i just finished 'The Agony Column' by Earl Derr Biggers, the creator of Charlie Chan. it's a free gutenberg book originally published in 1914, a decade before the charlie chan books. here's where to get it:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1814
if you decide to try it, let us know what you think, it's a pretty quick read and, imho, highly engrossing.