CHARLIE CHAN RETURNS, BUT WHERE?

I live in a part of the country where it snows a fair amount--80 to 90 inches in an average year. Not far from here, less than an hour's drive, snowfall is sometimes measured in feet instead of inches. (Example: On a weekend when six inches falls in my backyard, two or three feet descends on my neighbors just 45 minutes away.) With a major winter storm looming across a big chunk of the nation, I've been thinking about Charlie Chan and snow.

San Francisco, Boston, San Francisco

Earl Derr Biggers fans will recall that Charlie's first encounter with frozen precipitation came in EDB's last book, Keeper of the Keys, when he was summoned to the snowy Lake Tahoe region on the California-Nevada border. When I started the Charlie Chan Returns series with Death, I Said in 2023 I wanted readers to feel as though the Biggers series was continuing. Although no one could replicate his particular style and mastery of mysteries featuring his unique creation, I wanted to create/re-create Charlie and his 1930s world for Chan book and film fans.

And where the detective tackles his case is important to the story. Place often plays a big role in mysteries, as fans of Chan in print on screen well know.

I began with Charlie in a familiar Biggers setting--San Francisco--and then decided to send him on a family trip to Boston in the second book, The Tangled String. Most recently, I returned him to San Francisco for Beyond Murder.

Where Charlie will go next

Some reviewers have already said they're "waiting for the fourth book," so I've been thinking about where the famous detective could be most effective next. My first thought was Honolulu. Of EDB's six novels, only The House Without a Key and The Black Camel take place there in toto. (And the movies--Charlie spends more time traveling in those than he does at home!) I'd love to have Charlie ply his trade in his hometown in an entire book, with appearances by his Chief and Kashimo and family members along the way.

My second thought was: snow. Maybe Charlie needs to pack his bags again, this time to some snowy destination? If so, where would he go?

For all such questions about the future, Charlie (of course) has an answer:

"Patience. In time, the mulberry leaf becomes silk."