John Creasey: Ten Authors in One | The First of Many | Simple Facts | The Toff | Gideon of the Yard (as JJ Marric) | Department Z | Dr Palfrey
Patrick Dawlish (as Gordon Ashe) | As Jeremy York | Inspector West | Michael Fane and Dr Cellini | The Baron

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The Toff - or the Honourable Richard Rollison - was 'born' in the twopenny weekly Thriller in 1933, but it was not until 1938 that John Creasey first published books about him. He was written originally to special editorial requirements and in the first few volumes no amount of re-writing and lengthening, even from 25,000 words to 60,000, could make him more than a rather heavy-footed 'Saint'¹. Once new stories were written for the novel form, however, the Toff took on characteristics all his own and became a kind of 'Saint with his feet on the ground'. It was in this period that the author began consciously to use the Toff to show how well the Mayfair man-about-town could get on with the rough diamonds of the East End.

His first police catalyst, flat-footed Inspector McNab of the Yard, soon gave way to a more realistic policeman, Detective Superintendent 'Bill' Grice. McNab hadn't seemed real to the Creasey, but Grice did, and has grown and matured with the Toff until today they are more friends than enemies. Bill Ebbutt, ex-prizefighter and East End pub-keeper - who began life as Bert, but between books was accidentally converted to Bill - has appeared in most Toffs, and his Salvation Army wife, Lil, in many. Some Salvationists told Creasey that such a marriage could not take place, but he always claimed author's licence. In these books, Lady (Old Glory) Gloria Hurst, the Toff's patrician and community-minded aunt, rubs shoulders happily with Grice and Ebbutt, to show that no matter what their backgrounds, people can live in complete harmony with one another.

The chief harmonising character in the Toff books is Jolly, the Toff's 'man'. There is an element of caricature in Jolly, of course, as indeed there is in the other characters (with the possible exception of Grice), and it is at least 20 years since he was first called an anachronism. Yet his popularity is as great with 'pop' fans as it has been with youths for several generations. He moves with the times a great deal more freely than many who criticise realise, and comes to grips with some intensely serious social problems, as in The Toff and the Teds (US Title).

Creasey had been trying to get the Toff published in the United States for 15 years before Pyramid Books and then Walker presented this character to American readers. Almost instantly 'the anachronism' was a success, and Walker sometimes publish as many as six Toffs in a year, ranging from very early books to those most recently published in England. He is widely popular, too, in France; in fact, the Toff was translated into a dozen different languages.

What gives the Toff his ever-fresh, ever-appealing quality it is impossible to say, unless it is that he likes people, and continues to live a life of glamour and romance while constantly showing (by implication alone) that all men are brothers under the skin.

Original Title	First British Edition	First US edition	US Title if Different
Introducing the Toff	1938	-	-
The Toff Steps Out	1939	-	-
The Toff Goes On	1939	-	-
The Toff Breaks In	1940	-	-
Here Comes the Toff	1940	1967	-
Salute the Toff	1941	1971	-
The Toff Proceeds	1941	1968	-
The Toff is Back	1942	1973	-
The Toff Goes to Market	1942	1967	-
Accuse the Toff	1943	1974	-
The Toff Among the Millions	1943	1975	-
The Toff and the Great Illusion	1944	1967	-
The Toff and the Curate	1944	1969	The Toff and the Deadly Parson
Feathers for the Toff	1945	1970	-
The Toff and the Lady	1946	-	-
Hammer the Toff	1947	1971	-
The Toff on Ice	1947	1965	Poison for the Toff*
The Toff Takes Shares	1948	1972	-
The Toff in Town	1948	-	-
The Toff and Old Harry	1949	1970	-
The Toff on Board	1949	1973	-
Kill the Toff	1950	1966	-
Fool the Toff	1950	1966	-
The Toff Goes Gay	1951	1966	A Mask for the Toff
A Knife for the Toff*	1951	1964	-
Hunt the Toff	1952	1969	-
Call the Toff	1953	1969	-
The Toff Down Under	1953	1969	-
The Toff at Butlins	1954	-	-
The Toff at the Fair **	1954	1968	-
A Six for the Toff	1955	1972	-
The Toff and the Deep Blue Sea	1955	1967	-
Make-up for the Toff	1956	1967	-
The Toff in New York*	1956	1964	-
The Toff on Fire	1957	1966	-
Model for the Toff*	1957	1965	-
The Toff and the Stolen Tresses	1958	1965	-
The Toff on the Farm	1958	1964	-
The Toff and the Runaway Bride	1959	1964	-
Double for the Toff	1959	1965	-
The Toff and the Kidnapped Child	1960	1965	-
A Rocket for the Toff*	1960	1964	-
Follow the Toff	1961	1967	-
The Toff and the Teds	1962	1968	The Toff and the Toughs
Leave it to the Toff*	1963	1965	-
A Doll for the Toff	1964	1965	-
The Toff and the Spider	1965	1966	-
The Toff in Wax	1966	1966	-
A Bundle for the Toff	1967	1968	-
Stars for the Toff	1968	1968	-
The Toff and the Golden Boy	1969	1969	-
The Toff and the Fallen Angels	1970	1970	-
Vote for the Toff	1971	1971	-
The Toff and the T-T-Triplets	1972	1972	-
The Toff and the Terrified Taxman	1973	1973	-
The Toff and the Sleepy Cowboy	1974	1974	-
The Toff and the Crooked Copper	1975	1975	-

* Paperback only in the USA.

** To be replished in 2004 as 'Last Laugh for the Toff'