Don Micklem is an ultra-rich adventurer.
This two-book series about the wealthy Micklem who gets involved in international affairs is interesting from the start because the author is not American but British. And the adventures take place in England and Italy, never in America. And everyone else is either English or Italian so the question comes, why make the protagonist an American? The answer is probably, why not?
In the first chronicled escapade, it is stated that the hero, Don Micklem, a former pilot during WWII, had inherited over 5 million pounds from his father some time back. He owned considerable land in America, an estate in England, a house in London, and a villa in Venice. Though he did not care for the demands of both business and social events, he was constantly forced to deal with both, which is probably why he jumped at the chances for excitement that start both stories.
By the beginning of the second book, either the author changed his mind as to how much money Micklem had been left or the work that the character actually did paid off for his worth is listed as being several hundred million pounds. Considering the exchange rate at that time, roughly 2.8 to 1, that would make Micklem close to a billionaire.
In the course of his activities in these two missions, Micklem made use of three close and trusted employees: Marian Rigby, his personal secretary, Harry Mason, his chauffeur, and Cherry, his valet and butler. The four truly make a great team.
Micklem's adventures are included in this compendium because the two were both international in nature and because both were connected to activities of Britain's Special Branch, the first directly with them and the second with the approval of them.
Note: the first book was made into a French thriller in 1964 with Sean Flynn playing the lead, whose name in the movie was Michael Newman.