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by Earl Derr Biggers (Author)
"Death is the black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate." This is what Charlie Chan tells the guests of the unfortunate Shelah Fane, a glamorous Hollywood movie star who has been murdered while on location beachside in Honolulu. In this fourth novel in the series, the detective confronts his most perplexing case of his long and illustrious career. Chan is aided by a mysterious fortune teller named Tarneverro the Great. It appears that Miss Fane had summoned Tarneverro to Honolulu as she strongly believes in his mystical powers. She needs to decide whether or not to marry a certain Alan Jaynes, with whom she had a torrid affair during the shooting of her movie in Tahiti. She is tormented by her past and afraid of the future, and cannot decide what to do. There is the question of another murder that happened in Hollywood three years before. Denny Mayo, a wellknown actor, was murdered in his house, and there appears to be a connection between Miss Fane and Tarneverro in this unsolved murder. A number of suspects don't have alibis in Fane's murder, including her costar Huntley Van Horn, and the director of the picture Val Martino. Tarneverro's alibi is airtight. There is a transient beachcomber who becomes an important witness, and a certain stage actor named Robert Fyfe, who is Fane's exhusband and true love, who happens to be appearing in a production in Honolulu at the time. It becomes apparent every time Chan seems to be getting close to solving this sensational murder, a new wrinkle appears to throw him off. It takes superior sleuthing, and with the aid of the Honolulu Police Department, Chan systematically picks apart this maze of deception surrounding the murder. The movie version of this book came out in 1931, featuring two legendary actors, Warner Orland as Charlie Chan, and Bela Lugosi as the enigmatic Tarneverro the Great. This is one of the most ambitious books in the Charlie Chan series, and will have readers clamoring for more.
Author Biography
Earl Derr Biggers was born in Warren, Ohio in 1884. He graduated from Harvard University in 1907, and lived for many years in California. He wrote six novels featuring detective Charlie Chan, who became a staple of the movies. He died in Pasadena, CA in 1933.
