The Skull of the Waltzing Clown, by Harry Stephen Keeler (epub/Kindle/pdf)

"My guiltiest pleasure is Harry Stephen Keeler. He may have been the greatest bad writer America has ever produced. Or perhaps the worst great writer. I do not know. There are few faults you can accuse him of that he is not guilty of. But I love him." —Neil Gaiman

Shirt salesman George Stan­nard returns from Hawaii to find that his racist uncle Simon wants him to pay off a loan that he made to George’s father years ago. Or he can do Simon a favor by getting the goods on Titus Fenwick, a gambler who’s had experience with Pau-Ho, the odd Hawaiian drug that causes amnesia for 6 weeks. Dash in a dollop of diabolism in the persona of Lucifer Zull, the cruel ship captain, and you have the makings of a webwork mystery that only a master like Keeler could have penned.

A Note for the Sensitive: This book was first published in 1935 and is a product of its time. It is not politically correct by current standards.