I've been entertaining myself reading a reprint of John Buchan's adventure/mystery novel The Power-House which was originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1913. You can see from the even lengths of the chapters and the titles chosen that it was published as a serial.
Buchan's most famous hero of course is Richard Hannay of The 39 Steps. In The Power-House, the hero, barrister Leithen, is cerebral and not active like Hannay, though there are some fisticuff scenes. All the action takes place in London, except for reports from Bokhara of the man Leithen is trying to save.
The style is interesting: a lot of things are hinted at rather than stated. You never quite fathom the concrete goal the villains are after. It's political domination, but details are not provided. And Leithen apparently is able to avail himself of all sorts of connections from the British Empire. All roads, it seems, lead to London. Remember that this was the eve of WWI, after which many things were broken and never the same again. It is very much a novel of its age. Still, Buchan's prose withstands the passage of time well.
Incidentally Buchan had an extraordinary life to witness his biography.
Wikipedia: The Power-House has a link to an electronic version.
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