‘The Doodled Asterisk’ by R.A.J Walling

Published by Oreon,
The Oleander Press, 2023.
ISBN:978-1-91-547531-2 (PB)
Originally published 1943.

It is 21st March 1941 and yet again London is under bombardment.  James Farrar, the narrator, has just finished a shift as a firewatcher in central London, when he receives a phone call from Philip Tolefree, a friend from whom he has not heard for 18 months.  In the course of the conversation Farrar reveals that he is going to Westport the following day, to meet a man called Blenkinsop, who has written to him claiming to have a message from the captain of the SS Bridgend.  The ship had been torpedoed, with only two survivors.  Tolefree suggests that they should meet at Paddington and have a chat before his journey.

The next morning Farrar finds that Tolefree has actually come prepared to travel with him, and during the journey they catch up on past months.  Then Tolefree starts questioning Farrar about Blenkinsop and reveals that he knows more about the SS Bridgend than he had indicated.  But he assures Farrar that he knows nothing about Blenkinsop, except that he had understood he had gone down with the ship.

They arrive at Westport and book in at the Imperial Hotel.  Farrar asks if Blenkinsop is registered there, but there is no record of him.  Their inquiries are halted by an air raid, but evidence of a shooting before the raid is later supported by the discovery of two burned bodies in the hotel.  The roll call of people staying at the hotel reveals that two men, Perry and Black are missing – these are the names of the two individuals officially recorded as surviving the sinking of the Bridgend.

The destruction and chaos caused by the bombing is vividly described.  It hampers investigations about the dead men, what happened to them and why they were in Westport.  Farrar and Tolefree, with input from the mysterious Horridge, begin inquiries which take them through the Cotswolds to North Wales, with some wonderful descriptions of the landscapes, as well as the backstreets of London.  There are chases across the countryside, mysterious individuals, and uncertainty about what is going on.  Farrar reflects this uncertainty in his narration, as it becomes clear that there is much more involved that the initial deaths.

Farrar seems to have some ideas about the roles of the people with whom he is working, but generally his efforts to keep up with the story add to the feeling of urgency.  There is frantic action interspersed with serious discussion, as the three men try to work out how to understand what is going on and who is involved, but the sense of urgency does not falter even in the calmer moments.

The book was first published in 1943, when the outcome of the war was by no means sure and the original audience for the book would have been living through experiences similar to those Walling describes.  The story successfully mixes murder and mystery with sketches of life in war-time Britain.
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood

Other books by this author:  in the Tolefree series: The Fatal Five Minutes, Follow the Blue Car, The Five Suspects, Eight to Nine, The Tolliver Case, The Cat And The Corpse, The Corpse In The Crimson Slippers, The Crime in Cumberland Court, More Than One Serpent, Castle Dinas, The Late Unlamented.  Stand-alone novel:  The Man with the Squeaky Voice

Robert Alfred John Walling (1869-1949) was an English journalist. He invented the upper-class private investigator, Philip Tolefree. He was born in Exeter; his father was the journalist RH Walling. He married Florence Greet and lived in Plymouth, where he edited the Western Independent. Walling also wrote travel articles and biographies. He did not begin to write mysteries until he was nearly sixty. His series characters were Garstang and Philip Tolefree.

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop.  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.