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lgpiper's review against another edition
4.0
This is the last of the Charlie Chan books, and a fine one it is. Charlie is invited by a rich man to his house on Lake Tahoe. His ostensible job is to learn if the man had had a son by his ex-wife, an opera diva, and if so, to find the son. Also invited to the house are the diva's three other ex-husbands as well as her designated #5, once her Reno divorce on #4 becomes final. So, naturally, the diva shows up as well and manages to get murdered in her sitting room, just as the plane that is to take her back to Reno comes flying over to land. Oh yeah, the pilot of that plane is also sweet on the diva, much to the chagrin of the pilot's spouse, a maid in the household.
Anyway, you can guess that things are rather complicated. Charlie, being an outsider, gets involved at the behest of the new local sheriff, who is way out of his depth, but who knows tjat. It's a complex plot, but rather fun.
I don't know if Earl Derr Biggers had plans to continue with Charlie's adventures, but unfortunately, he died shortly after this book was published. This book is a fine one on which to end the Chan series, still well plotted and well written.
Anyway, you can guess that things are rather complicated. Charlie, being an outsider, gets involved at the behest of the new local sheriff, who is way out of his depth, but who knows tjat. It's a complex plot, but rather fun.
I don't know if Earl Derr Biggers had plans to continue with Charlie's adventures, but unfortunately, he died shortly after this book was published. This book is a fine one on which to end the Chan series, still well plotted and well written.
paul_cornelius's review against another edition
3.0
Unlike the film version of Charlie Chan, who traveled the world from Shanghai to Europe, the Charlie Chan of Earl Derr Biggers' novels only made it to Hawaii and California--with a ship ride in between the two. And the two settings in rural California turned out to be the least effective for his mysteries, especially this last novel set on Lake Tahoe.
Charlie seems tired in this book. Maybe Biggers was getting tired of him. Hard to say. But this was just another workmanlike finish for Biggers. I was sorry to see the series end on such a comparatively less inspired note.
Perhaps I am annoyed with Biggers' depiction of the common folk. For in Keeper of the Keys, Charlie's helper(s) have been replaced. Instead of high society social figures, the reader finds more than a dose or two of the local county sheriff and his father, Don and Sam Holt. And their folk wisdom. And, worse, their folksy dialogue. Earl Derr Biggers is not John Steinbeck. And so's I reckon I hear'ed jes' 'bout a'neff of that ther'n Sam Holt feller. I reckon. Mebbe his son, too. I reckon.
Still, I would have liked to see more novels. A pity Biggers died so young.
*A note to myself. In the past five months, I've read through all the Mr. Moto and Charlie Chan novels. Marquand is a better writer than Biggers, although Biggers is better at constructing a crime mystery per se. But then Marquand's Mr. Moto series is not just about a mystery. It's more of an adventure series, with a good mystery thrown in. Two very different type novels, really.
Charlie seems tired in this book. Maybe Biggers was getting tired of him. Hard to say. But this was just another workmanlike finish for Biggers. I was sorry to see the series end on such a comparatively less inspired note.
Perhaps I am annoyed with Biggers' depiction of the common folk. For in Keeper of the Keys, Charlie's helper(s) have been replaced. Instead of high society social figures, the reader finds more than a dose or two of the local county sheriff and his father, Don and Sam Holt. And their folk wisdom. And, worse, their folksy dialogue. Earl Derr Biggers is not John Steinbeck. And so's I reckon I hear'ed jes' 'bout a'neff of that ther'n Sam Holt feller. I reckon. Mebbe his son, too. I reckon.
Still, I would have liked to see more novels. A pity Biggers died so young.
*A note to myself. In the past five months, I've read through all the Mr. Moto and Charlie Chan novels. Marquand is a better writer than Biggers, although Biggers is better at constructing a crime mystery per se. But then Marquand's Mr. Moto series is not just about a mystery. It's more of an adventure series, with a good mystery thrown in. Two very different type novels, really.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
I heard about this book from the Classic Mysteries podcast. I have not read a Charlie Chan mystery before and this one was pretty interesting, even if it took me awhile to wade through. The description of Chan being invited to a gathering is a good one. He seems to be about the only person there who wasn't at one point married or involved with Ellen Landini, a favorite opera singer. When she turns up dead, there is no shortage of suspects. It is up to Charlie to figure our who the killer among the exes is.
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