The Thirty-Nine Steps 

Richard Hannay certainly didn't go looking for the mystery. He was hardly a reader of the newspaper, let alone a fan of dime novels -- and all the same, the mystery found him. First in the form of a young American telling fantastic tales of international intrigue and murderous conspiracy. There was a cabal at work -- on a plot cleverly crafted to set the entire world at war with itself. The American meant to put a stop to it, but needed to be hidden for a week or two. Reluctantly, Hannay agreed to hide him. The next morning he found the American dead -- scewered through the heart to the floor of Hannay's own apartment.