Evening star., 1933-04-25
NEW BOOKS
= AT RANDOM
M. C..

N11ArbAG N1AN. 0y GdII OcII
Biggers. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Company.
Since the appearance Just q few
weeks ago Of this collection of mystery
cases solved by Charlie Chan sorrow
has descended on Punch Bowl Hill and
now the long famous and usually happy
Chinese detective is sadly rejecting
upon the inscrutible ways of Providence.
For the black camel has visited a
certain house in far away Pasadena
and he who was mortal has passed on
into the realm of the immortal. On the
fifth of this month Earl Derr Biggers,
the dearest friend, the creator and the
biographer Of Charlie Chan, passed into
the beyond and never again will this
genial oriental detective fare forth to
solve a mystery which bafiies the homi-
eide squads and the forces Of law and
order
A great multitude Of people in every
land are sharing the grief Of Charlie
Chan, for the six great mysteries which
he has solved during the past ten years
have been translated into ten foreign
the detective has become q real per-
son. Mr. Biggers had already achieved
noteworthy fame before he created
Charlie Chan, but his greater success
came to him through the exploits of the
fat and kindly oriental who, through
the skill Of his creator, rose from the
rank of an humble member Of the
Honolulu police force to become the
best known and most beloved detective
in the world.
So vivid and human have been all the
performances Of Chan that many read
ers of the Biggers mystery stories have
believed that he must be a real person.
OF course. he Is not, though the idea
of creating a Chinese detective was
born of the discovery that there were
two members of that race on the police
force of Honolulu. When the first
appeared Mr.. Biggers made the fol-
lowing statement:
Sinister and wicked Chinese are old
stuff In mystery stories, but an amiable
Chinese on the side of law and order
had never been used up to that time. "
To the end of his career Charlie Chan
has remained the "amiable Chinese on
the side of law and order" It was no
Ightsome task to endow his detective
with the gift Of aptly applying the
deep philosophy Of the oriental to the
often distasteful and frequently menial
job at hand. Diligent research was
necessary in the development Of the
style which made possible the delight
fully twisted English of Chan and in
the employment of many equally de-
lightful and fathoms-deep quotations
from old Chinese philosophers and wise
men.
The present collection Of stories leads
nfF nj
which Is the tale Of the stabbing to
death Of Dan Winterslip in his own
house in Honolulu. An elderly woman
relative on q much heightened visit
from Boston, brother who heartily
hates and daughter who idolizes the
victim. her fiance, q nephew sent to
Honolulu to retrieve and bring back to
Boston the long overdue aunt; a some
what disreputable hotel keeper and his
beautiful daughter, mixed variety of
guests at the questionable inn and a
collection Of personal and impersonal
friends all manage to become entangled
in the net Of suspicion before Charlie
Chan cuts the mesh, releases the inno-
cent and forces the hand of the crimi-
nal
The Chinese Parrot" is the first story
which takes Charlie Chan abroad. Fol
many years the detective has wanted to
see America, but the duties of Office and
the demands of his constantly growing
family have kept him close to home
In this story, however, he is employed
by an American woman for whom he
has worked in Honolulu to protect and
safely deliver a valuable necklace OF
pearls. The journey takes Chan from
San Francisco into the fastnesses of the
desert, and keeps him there for q ia,
longer time than is either comfortable
or happy. It is great case" with q
number of hair-raising experiences ir
which the imperturbable tenacity which
is characteristic of the race leads tc
victory and reward.
Looking forward to well-earned
rest at the end of the necklace episode
and with due regard and concern as to
the arrival of a new member into his
family, Charlie has booked passage for
home, even though another crime has
pushed itself under his nose and de-
manded that he solve the mystery. In
fact, he is actually on board ship and
in his stateroom when an overheard
conversation causes him to change his
mind, and to the delight of friends
whom he has made in San Francisco he
walks down the gangplank and into the
thick of Behind That Curtain" a ro-
nance dealing with the disappearance
Of several girls and trailing through
three continents. It is during the un-
raveling of this mystery that Chan re-
ceives word of the birth of his eleventh
child. He is homesick. and longs for
| the little house on Punch Bowl Hill
| but in spite of discouragements and
blind alleys he stays on and wins his
victory.
Y< u,,. h,,t ,,o{,ro1 that sooo~ &ir,~
| or other Chan would have one Of the
in THE Black Camel" Mr. Biggers
gave him his opportunity. True, the
murder of the beautiful actress took
place in Honolulu and not in the
pageant city of the motion picture in
dustry, but practically all of those in
volved were members of the Hollywood
set and connected in some manner with
a murder which had been committed
in the tinsel city some three years be-
fore. It was not necessary for the
noteworthy detective to leave the home
shores in this case, for all Of those in
volved had managed to collect them
selves in Honolulu Much of the magic
of the tropics and semi-tropics per-
vades this enticing tale, and not in any
of the Biggers mysteries are there more
examples of the typically Charlie Chan
brand of philosophical observations
than in this one
The concluding book Is Charlie Chan
Carries On" with murders in London
Nice, San Reno and Yokohama This
case very nearly gives Chan . trip
karound the world, during which his own
demise at the hand Of an unknown
enemy is avoided only through the
miraculous Intervention Of Providence
Perhaps this is the most extraordinary
trail of sleuthing which Chan has done
but If 1t were necessary to make a
choice of this collection of five novels
the selection of the best would almost
surely end in a tie for all of them.
The passing of Mr.. Biggers at such
an untimely age is truly the cause oi
sincere mourning among his thousands
indeed millions-of readers. Had he
lived his full three score and ten years
there would undoubtedly have been
many more excursions into romance