Beyond Murder: A Charlie Chan Mystery follows Honolulu's best-known detective to San Francisco, where drug smuggling and a sinister conspiracy threaten to overshadow the anticipated birth of his first grandchild.
Oldest Chan son Henry accompanies his mother to the City by the Bay to be on hand when daughter Rose and husband John Quincy Winterslip welcome their firstborn.
Charlie Chan's plan to join them collides with a plea for help from San Francisco police. Faced with a dual commitment, the detective boards the China Clipper bound for the mainland and finds mystery en route.
A conversation overheard in darkness high above the ocean is just the first of murderous clues so numerous that Chan compares them to bits of sand. With Henry's help and grandbaby Chan on the way, Charlie must apply his customary combination of ancient wisdom, investigative know-how, and razor-sharp wit to gather the clues and solve a case fraught with greed and international intrigue.
Beyond Murder continues John L. Swann's revival of one of the twentieth century's most enduring fictional detectives, Charlie Chan. His new Charlie Chan Returns series continues Chan creator Earl Derr Biggers's timeline and features some of the original author's supporting characters. Like Death, I Said (2023) and The Tangled String (2024), Beyond Murder features mystery, humor and a hint of romance-all grounded in the wit and wisdom of the original Charlie Chan.
