A review of Follow The Blue Car by R A J Walling – 240105

It is normally cherchez la femme that will solve a mystery but in the second in Robert Walling’s Philip Tolefree series, originally published in 1933, the mysterious peregrinations of a Blue Car draw the insurance investigator and his sidekick and the story’s narrator, Farrar, into an adventure that involves a web of intrigue. In what is as much a thriller as a murder mystery, there are several red herrings, twists and turns, and a surprising outcome.

Structurally, the book is split into three unequal parts, a prologue in which Trinnery, the CEO of Navigators Ltd and Winsey discuss their suspicions of a Blue car and their arrangements for the transportation of £10,000 to pay workers at Paybury Harbour, the narrative of James Farrar which describes the mystery and makes up the bulk of the story, and an epilogue, an exchange of letters between two principal characters which clears up the loose ends of the case.       

Tolefree is a curious character, rather colourless and one who barely comes alive on the page. He is clever, dogged, thorough, commands the respect of both the police and his opponents and yet seems devoid of any personality or humour. His skills are ideal for an auditor or investigator but his character is not strong enough to carry a book on its own. It is as if Walling realizes that and invests much of his energy in developing a complex plot which is designed to confound and perplex the reader. He also has a curious relationship with the police, the official investigators, Murdoch and Fiddick being more than happy to take subordinate roles and allow the amateur his head.

James Farrar, too, is little more than a stereotypical cipher, a faithful recorder of events and his friend’s triumphs, but too dim to grasp the reality of what is unfolding around him. His role in the action is restricted to being another pair of hands upon which Tolefree can rely and the possessor of a car which, in this tale, which includes a mystery tour around southern England comes in handy.  

After being led on this wild goose chase following a blue car and arriving at Pitway House, the home of Major Cramb, the Chairman of Navigators Ltd, Tolefree and Farrar find that they have missed a crucial event by a matter of minutes. Cramb’s secretary, Harley, has been shot, and by his body is his gun. Peter Hurst and Jane Bellairs are on the scene and prior to entering the house through an unlocked door, Tolefree has heard them engaged in a suspicious conversation. To make matters worse, Peter escapes and is thought to have been killed in a plane crash and Jane, the archetypal maiden in distress, is captured by ruffians and has to be rescued.

As the prologue suggests, getting their hands on the cash being transported is the motive behind the series of events that unfold, but who is the eminence grise, who shot Harley, and what was his role in the affair? Tolefree is not content with one reconstruction of the scene at Pitway House but two, the second unmasking the culprit who, after the sleuth’s exhaustive enquiries, is really the last credible suspect standing. This seemed the only way to get out of their financial difficulties.

The book was a tad overlong and Walling’s style is a little old fashioned but with a little perseverance there is an interesting puzzle hidden in there.