I read this one book off Project Gutenberg that frankly deserved to be lost to the ages
It was called something like 'Murder in the Country House' and basically, this guy wants to do some business dealings with this other guy, so he contrives to get himself invited to this country house where the other guy will be. So I am reading along, and I am waiting and waiting for the promised murder. And then at about chapter 6, they all get up to the country house, and they sit down for dinner together, and one of the characters turns to another one and says 'So...what are your feelings on the monarchy?'
Half an hour of reading time later (and I read fast, so this was a fair chunk of book) the characters were still parroting the author's feelings on the monarchy, and I was still waiting for the murder part. I gave up shortly after and deleted the book.
I agree with Apb. In the future, there will be a billion books on Project Gutenberg, and probably half of them will be our time's equivalent to the murder in the country house book. Where would a potential reader even begin?