Keeper of the Keys
by Earl Derr Biggers
In the 6th and final book of a series of secrets featuring Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan, we find our hero at Lake Tahoe in California. Chan was invited as a guest in the house. He meets glamorous Out of Printera singer Ellen Landini and is shot dead during a party. Her maids and four of her ex-husbands are all suspects in the case, all with a weak excuse. It is Chan who must solve the murder. The clues are mysterious and misleading in nature: the singer's own pistol, two scarves, two cigarette boxes with inappropriate covers, and the actions of a small dog named Bida. Part of the mystery is an old Chinese maid named Ah Sing, who is the keeper of the keys. Chan solves the case in his usual understated, gorgeous style.
