The Agony Column

The Agony Column (aka The Second Floor Mystery) is a mystery/romance novel by Earl Derr Biggers published in 1916. It is a romantic adventure starring a young American in London and inspired by the personal ads (agony columns) in the London papers. In this treacherous tale of murder and intrigue young American Geoffrey West tracks a killer from the posh dining room of the Carlton Hotel to the opium dens of London's Limehouse district in search of the truth and the heart of his true love only to find the culprit all too close to home.