Compared with the other entries in the Charlie Chan mystery series, Charlie Chan Carries On is not the strongest; compared with the heap of popular American detective fiction of the past century, it is still pretty darn good, so let's give it an A-.
This is the 5th of the six books in the series, published in 1930. Author Biggers took an artistic risk by starting out with a story that belongs to Scotland Yard Inspector Duff, an old friend of Charlie's. A member of an American-based world tour is found murdered in London. The members are wealthy and well-connected and the Embassy releases Duff's circle of suspects to continue on their way. So, he tries with uneven results to keep up. There are more deaths. When the ship arrives at Honolulu, a good 2/3 of the way through the book, Charlie joins what is left of the touring group for the last leg to San Francisco, to fix what went wrong in the investigation up to that point.
So, not giving us Charlie's company up front was a risk that was okay but not great. The travel group is large and we have to keep up with several names and stereotypical characters--though by the end, we can keep them straight. Typically, Biggers starts with stereotypes but spins them, but not so much here. The tourists are the 1%ers of 1930, apparently untouched by the events of October 1929, about which Charlie makes a passing remark. Biggers also relies on his own formula that always includes a bright ingénue and her suitor. In Behind That Curtain, the ingénue broke gender rules left and right; this is more of a predictable screwball comedy couple. All that said, we still get Charlie in the end, and Biggers slyly reveals the state of his contemporary world as he found it.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
$15.29
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
+
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Reviews with images
Biggers' Gift For Creating Memorable Characters And Plot Twists And Surprises
"CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ONEarl Derr BiggersReader: Jim ArmstrongUnabridged on Six 90-minute cassettesOf the six Charlie Chan novels Biggers wrote before his untimely death in 1934 at the age of 51, only three were ever filmed:The Black Carmel,Behind That Curtain, andCharlie Chan Carries On.Of these, only this one, starring the Swedish actor, Warner Oland, survived to be transferred to video tape.Chan first appeared on screen in 1926, but didn't make an impression until Oland took over.However, the series didn't hit stride until Key Luke appeared as Number One Son in Charlie Chan In Paris, in 1935.Charlie makes plenty reference to his eleven children in the novels, but only two are named.In this novel they are Rose, the elder daughter who is in college on the Mainland in this story, and Henry, the oldest son, who is granted custody of Charlie's new car while Charlie is off on a Matson liner to San Francisco, solving this case.It is not his case.It begins in London where Inspector Duff of Scotland Yard (introduced in Behind That Curtain) sets out to find the murder of an elderly member of a round-the-world party of American tourists in a London Hotel.He follows them from London to Honolulu, where is attacked and hospitalized.His old friend, Charlie, now Detective Inspector of the Honolulu Police, carries on for him as the party sails for San Francisco - aided and aggravated by the ever over-eager junior detective, Kashimo.BIGGERS' GIFT FOR CREATING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS AND PLOT TWISTS AND SURPRISESis unabated here, which makes it all the more mournful that he did not live to continue the series in book form."[from the back of the cassette case]
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2012
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2023
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2011
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2022
