Earl Derr Biggers

Earl Derr Biggers was an American novelist and playwright who is best remembered as the creator of Charlie Chan, the fictional Honolulu police detective who became one of the most popular characters in twentieth-century popular culture. Born in 1884 in Ohio, Biggers wrote six Charlie Chan novels beginning with The House Without a Key in 1925, which were adapted into dozens of films. The Agony Column is an earlier novel, a witty and engaging mystery set in London that showcases Biggers's talent for clever plotting and entertaining prose. While his Charlie Chan character has become controversial for its portrayal of Asian identity, Biggers's intention was to create a dignified and intelligent Asian protagonist at a time when Asian characters in popular fiction were almost exclusively depicted as villains. His novels remain important documents of early twentieth-century popular fiction. His audiobooks and books offer readers classic mystery entertainment from the golden age of the genre. He died in 1933.