Discover
Jan 1, 1884 — Jan 1, 1933· 49 yrs

UNITED STATES AUTHOR · FICTION · POLICE

Earl Derr Biggers

Also known as: Derr Earl Biggers, Earl Biggers

14
BOOKS
3.5
AVG RATING (38)
0
READERS
Warren, United States
Wikipedia

London that historic summer was almost unbearably hot.

— from The Agony Column

Most acclaimed

#1

The house without a key

3.6 (16)

‘The House Without a Key’ is the first book in Earl Derr Biggers' hugely successful Charlie Chan mysteries. Atmospheric and entertaining, Biggers shows you a side of Hawaii that few will ever see. In this first novel, Chan comes to the aid of an aristocratic Boston family who find themselves in dire straits over what has befallen Dan Winterslip, the black sheep of the family, who lives in a mansion on Waikiki Beach—the house without a key.\ The troubles begin when a young nephew is dispatched by the family in Boston to retrieve a wayward aunt who has overstayed her welcome in Dan Winterslip's house. Biggers brings Honolulu to life with his deft descriptions of the landscape and its hybrid ethnic communities. And with the creation of Inspector Chan, Biggers also shatters stereotypes and is ahead of his time in highlighting the positive aspects of Chinese-Hawaiian culture. The novel rejuvenated Biggers’ career as a leading writer of popular fiction in the early twentieth century.

#2

Love Insurance

4.0 (1)
#3

Behind that curtain

0.0 (0)

Behind That Curtain, published in 1928, finds Charlie Chan in San Francisco preparing to return to Honolulu after a working holiday. He meets a Sir Frederic Bruce from Scotland Yard, who is following the trail of a woman who disappeared fifteen years before. The two attend a dinner party together—where Sir Frederic is murdered. Chan is then pressed to delay his return to Hawaii to assist in the murder investigation. Before Charlie can find the murderer, he must find the missing woman. Because the previous Chan novel, The Chinese Parrot, was so well received, Earl Derr Biggers was paid an impressive $25,000 for a serialized version of Behind That Curtain by The Saturday Evening Post The novel was adapted for film in 1929.

Books

Newest First