Introducing the Toff

A little road rage was not unusual even in the 1940s, but the Toff was not expecting bullets to be a part of the argument when his Allard blocked the path of an oncoming Daimler in an English country lane. Whilst returning home from a cricket match at his father's country home, the Honourable Richard Rollison—alias The Toff—comes across an accident which proves to be a mystery. As he delves deeper into the matter with his usual perseverance and thoroughness, murder and suspense form the backdrop to a fast moving and exciting adventure. About the 'The King of Crime’ wrote an astonishing number of crime and mystery books, selling more than 80 million copies worldwide in 28 languages over five decades. His most famous characters include The Baron, Inspector West, and Gideon. The Creasey Dagger is the UK’s top award for first time crime novelists with winners including Patricia Cornwell and Minette Walters. Creasey is an inspiration to the aspiring but as yet unpublished author. He had 743 rejection slips before his first book was accepted. He never stopped believing in himself and he never gave up. He wasn’t afraid to take risks either—writing under 10 different names and changing styles with each character. At least 5000 different editions of Creasey’s work were published in 28 different languages. There are 11 different series, four of them (Roger West, The Toff, The Baron, and Patrick Dawlish) with either 50 titles reached or very close, two series (Dr Palfrey and Department Z) with over 30 titles, and the great Gideon with 21. A further 50-odd titles have been published as written by Michael Halliday. John Creasey lived near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England on land once given to Sir John Botenham by King John. He was married four times, had three sons, three daughters-in-law, and seven grandchildren.