''The Double Florin'' is a 1924 thriller novel by John Rhode, the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of the British writer Cecil Street. Like

H.C. McNeile Herman Cyril McNeile, MC (28 September 1888 – 14 August 1937), commonly known as Cyril McNeile and publishing under the name H. C. McNeile or the pseudonym Sapper, was a British soldier and author. Drawing on his experiences in the trenches ...

's '' Bulldog Drummond'' and

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

's ''

The Secret Adversary ''The Secret Adversary'' is the second published detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in January 1922 in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in th ...

'' the plot revolves around a Bolshevik conspiracy to destroy capitalism and western democracy. The title refers to the

Double florin The double florin, or four-shilling piece, was a British coin produced by the Royal Mint between 1887 and 1890. One of the shortest-lived of all British coin denominations, it was struck in only four years. Its obverse, designed by Joseph Boeh ...

coin. It was his second published novel and anticipated the introduction of his best-known character

Dr. Priestley Dr. Lancelot Priestley is a fictional investigator born in July 1869 in a series of books by John Rhode After 1924, Dr. Priestley took over from Dr. Thorndyke as the leading fictional forensic investigator in Britain, and featured in 72 novels ...

in his following book ''

The Paddington Mystery ''The Paddington Mystery'' is a 1925 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It marked the first appearance of Lancelot Priestley, who featured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of De ...

''. The conspiracy is being directed by Professor Sanderson, a brilliant mathematician. Sanderson is not himself a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, but is manipulating the organisation to try and create a new order based on pure reason.Evans p.59

Synopsis

A young English

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

Lord Robert Mountmichael is recruited by LIDO, a secret organisation formed by international

financiers An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

to battle the forces of disorder. He eventually exposes the Professor as the mastermind behind the plot to destroy Britain's social system as a prelude to world collapse, while falling in love with his daughter Joan. After exposing Sanderson's true motivation, the professor is shot dead by one of his fanatical henchman.

References

Bibliography

* Evans, Curtis. ''Masters of the "Humdrum" Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961''. McFarland, 2014. * Herbert, Rosemary. ''Whodunit?: A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing''. Oxford University Press, 2003. * Turnbull, Malcolm J. ''Victims Or Villains: Jewish Images in Classic English Detective Fiction''. Popular Press, 1998. 1924 British novels Novels by Cecil Street British mystery novels British thriller novels Geoffrey Bles books Novels set in London {{1920s-thriller-novel-stub