Customer Reviews

The House Without a Key

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Published in 1925, HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY was the first of six novels by Earl Derr Biggers to feature Charlie Chan, a character loosely based on the legendary Chang Apana (1887-1933), a Hawaiian police officer of Chinese heritage. Many consider it the best of the Chan novels--as much for the memorable way in which Biggers renders the Hawaii of the era as for the character and story he offers.

The Winterslips are a socially formidable Boston family, the members of which are touched by occasional fits of wanderlust. Several members of the original Boston family, including Dan Winterslip, have settled in Hawaii, and he is visited by cousin Minerva--a woman in her fifties who is so taken with the islands that she prolongs her visit to the length of a year! The Boston family is scandalized, and dispatches Minerva's nephew John to retrieve his aunt. But even as John's ship floats placidly in the harbor, Dan is brutally murdered in his bachelor home.

At Minerva's insistence, John takes a hand in the investigation, and comes face to face with the memorable Charlie Chan. Biggers is quite sly in his presentation, for both Minerva and John are shocked to find themselves dealing with a "Chinaman." But as the mysterious case progresses they soon find themselves, at times grudgingly, coming to respect him as both police detective and man.

Like many of Biggers' novels, the plot is more adventure than actual mystery, but the characters are charming, and his portrait of Hawaii as it trembles between its ancient traditions and the modern world is remarkably effective. It is quite true that the novel is "tainted" by the common racism of the time, and from time to time Biggers uses terms that are no longer considered acceptable. But for all this, Biggers never shows his ethnic characters in a deliberately unflattering light; they are all part of the swirling Hawaiian society, Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, and WASP, layered together in an exotic array.

It is a fun novel, and if taken within its proper context a very innocent one as well, among the most memorable of Biggers' Chan novels and indeed among the most memorable of Biggers' work in general. Quite charming and recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I have read all of the Charlie Chan books, and this is by far the best. All of the novels are literate and well-plotted, but THE HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY is more complex than the others. And the solution to the crime is perhaps one of the most original, yet still plausible, to have been created in the history of the detective novel.

A mystery gem. Good to see it back in print.

This book is an excellent example of the polite, pre-Hammett, pre-hard-boiled era of the mystery novel. It's certainly a fun read, but it's the introduction of the Charlie Chan character that gives it a special place in the history of the genre. Chan is certainly an appealing and engaging character, and it's easy to see how such a successful franchise followed. Biggers also makes excellent use of his tropical setting, which along with Chan's presence, makes the reading experience memorable.

As usual, the edition itself is beautiful and a great pleasure to own; many thanks to Otto Penzler for more time and money well spent.

He was very fat indeed. Yet he walked with the light dainty steps of a woman. His cheeks were as chubby as a baby's, his skin ivory-tinted, his black hair close-cropped, his amber eyes slanting. -The House Without a Key

So enters Charlie Chan, crack detective of the Honolulu Police Force, in this his first appearance in print. While vacationing in Hawaii in 1919, Earl Derr Biggers read about a local Chinese detective named Chang Apana. Intrigued by the concept, he created Charlie Chan, one of the great fictional detectives in all of literature, and, thanks to the movies, one of the enduring cultural icons of the century. He is, of course, a stereotype, but it's hard to see how he would be objectionable. After all, he's a bright, witty, polite police officer and family man. If anything, I should be offended, the WASP descendants of the Hawaiian missionaries are caricatured as priggish and sanctimonious, but I got over it. It's all done in a spirit of fun and who's to say that the caricatures don't have something to them.

The real charm of the book lies in the portrayal of a Hawaii that is now long gone. The islands we see here were still pre-statehood, dominated by the Anglo aristocracy, but with a large and vital Asian community. (Reading this novel, it's easy to see why there was no effort made to inter Hawaii's Japanese population during WWII, as was done in the West Coast states. They were simply too great a percentage of the population to even consider such wholesale civil rights abuses.) And Honolulu was still very much a port city with all of the rowdiness that one would expect with the regular influx of young sailors.

At any rate, the mystery involves the murder of the black sheep of a blue blood family and all leads seem to point back towards the dubious circumstances surrounding his clipper ship days in the free booting South Pacific of the 1880's. "Helping" Chan solve the case are the dead man's spinster cousin and his straight laced banker nephew visiting from Boston. Good clean fun is had by all, including the reader.

GRADE: B

You can almost feel the gentle trade winds of Hawaii during the 1920's in this classic novel by Earl Derr Biggers. Romantic and full of atmosphere, this is a most enjoyable read that was our first introduction to Charlie Chan. Biggers was always a great romance writer who simply incorporated mystery into his books to propel the story forward. This was never more evident than in The House Without a Key.

The story centers around young and very proper John Quincy Winterslip of Boston, who has been sent to retrieve the elder Minerva Winterslip from the semi-barbaric Pacific Islands of Hawaii. When his ship stops in San Francisco on its journey to the islands, however, John Quincy's idea of who he is begins to change, and the possibility that there is a world outside of Boston and Beacon Hill begins to take shape. A mysterious errand in the city by the bay for the black sheep of the family, Dan Winterslip, also living in Hawaii, will begin an adventure that will in the end make him a man.

The murder of Dan Winterslip shortly before John's arrival will reveal old family secrets from a time when Hawaii was wild and dangerous, and a port for all the world. John Quincy does not understand the nostalgia Minerva and others feel for this time in Hawaii's history. But there is romance in those trade winds blowing the cocoa palms. John will meet Carlota Egan, a girl who could not be further away from the fiancee awaiting him back in Boston. But as John Quincy begins to help his lovely cousin Barbara and Minerva get to the bottom of Dan's murder, Boston seems like a distant memory.

Luckily for John, Hawaii's best police detective will help him unravel the clues that will lead to an exciting revelation, and in the process become his friend. That detective is Charlie Chan. An Asian who has been in Hawaii many years, Chan navigates the mystery with little to go on, but with much wisdom and humor. The Charlie Chan of The House Without a Key is subtle and endearing. Chan may be Chinese, but his very American take on a piece of pie he is not happy with is a hoot!

Biggers truly makes both his characters and the islands of Hawaii come alive in his first novel in which Charlie Chan appeared. His descriptions of Hawaii through the eyes of those characters are nostalgic and filled with beauty. The House Without a Key is that rare novel which can be read with pleasure by both those who love a good mystery, and those who love a light and atmospheric romance. If both are your cup of tea, this great classic is definitely for you. It is a great read during summer, when things are bright and cheery, or during winter, when you want to escape.

You can't miss with this one. Make yourself one of those drinks with an umbrella in it, or just grab your oversized Hawaiin luau shirt and head on out to the lanai to begin your adventure.

For anyone who loves Hawaii or a good mystery, this book is for you. It takes you back to the romance of Hawaii as it used to be. I started reading it on the beach at Waikiki and loved it so much I couldn't put it down. P.S. If you are visiting Oahu, be sure to stop for cocktail hour at The House Without A Key at the Halekulani Hotel.

I love Charlie Chan movies and I found the book to read much like the movies. The character still makes you smile. I really enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading some of Bigger's other books.

Charlie Chan is introduced in Chapter VII of this first book of the popular series about the oriental detective from Honolulu. Although playing a minor role in the beginning, Charlie asserts himself by the end of the case. In my opinion, this is the best of the six Chan stories written by Earl Biggers.

Charlie Chan is introduced in Chapter VII of this first book of the popular series about an oriental detective from Honolulu. Although playing a minor role in the beginning, Charlie asserts himself by the end of the case.

John Quincy Winterslip, a young lawyer from Boston, is on a trip to Hawaii to visit a wealthy relative, Dan Winterslip. En route he is asked to find and destroy an ohia wood box which is in the attic of Dan's San Francisco house. He fails to get the box and learns on his arrival in Hawaii that Dan has been murdered. The leading suspect is Jim Egan, owner of a ramshackle hotel on the beach. The essential clue is a wrist watch with an illuminated dial which is damaged. Motivated by his growing interest in Egan's daughter Carlotta, John Quincy helps Charlie and the police solve the crime. The real hero, however, is Charlie who manages to stay one step ahead of everybody else.

In 1932 Earl Biggers wrote a report to his Harvard classmates on the occasion of the twenty-fifth reunion of the class of 1907. He described how he happened to conceive of creating an ethnic Chinese detective for a mystery story set in Hawaii:"But my memories of the islands were rather dim; I dropped into a library to brightem them a bit by a perusal of recent Honolulu newspapers. In an obscure corner of an inside page, I found an item to the effect that a certain hapless Chinese, being too fond of opium, had been arrested by Sergeants Chang Apana and Lee Fook, of the Honolulu Police."

Because of this chance reading of a newspaper item, Biggers was inspired to use Chan in THE HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY which was published in 1925 after running serially in the SATURDAY EVENING POST.