The Agony Column

If you've read Charlie Chan, it's fascinating to see his creator, Earl Derr Biggers, exercise his dashing wit and engaging style in this earlier work. Geoffrey West falls in love at first sight with a girl in a hotel breakfasting with her father. They're all Americans, but the scene is London on the eve of the Great War. Both Geoffrey and his ladylove Marian are reading the Agony Column of the Daily Mail. That gives Geoffrey the idea of courting her through a message in the Personals. She responds in the Personals by setting him a task: write a series of seven letters that will prove he's a man worth knowing. Amazingly, as he writes the letters, he finds himself embroiled in a murder case with overtones of espionage. To say more about what transpires would spoil the fun. The lightness of the story contrasts interestingly with the grim mood of England as Germany mobilizes.

Geoffrey West is an American in London. Dining one morning on a plate of fresh strawberries, and taking in the personal ads in the newspaper (aptly nicknamed "The Agony Column"), he spots an American tourist girl with her father, a Congressman from Texas. He notes that she too is reading the Agony Column. Later that day he has an idea to place an ad to catch her attention, and vows to send her a letter each day for a week to win her heart. Each letter becomes more interesting than the previous because West finds himself entangled in a murder mystery with new twists each day. And all of this occurs just as World War I is beginning. A vibrant mystery from beginning to end, this clever story is made all the more interesting because of the format. Most is relayed through West's letters, making it readable and unique. The wording is very flowery and the method of courtship is somewhat dated, but it captures an era, much to the delight of fans of the era. For a look at the past or for an engaging read, look no further than The Agony Column.

Between 1925 and 1932, Earl Derr Biggers wrote six novels about Charley Chan, a fictional Chinese detective, who was to become a pop culture icon through his representation in Hollywood movies. This novel, The Agony Column, was written by him ten years before his first Charley Chan novel. It might be considered a romance and it might be considered a mystery. It tells the story of a young couple falling in love, but it also contains the tale of a most mysterious murder. The time is July 1914 and the setting is London. Rumors of a European war are in the press, but the two main characters are Americans who both enjoy reading in the newspaper the Personal Notices, popularly known as The Agony Column. In it are published the personal messages of otherwise reserved British urbanites.As the novel begins Geoffrey West is having his breakfast in a restaurant and reading the Agony Column when he sees a beautiful young woman enter with her father. He is immediately attracted to her and notices that she too carries the Agony Column in her hand. The waiter seats the young lady and her escort at the table next to West and he hears her express her enjoyment of the ads in the personals. His breakfast over, West leaves the restaurant but can't get this young woman out of his mind. How can he meet her? He doesn't even know who she is. Then it hits him. He writes to her in the Personal Notices. In her reply she asks that he write seven letters to her in seven days to prove he is an interesting person and tells him how to post them. His first letter is innocent enough, but then the mystery begins. Murder and political intrigue are detailed in the letters of a man smitten by love. The two questions of "who done it?" and "will the boy get the girl?" drive the plot along. This is a delightful tale that will entertain to the very end.This novel was made into a movie in 1930 called The Second Floor Mystery, starring Loretta Young as the beautiful young lady. However, being a silent movie, it is one you will not see in the video stores or on television.

Take a large helping of mystery, add a heap of suspense and sprinkle liberally with a charming romance, and you've got one of the best mysteries this side of Sherlock. And don't worry, the unlike some myserties, you'll be guessing the whole way through, and still be left in shock!