{"product_id":"fifty-candles-bonus-edition-by-earl-derr-biggers-paperback","title":"Fifty Candles: Bonus Edition, by Earl Derr Biggers (Paperback)","description":"\u003cp\u003eBiggers had always been interested in mystery fiction, but his interest in Hawaii clearly stems from a 1919 vacation in Honolulu. While there, he read a newspaper article on a Chinese detective named Chang Apana. Apana would become the model for Charlie Chan in Biggers' 1925 novel, \u003cem\u003eHouse Without a Key\u003c\/em\u003e, and there quickly followed five more Charlie Chan novels.\u003cem\u003e Fifty Candles\u003c\/em\u003e -- published just two years after that 1919 vacation -- shows how Hawaii, China, and murder had already begun to come together in Biggers' imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story starts in a courthouse in Honolulu, moves to China, then to fog-shrouded San Francisco. Many of the elements used in the Charlie Chan series are present: Chinese characters (both sinister and sympathetic), the Honolulu legal system, a shrewd detective (in this case  lawyer Mark Drew rather than a policemen), and a baffling murder complete with red herrings and plenty of suspects. Though \u003cem\u003eFifty Candles\u003c\/em\u003e is a murder mystery, it is also a romance, with the romantic elements at times in the forefront. Mostly, though, it is a book that will delight Biggers' many fans as they trace the origins of Charlie Chan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis volume includes an introduction by John Gregory Betancourt and a bonus short story, \"The Way to the Island.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wildside Press LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43185014276305,"sku":"9781479454976","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/5981\/5377\/files\/9781479454976_FC.jpg?v=1784122548","url":"https:\/\/startlingstories.us\/products\/fifty-candles-bonus-edition-by-earl-derr-biggers-paperback","provider":"Startling Stories","version":"1.0","type":"link"}