13 h 20 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 20 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a gentleman thief turns detective—and faces the shadow world of a deadly secret society?
In Peter Ruff and the Double Four, E. Phillips Oppenheim brings a gentleman thief into the role of master detective. Secrets and disguises shape this world of mystery and crime, where Peter Ruff stands between detection and the criminal life he knows.
The Double Four brings the threat of a deadly secret society into Ruff’s world. This collection of mystery stories invites you into that shadowy territory, with a central figure whose move from thief to detective gives the premise its sharp appeal.
What you’ll discover
- A thief turned detective Meet Peter Ruff, a gentleman thief who takes on the role of master detective.
- The Double Four Enter the shadow world of a deadly secret society, where danger frames the mystery.
- Secrets and disguises Explore a world defined by hidden identities and the secrets beneath appearances.
- Crime meets detection Discover the appeal of a detective whose story begins on the other side of crime.
- Mystery in short stories Follow Ruff through a collection that brings crime, detection, and concealed identities together.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy clever disguises, rival spies, secret societies and a hero who outwits the police with a smile. It suits anyone who likes short, brisk cases linked by one growing mystery.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A supper table ends a respectable life
- A corpse on the carpet earns five hundred guineas
- A stolen invention and a fooled detective
- An actress, a shooting and a hidden room
- Old love sets a trap and a stolen paper
- The Double Four calls in its debt
- Paris offers a prize and Violet names her price
- A retired farmer becomes the Baron de Grost
- What lies under the adventures
Who’s who
- Peter RuffA former thief with a taste for suburban respectability, he sets up as a private detective and outwits Scotland Yard, then finds the Double Four wants him.
- Violet BrownAn actress who becomes his secretary and partner, she loves him quietly, sees through every scheme and keeps him honest.
- John DoryA Scotland Yard detective who loses Ruff at Daisy Villa and spends years trying to catch him, while his own life unravels.
- Maud BarnesThe coal merchant's daughter who first loves Spencer Fitzgerald, then marries Dory, and later tries to use Ruff's old feelings for her.
- Sir Richard DysonA cold, well-dressed baronet in debt who first hires Ruff to save him from a crime and returns later with another dark request.
- Marquis de SograngeA rich, idle French aristocrat and leader of the Double Four, he pushes Ruff into ever larger tasks.
- BernadineAlso called Count von Hern, a smooth foreign spy who plays polo, charms hostesses and never forgives being beaten.
- Lady Mary SotherstA loyal sister who hires Ruff to save her brother and later calls him a trusted friend.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 13 h 20 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Peter Ruff and the Double Four
by E. Phillips Oppenheim · 1912
A clerk leaps through a supper-room window and starts a detective agency that outwits Scotland Yard.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Peter Ruff and the Double Four is a set of linked adventures by E. Phillips Oppenheim, an English writer of popular thrillers who died in 1946.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A supper table ends a respectable life
The book opens on a foggy Sunday evening in November at Daisy Villa in Streatham. David Barnes, a coal merchant with Methodist leanings, carves the cold beef without his coat. His wife and daughter Maud, who has genteel hopes, study the guest of the evening. He is Spencer Fitzgerald, a mild young cashier in gold spectacles, who says he earns four pounds ten a week and has four hundred pounds put away.
The family is delighted. Mrs Barnes asks her sly questions, Mr Barnes whistles at the salary, and young Adolphus admires his own pink tie. Fitzgerald holds Maud's hand beneath the tablecloth and tells himself this is the future he truly wants. Oppenheim plays the scene as gentle comedy, but the comedy has an edge, because the reader senses that the guest is not what he seems.
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What is Peter Ruff and the Double Four about?
It follows Peter Ruff, a former thief who becomes a private detective in London. He solves cases for frightened clients, outwits Scotland Yard, and is drawn into the Double Four, a powerful secret society based in Paris.
What is the Double Four in the book?
It is a secret society run from Paris. Its eight leaders live openly as men and women of fashion, while an organization of agents and criminals serves them. Its sign is a domino marked with two fours.
Who is Bernadine, also called Count von Hern?
He is a polished foreign spy who lives in England as a sportsman and guest. He keeps working against Peter Ruff and his friends, and their rivalry runs through much of the book.
The author
E. Phillips Oppenheim
1866–1946 · English thriller novelist
Edward Phillips Oppenheim was an English novelist, born in London in 1866. He lived in Leicester and later on Guernsey, where he died in 1946. He wrote novels and short stories, including The Yellow Crayon (1903), The Zeppelin’s Passenger (1918), and The Great Impersonation (1920).
More by E. Phillips Oppenheim
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