"Trifles sometimes blossom big. Detective business consist of one unsignificant detail placed beside other of same. Then with sudden dazzle, light begins to dawn." -- Charlie Chan to Bob Eden

Charlie's first trip to the Mainland is a sparkling adventure full of mystery and old-fashioned romance. It will take the Honolulu detective from exciting 1920s San Francisco to the purple desert.

As in the first Charlie Chan novel, The House Without a Key, Biggers writes a mystery and romance in which Charlie plays an integral part while not being the main focus. Beginning with Behind That Curtain, Charlie would be more at the forefront, the author using his romantic style to frame the mystery rather than the other way around. I must confess a special affection for the first two Charlie Chan novels featuring Charlie as the secondary lead. In The Chinese Parrot, it will be young Bob Eden who works hand-in-hand with our favorite Hawaiian detective from China, finding adventure and romance in one of Charlie's most perplexing cases.

San Francisco's Bob Eden is a young man about town until his father brokers Sally Jordan's expensive string of pearls. He is sent to meet her former houseboy, Charlie Chan, who is bringing them across the ocean on the President Pierce. From the moment he's shadowed at the dock, the young man without a care in the world finds himself in the greatest adventure of his life. He and Charlie will head to the desert to meet the buyer, with Charlie posing as a Chinese cook. They decide to stall rather than part with the pearls, however, after the words of a Chinese parrot indicate something terrible may have happened prior to their arrival. Harboring suspicions that a man has been murdered in this purple desert, the difficulty for Bob and Charlie rests in discovering who the victim was and who did the deed.

Just as John Quincy was at the heart of the action in The House Without a Key, so Bob Eden finds adventure and mystery far from home. Romance is found with Paula, a location scout for the movies. Biggers, who always had a fascination with the movies, works it deftly into this Chan entry when a murder weapon proves to have belonged to legendary silent Western star, William S. Hart.

A secretary, a gambling house, a dead man's clothes, and a second murder with a tangible body make up a complex and confusing mystery which has Charlie and Bob Eden stumped, not to mention the reader. Reporter Will Holley becomes an ally but just when they think they know who was killed at the ranch, and why, their theory is turned upside down and there seems to be no course of action but to hand over the pearls.

The exciting twist which follows, augmented by the only trick Charlie was ever to learn from the Japanese, makes for a fine and surprising end to all the intrigue and mystery in the desert. The blend of romance and mystery perfected by Biggers is one no modern mystery writer has ever come close to attaining. The Chinese Parrot is an old-fashioned and delightful mix of fun for mystery fans. ( )

Sally Jordanová je honolulská dědička, která je nucena prodat cenný soubor perel. Perly jsou prodané americkému finančníkovi P.J. Maddenovi přes místního klenotníka Alexandra Edena. Plán je doručit perly Maddenovi v New York City. Charlie Chan a klenotníkův syn Bob jsou vybráni, aby perly doručili.

Charlie a Bob se mezítím dozví, že došlo ke změně plánů a perly se mají odvézt na Maddenovu farmu v kalifornské poušti. Charlie má podezření a rozhodne se poslat Boba napřed do farmy bez perel zatímco on přijede později přestrojený za čínského kuchaře…

Charlie Chan llega a San Francisco desde Hawai portando un valioso collar de perlas que la familia Phillimore necesita vender para salvarse de la ruina económica. Él y Bob Eden, el hijo del joyero encargado de la transacción, deben entregarlo en un rancho del desierto, pero algo huele mal, un loro parlanchín muere y Chan, transformado en el criado chino Ah Kim, y Eden deberán averiguar qué está sucediendo realmente.

Sally Jordanová je honolulská dědička, která je nucena prodat cenný soubor perel. Perly jsou prodané americkému finančníkovi P.J. Maddenovi přes místního klenotníka Alexandra Edena. Plán je doručit perly Maddenovi v New York City. Charlie Chan a klenotníkův syn Bob jsou vybráni, aby perly doručili.

Charlie a Bob se mezítím dozví, že došlo ke změně plánů a perly se mají odvézt na Maddenovu farmu v kalifornské poušti. Charlie má podezření a rozhodne se poslat Boba napřed do farmy bez perel zatímco on přijede později přestrojený za čínského kuchaře…

I’ve read one Earl Derr Biggers previously, Seven Keys to Baldpate, and I quite enjoyed it—it was lightweight and frothy, but good fun. Partly on the strength of that I bought The Charlie Chan MEGAPACK ®: The Complete 6-Book Series Plus 16 more. I actually read this by mistake, as it’s the second novel in the omnibus rather than the first.

I have to say I was a little disappointed with it. The plot evolved rather too slowly for a large part of it. It made me a bit impatient. It was only in the last few chapters that it got really gripping—and they did rather cleverly shed light on a lot of earlier stuff. I also felt the characterisation was sometimes weak; I never got a very strong image of some of the main characters.

Seven Keys to Baldpate encourages me to believe that Mr. Biggers got better with passing time, though, so I shall stick with him. ( )