Charlie Chan in The Pawns of Death

Charlie Chan

by Robert Hart Davis, Earl Derr Biggers, Bill Pronzini

"Checkmate!" That was the last word uttered to Charlie Chan and Prefect of Police Claude DeBevre by a dying reporter. The man had been murdered . . . stabbed to death and left to die in a vacant hotel room. It is the second murder in 24 hours at the Transcontinental Chess Tournament, and Charlie Chan has been summoned from a peaceful and long-deserved vacation to help solve the crime before international scandal ruins the tournament's good name! Originally published in Charlie Chan's Mystery Magazine in 1974.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1974

About the author

Collaboration of Bill Pronzini and Jeffrey Wallmann.

Reviews

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlie Chan, the fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers, reappears once again in "Charlie Chan in the Pawns of Death" by Bill Pronzini & Jeffrey M. Wallmann. Biggers only wrote six of the original Charlie Chan books which later blossomed in almost 20 years of great B&W movies. According to the "Introduction" by Pronzini, this Charlie Chan novel came from very early in Prozini and Wallmann's writing career. He actually apologizes for some of the writing of this particular book, and especially the manner of Chan's speech - or "Chanspeak," as he calls it. When a book starts with what amounts to an apology about the story, you begin to not expect much. However, this story's plot is cleverly developed and the authors capture the essence of Chan's character - but the "classic Chan" dialogue and his manner of speaking is lacking and a bit inconsistent. This story, really a novella, was originally published in "Charlie Chan's Mystery Magazine" in 1974.

The actual story starts off well - in Paris and Chan is attending the Transcontinental Chess Tournament. The plot builds quickly with arguments and accusations of cheating - and then murder. A locked room murder without any idea of how the murder was even committed. Later, another murder, and the dying man gasps: "Checkmate!" That was the last word uttered to Charlie Chan and Prefect of Police Claude DeBevre by a dying reporter in a vacant hotel room. It is the second murder in 24 hours at the Transcontinental Chess Tournament, and there are now two locked room mysteries to solve.

If you have never read Charlie Chan before, you may wish to read any or all of the six classic novels by Biggers which are better than this one. However, for one reason or another, despite Chan's great popularity from the few novels and the many movies, there have been almost no pastiches written about Chan. This is still a fun read, and it will keep you thinking, and guessing!

[George Eraclides · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murder takes place in a world championship of chess set in Paris, with lots of acrimony between the players. The Honolulu Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan (‘Amazing!’) solves the mystery with logic and witty aphorisms. A lot of fun.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read; it's enjoyable to see Insp. Chan back on a case. Not the most complicated case of his career, but a nice diversion for a Sunday afternoon.

[Ying_ko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun little pulp mystery staring Charlie Chan. It is one of the stories featured in the 1973-74 Charlie Chan Mystery Magazine, it is not the Chan of the original books, or the movies, but is somewhere in between. It is a typical pulp story and not high art; still, it has a certain charm of its own. One of the authors has stated it was one of the last pulp stories he wrote and had considered rewriting the story to improve it, but decided that, "it is what it is."

[Orion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese American detective based in Honolulu created by author Earl Derr Biggers, who wrote six novels featuring Chan between 1925 and 1932. Biggers loosely based Chan on Honolulu detective Chang Apana. The character was adopted by Hollywood which produced over 3 dozen Charlie Chan movies from 1926 through the 1940s. In the 1970s Charlie Chan Mystery Magazine came into existence to publish the Charlie Chan stories of Bill Pronzini and Jeffrey M. Wallmann who were writing them under the pseudonym Robert Hart Davis. This is one of the longer stories from issue #4 of this publication, issues in August 1974, and now available on its own in print since 2002.
In this story Charlie Chan is on vacation and visiting the Transcontinental Chess Tournament in Paris as the guest of his friend Paris police Prefect Claude DeBevre. The tournament is pitting the British chess champion Roger Mountbatten against a young American challenger Grant Powell. Tensions are high between the two opponents and their respective backers Clive Kettridge and Raymond Balfour, as they all settle into the same floor of the Hotel Frontenac. When Balfour is found murdered in his bed in a room locked from the inside, Debevre asks for Chan's help in solving the mystery before the tournament is ruined.
I don't recommend this book to anyone except hard core fans of Charlie Chan. If you are interested in the famous detective, I recommend starting with one of Biggers' six novels. This is typical mystery magazine fare, light detective fiction written to amuse, and in that it succeeds. The authors of this story rely on the reader having a familiarity with the character and do minimal character development in the text.

[Stephen Osborne · Rating 2 out of 5]

When one of the authors writes what amounts to an apology about the story, you know you might be in trouble. It was nice to find a Charlie Chan mystery available as an ebook, but this tale is disappointing, and one can only hope that the original Biggers tales will be released. The actual story starts off well, although the writing is clumsy in places, but then falls apart. There are two locked room mysteries and even a dying message clue. The solution of the dying message is so ludicrous you nearly forgive the silly solution of the locked room mysteries.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pleasant, light read. It was almost a short story, which made it difficult for characters to be developed, but the plot was clever and Charley came through. The only point left unanswered was how a man is able to leave his wife at home with the kids (10 or 12, I think) while he takes a 3 week vacation in Paris??!!

[Delia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but definitely not even close to Earl Derr Biggers' work.
It is not a consistent story, lacks so many elements of a true Charlie Chan mystery, but it is a fun read.

[Les Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good short "cover" story of the great Charlie Chan