The Charlie Chan Collection - Volume II. (The Black Camel - Charlie Chan Carries On - Keeper of the Keys)

Book excerpt: This collection of early work by Earl Derr Biggers was originally published between 1929 and 1932 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. "The Charlie Chan Collection - Volume II" contains the final three colourful tales of Charlie Chan. In "The Black Camel" we are introduced to Hollywood star (Shelah Fane), who is stopping in Hawaii after she finished shooting a film on location in Tahiti. She is murdered in the pavilion of her renter house in Waikiki during her stay. In "Charlie Chan Carries On," Chan takes the place of Inspector Duff, a Scotland Yard detective and friend of Chan's, who is injured whilst pursuing a murderer on an around-the-world voyage. "Keeper of the Keys" is the sixth and final mystery novel in the Charlie Chan series. The setting of the novel is rural California, where Chan has been invited as a houseguest. Earl Derr Biggers was born on 26th August 1884 in Warren, Ohio, USA. Biggers received his further education at Harvard University, where he developed a reputation as a literary rebel, preferring the popular modern authors, such as Rudyard Kipling and Richard Harding Davis to the established figures of classical literature. While on holiday in Hawaii, Biggers heard tales of a real-life Chinese detective operating in Honolulu, named Chang Apana. This inspired him to create his most enduring legacy in the character of super-sleuth Charlie Chan. Biggers wrote six Chan novels in total and all were licensed for movie adaptations by Fox Films. These films were hugely popular with several different actors taking the lead role of Chan. They were even a success in China where the appeal of a character from the country being the hero instead of the villain appealed to film-goers. Eventually; over 40 films were produced featuring the character. Biggers only saw the early on-screen successes of Charlie Chan due to his death at the age of only 48 from a heart attack in April 1933.