The House Without a Key
1925

A Bostonian woman who stayed in Hawaii ten months too long. A brother with secrets. A house without a key. And somewhere in the tropical heat, a brilliant Chinese detective making his literary debut. Miss Minerva Winterslip came to Honolulu for a visit and never left. Enchanted by the islands' beauty and a slower, more liberal way of life, she's drifted into an extended stay that her brother Amos views as near-criminal abandonment of proper Bostonian responsibilities. But when a mysterious figure from the family's past arrives on the island, Minerva finds herself entangled in a mystery that reaches back generations. Enter Charlie Chan, Inspector of the Honolulu Police Department, whose quiet wisdom and sharp observations unravel secrets the Winterslips have kept buried. Earl Derr Biggers crafts a vivid portrait of 1920s Honolulu, where colonial attitudes begin to crack against the warmth of Hawaiian culture and the surprising depth of its Chinese-Hawaiian communities. The novel works as both a propulsive mystery and a subtle challenge to the era's stereotypes, offering a detective who thinks in poetry and solves cases through patience rather than brute force.
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“He turned to Miss Minerva. "I'm relying on you, at any rate. You've got a good mind. Anybody can see that.""Thank you," she said."As good as a man's," he added."Oh, now you've spoiled it!””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“he dragged his words painfully from the poets””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“Chan shook his head. 'Impossible in Rear Bay at Boston,' he said, 'but here at moonly crossroads of Pacific, not so much so. Twenty-five years of my life are consumed in Hawaii, and I have many times been witness when the impossible roused itself and occurred.””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“Good lord -it's only ten o'clock!" A great calm had settled over the house, there was no sound save the soft lapping of waves on the beach outside. "What, in heaven's name, do you do out here?""Oh, you'll become accustomed to it shortly," Miss Minerva answered. "At first, you just sit and think. After a time, you just sit.""Sounds fascinating," said John Quincy sarcastically."That's the odd part of it," his aunt replied, "it is. One of the things you think about, at first, is going home. When you stop thinking, that naturally slips your mind.””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“Humbly asking pardon to mention it, I detect in your eyes slight flame of hostility. Quench it, if you will be so kind. Friendly cooperation are essential between us.””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“She was glad of a moment without talk. For this, after all, was the time she loved Waikiki best. So brief, this tropic dusk, so quick the coming of the soft alluring night. The carpet of the waters, apple-green by day, crimson and gold at sunset, was a deep purple now. On””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“As I say, I'm not sorry I talked. I can look any man in the eye again and tell him to go to..." He glanced at Miss Minerva. "Madam, I will not name the precise locality.””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“He has been sitting here looking at me more in sorrow than in anger for the better part of an hour, and I've made up my mind to one thing. I shall have no more secrets from the police.””
— Earl Derr Biggers
“After further discussion it was settled that he was to have the upper berth, the old man the lower, and the boy the couch. The Reverend Mr. Upton seemed disappointed. He had played the role of martyr so long he resented seeing any one else in the part.””
— Earl Derr Biggers
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Biggers, Earl Derr. The House Without a Key. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-house-without-a-key-198e063b-b732-4e12-8e73-19e7bd29e2ab.Biggers, E. D. (1925). The House Without a Key. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-house-without-a-key-198e063b-b732-4e12-8e73-19e7bd29e2abBiggers, Earl Derr. The House Without a Key. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-house-without-a-key-198e063b-b732-4e12-8e73-19e7bd29e2ab.








