"At first, you just sit and think. After a time, you just sit."

Set in 1920s Hawaii, The House Without a Key is the first novel in Biggers' series featuring Charlie Chan, Inspector of the Honolulu Police Department. When a former member of Boston society is murdered, Chan is aided in his investigation into the crime by the victim's cousin, John Quincy Winterslip, who has travelled to the island to persuade his aunt to come back to Boston. As John Quincy navigates island secrets, forbidden romance, and shifting loyalties, he must decide whether solving the crime means changing his life forever.

Born in Warren, Ohio, and educated at Harvard University Earl Derr Biggers (1884–1933) was an American novelist and playwright best known for creating the fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan, one of the first non-white protagonists in American detective fiction. Inspired by real-life Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Chan became a cultural icon through books, films, and radio, and paved the way—however imperfectly—for later diverse characters.