Creasey was published under the title ‘Here Comes the Toff’. It was first released in the year 1940 and then republished by the Magnum publishers in the year 1967. In the beginning, it is shown that Honorable Richard Rollison is known as The Toff to the underworld of many countries as well as to the police. He always believed that he had the charm to attract any beautiful woman. When one of her former loving ladies named Irma Cardew returns back in his life, he cannot stop, but wonder who is going to be her next victim. Irma Cardew appeared to be a lovely lady. She was quite witty and beautiful. She had the ability to kill any man with her charm. Richard Rollison was aware that she was guilty of committing a few murders, but he could find out how she managed to get acquitted of all the murder charges. Even though there were strong evidences against her, she somehow managed to come out clean without any harm. Richard Rollison knew that if she has returned back to the city means she is going victimize a poor man and empty his bank account, if she does not take his life. To his surprise, Rollison was not aware of the fact that Irma Cardew has decided to come after him this time.

The next novel published initially in The Toff series written by author John Creasey was titled as ‘The Toff Proceeds’. It was released in the year 1941. The plot of this book depicts a couple of good looking and beautiful girls having a passing resemblance to each other. The family of one of them seems to posses a very large fortune that is going to be inherited by her very soon. After a short while, uncontrolled greed appears to stir in, which ultimately results in a murder. Once again The Toff is rolled in to carry out the investigation. Richard Rollison, better known as The Toff to the police and the underworld of numerous countries, was not in the mood of carrying out any investigation. He had gone out to enjoy a fun filled weekend and play some games. He had expected to have a relaxing time after a very long time. But, when he comes to know about the case, he is forced to leave everything else behind and help solve the case. Richard Rollison begins with studying the details related to both the girls and tries to find the motive behind the murder. Eventually, he goes on to have a close encounter with the killer before hunting him down and making him pay for his deadly crime.

One Response to “Toff”

1. Ray: 2 years ago

   Absolutely great reading

   Reply