Chan himself is a great character. Too bad he only shows up for maybe 10% of the book.

Read this book on our trip to Hawaii. It's the first in the Charlie Chan series, and was written by the author Earl Derr Biggers there in 1925. Miss Minerva Winterslip of Boston has been staying too long in Hawaii at the home of her cousin, Dan. Every day she thinks about leaving, but then more time passes, and she continues to stay. Her serious nephew, John Quincy, is dispatched by the family to bring her home. When he arrives he finds that his cousin Dan has been murdered during the night. Miss Minerva finds the body and a vital clue. The enigmatic detective, Charlie Chan, is brought on the case. John Quincy ends up helping the Chinese detective while exploring the wonders of Hawaii and falling for a local girl (whose father is a suspect). This was a fun book to read. Miss Minerva and John Quincy are likeable characters, and it was a pleasure to read the debut of Detective Chan. The book has lots of wit. There is some ethnic stereotyping.

Holds up surprisingly well given it’s nearly a century old. The language feels modern but the culture of its day, still rules.

un giallo molto vecchio, troppo per alcune cose,ma estremamente godibile. il setting hawaiano e il simpatico Charlie chan ,con il suo linguaggio leggermente sgrammatico e le sue massime cinesi. La soluzione finale, è forse meno bella del libro di per se

The writing is a little too flowery for my taste. An awful lot about the wonders of the Hawaiian life. Charlie Chan is not the main character. I read of the the later books, The Black Camel, and liked it a lot better.

This is the first Charlie Chan mystery, written in 1925. I read it years ago, but then forgot who committed the murder of Dan Winterslip, how they did it, and the motive. Charlie Chan may be the detective, but the main character is Dan Winterslip's second cousin, John Quincy Winterslip, who assists Charlie Chan with his investigation. John Quincy is a proper Bostonian Brahmin who discovered the adventurous side of the Winterslip family when he arrives in Hawaii. Charlie Chan solves the case more in the background of this story.

This was interesting to read for the background about Hawaii and Honolulu society in the 1920's. I was able to enjoy the story despite most of the racism about Charlie because the white characters do appreciate his intelligence, but there is quite a bit of racism in the story about not only Asian characters, but also non-English descended Europeans such as Spaniards and so on.

The Winterslip family is an old Bostonian family with an upstanding reputation. They take their name seriously, but through the years there have been a few Winterslips who have inherited a wanderlust and left the safety of Boston to explore the world. The elderly Miss Minerva Winterslip seems to have caught the family wanderlust because after a planned to stay in Hawaii for a couple of weeks, she has now been there for several months. Family at home has begun to worry so they are sending young John Quincy Winterslip to bring her home. Minerva has been staying with her cousin Dan who has become the wealthiest man in Hawaii. Dan's behavior has not always stood up to the Winterslip code of respectability. Dan's own brother, Amos, is so upset with Dan's less than respectable ways that he hasn't spoken to him in years. In fact, with the exception of the woman of questionable reputation with whom he is notoriously keeping company, his daughter Barbara who is just returning from school on the mainland, and his cousin Minerva who doesn't ask too many questions, it seems like Dan has few real friends. His murder then should come as a surprise to nobody. However, his murder does come as an affront to the Winterslip name and Minerva decides that John Quincy is not leaving until he helps the police solve the murder. After all, if anything untoward does come to light that could tarnish the family name, John Quincy might be able to do some damage control. Besides, Minerva is less than impressed with Detective Hallett, who is impolite, and even less impressed with Detective Charlie Chan, who is very polite, but also, very Chinese. Nevertheless, she is told that Chan is the best detective in all of Hawaii, and it proves to be true.

The description of Hawaii in 1925 is heavenly. It's clear that the author was in love with the place and he wrote evocatively of the beauty of the place. Detailed descriptions of flowers and scents are like poetry at times.

The mystery was well-written, as well. There were plenty of suspects, red herrings in abundance, and enough clues to keep the reader guessing. I did not figure out who the murderer was though I had a suspicion. In the end everything was tied up nicely. At times the story moved slowly, but then there would be shots fired or a fight or an attempted kidnapping to pick up the pace. Plus there was a fun romantic element as well.

It is, however, important to note that this story, is a product of its time and is incredibly racially insensitive. It is filled with unflattering stereotypes. It does say something about the author, that in 1925 he made the hero of the story an Asian. So perhaps in his own way he was attempting to break down racist attitudes (or maybe he just wanted an "exotic" character, I don't know), but still everything from speech patterns to physical descriptions is an insulting stereotype. If you can move past that, the book is worth reading for the descriptions of Hawaii and a decent mystery.

Holds up surprisingly well given it’s nearly a century old. The language feels modern but the culture of its day, still rules.