The House Without a Key (1925) by Earl Derr Biggers #1925Club

🏄🏻‍♂️ The 1925 Club is here! Thanks to Simon and Karen for hosting these events for a decade now. Unfortunately, this book would be my only contribution for #1925Club. Since the last club in April, I've been looking for amusing books published in 1925, preferably from authors I have not read before. I gathered half a dozen, but only this one is available at this moment, and I was excited to read it. This is the first book of Charlie Chan series. He's probably the most exotic detective you'd ever read about; a Honolulu police detective, who is a Chinese-Hawaiian. Charlie Chan is portrayed as intelligent and honorable. His eagerness to learn English through poems shaped his way of talking, always polite and with admirable choices of words. It's one of the amusements this book provides, besides, of course, the mystery.

🏄🏻‍♂️ John Quincy Winterslip, a twenty nine Bostonian stock trader, was sent by his family to sail to Hawaii and 'retrieve' his aunt, Minerva Winterslip, from the 'semi-barbaric' Pacific Islands. The aunt had been staying for holiday too long in Hawaii, but she can't help it. Winterslips are known for their gypsy-streak, and maybe this is the problem. But not young John Quincy, he's on the puritan side of the Winterslips. It's evidently true, considering how miserable he was during his first days on board the ship. But an encounter with a pretty Hawaiian girl who's coming home to her dear father, would change everything.

🏄🏻‍♂️ It was at Dan Winterslip's house that 'the boy' - as the writer always calls him - would stay. But just before his arrival, Dan Winterslip was murdered. But that's not all. While on transit in San Francisco, staying at his other uncle, he was instructed by Dan via telegram, to retrieve an old box from his cottage, and to throw overboard from the ship. But he was attacked while doing so, and the box was stolen. What was in the box? He learned later on from his aunt Minerva, that Dan was a notorious man with a dark past. And now that past is catching up with him, and eventually, he'd have to pay a just retribution.

🏄🏻‍♂️ John Quincy, as representative of the family, was involved in the investigation - reluctantly at first (his inclination was to go home to his fiancé asap) - but, whether it's the Hawaiian air, or his hitherto hidden gypsy-streak, John Quincy's slowly enjoying his role as a sleuth. Along with Charlie Chan, whom became his best friend, John Quincy was nearer to the truth everyday. He loved actions, and welcomed, even, dangerous adventures. But I think what he loved most is the presence of two pretty girls: Barbara Winterslip (his distant cousin), and Carlota Egan (the girl he met on the ship, whose father was entangled into the case, and one of police's prime suspects). Boston and his fiancé became farther and farther away in John Quincy's heart. Would John Quincy be able to catch the murderer? And equally important is which girl he would marry, and where would he spend his future? Boston, San Francisco, Honolulu?

🏄🏻‍♂️ All in all, it was a charming and exciting mystery. It has the right composition between the investigation, the action, and love interests. Charlie Chan's character brings a refreshing change to the mystery; his oriental background and European culture made him a unique detective - a far cry from any others we used to read. The era which the story is set (1925), and the Hawaiian background (history, culture, landscape) add a unique charm to it. Both the denouement and the love-story ending are perfectly satisfying: sophisticated but light, sweet and exhilarating.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

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The 1925 Club

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