Charlie Chan in Chinatown #AtoZChallenge2021

My interest in researching Charlie Chan springs from several sources: passion for reading and  writing mysteries; dispatch training with HPD; eagerness to frequent the Halekulani open-air restaurant House Without a Key; and one of my Flat Stanley tours around Honolulu. As Novel Research, my theme for AtoZChallenge2021 suggests, some of my research projects conform to the definition of the "word" novel as an adverb: different, odd, or unusual.

 Local lore records the birth of the fictional character Charlie Chan, who appears in the mystery novels written by author Earl Derr Biggers. After Mr. Biggers, a Harvard graduate, visited Honolulu, he read about a real-life Honolulu police detective named Chang Apana. Mr. Biggers then decided to write a story set in Honolulu in which one of its characters, influenced by Honolulu Police Detective First Class Apana, was named Charlie Chan.

Charlie Chan

Chang Apana, known by the localized version of his Chinese name Chang Ah Ping, was born on the Island of O’ahu in 1871. He spoke fluent Hawaiian but never learned to read. As a paniolo, Hawaiian cowboy, he regularly carried a bullwhip. Later he joined the police force as its only Chinese member.

The key on display at
Honolulu Police Department

Detective Chang patrolled areas of Chinatown, working on opium-smuggling and gambling cases. He also helped find people with leprosy who were then transported to the colony on Molokai. One story has the detective rounding up forty gamblers and marching them to the police station, with only his bullwhip for backup. (The below photo of a photograph of Detective Chang was taken at the Chinatown Satellite Police Station when I was doing a "Flat Stanley" tour for a friend.)

Earl Derr Biggers changed the racial stereotype of Chinese characters to less resemble villains like Fu Manchu. His first novel, The House Without A Key, is set in Honolulu. The restaurant of the same name, in the Halekulani Hotel on Waikiki Beach, faces the Pacific Ocean with a beautiful view of the volcanic landmark, Diamond Head.

View of Diamond Head from Halekulani Hotel
restaurant House Without a Key

Detective Chang Apana 
photo on display at HPD

View of Diamond Head from outer rail of
House Without a Key Restaurant
Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki

*****

PIPE DREAMS by John Madinger: Book Review

How do you write a murder mystery when history has already disclosed the climax? In the case of John Madinger’s Pipe Dreams: The Dark Secret Behind Hawaii’s Most Notorious Crime, this involves a different point-of-view narrator, in depth research that supplies new information, and an eye to well-developed characters acting in good faith on a paradise island overrun with military personnel. Also a challenge offered to the reader regarding the meaning of justice.

Newly-minted Narcotics Officer Jack Mather arrives at police headquarters in Honolulu eager to begin his first assignment – clean out the opium dens in Chinatown. Jack knows better than to stick his nose into the blistering rape case involving a white woman and, allegedly, five local boys. At least, until he doesn’t heed his own warning.

Tendrils of smoke drift through Waikiki amidst a nightlife crowded with sailors on weekend leave. Against a backdrop of underworld drug trafficking, and simmering animosity among the Hawaiian population, repeated lies lead to murder. No one is left unscathed, including Jack Mather. After all the chips have fallen and the dead are buried, he must face the consequences of his own actions. Along with the reader, he must decide what price of justice is too high.

John Madinger is the author of Death on Diamond Head, a Kimo Rigg mystery. He also authored Money Laundering: A Guide for Criminal Investigators (not a “how-to” book, but about anti-money laundering). He is a Special Agent- Retired – with the United States Department of the Treasury. His resume also includes Anti-Money Laundering Consultant at United States Department of Justice OPDAT, and work with the Deauville Partnership and US DOJ on stolen asset recovery issues in the Middle East and North Africa - Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and other countries. 

Along with publications available on Amazon, John’s latest book, The Opium Kings of Old Hawaii: America's first drug traffickers, will be published by The History Press in the Fall of 2021. 

Pipe Dreams on Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/2LpODmT

Read John’s advice to aspiring writers: John Madinger (Author of Money Laundering) Goodreads

*****

THE PEARL HARBOR MURDERS #FridayReads

The Pearl Harbor Murders by Max Allan Collins is a novel set in the last few days preceding the Pearl Harbor attack on O‘ahu. Much of the story’s action takes place in Waikiki. The fictionalized protagonists are the world-famous (real life) Edgar Rice Burroughs of Tarzan fame and his son, Hully, who share narrative and investigative roles within this murder mystery.

One of the central figures is a popular singer at a local night club. Her name, Pearl Harada, couldn’t be more apt for this tale leading up to a day that “lives in infamy.”

Woven throughout the story are details of first and second generation (issei and nisei) Japanese immigrants and citizens living in Hawaii, and how their lives were affected by incidents leading up to December 7, 1941. Some of the characters are either composites or pure fiction. Others, along with Edgar Rice Burroughs, are based on persons who played prominently in the making of history.

The author is noted for his historical fiction novels such as Saving Private Ryan, In the Line of Fire, and Air Force One; and his syndicated comic strip, Dick Tracy from 1977 through 1993. His research for this novel fills the narrative with titillating information about O‘ahu in 1941, focusing on A‘ala Market in Chinatown; Fort DeRussy; Aloha Tower; and Kewalo Basin. Also of note are the Halekulani Hotel (the location of the famous ‘House Without a Key’ Restaurant named for the eponymous Charlie Chan novel) and the War Memorial Natatorium.

The story may have fascinated me more as a guided tour of the area, but I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery within the tour, and was pleasantly surprised with the solution. 

Next up for review is:

Speaking In Bones by Kathy Reichs

 

 

WITH FIERY VENGEANCE Kindle Countdown $0.99 Today

The third novel in my Pepper Bibeau mystery series, WITH FIERY VENGEANCE Anger Burns Deep, was published on December 7th, the date that would become Pearl Harbor Day. It seemed fitting that my protagonist, born in a Honolulu hospital in 1941, have that birth date. 

WITH FIERY VENGEANCE has Pepper up to her Hawaiian lei in trouble, not only on the Big Island, but in Honolulu’s Chinatown. My research for the novel was done over a period of years, beginning in 2003 while lodging at a spa in North Kohala on the Big Island. When the spa and surrounding property went up for sale some years later, the owners actually contacted me as a potential buyer. (Oh, if only!) 

It is difficult to say which of the Pepper Bibeau novels I enjoyed researching the most. The first two are set in Chicago and Green Bay, respectively, so it is safe to say my research for number three was the warmest, especially considering the Central States’ snow forecast for this month. 

If you live in a snow state, consider burrowing into WITH FIERY VENGEANCE, a mystery set in Hawaii not far from Kilauea’s fiery volcanic activity. Fix yourself a Mai Tai (decorated with one of those paper umbrellas - just keep it away from the molten lava), turn up the dial on the thermostat, and stay toasty-warm with Pepper as she tries to remain one step ahead of danger in paradise.

 

Kindle countdown April 18 to 25, 2015 at Amazon.com
$0.99 - $1.99 - $2.99

WITH FIERY VENGEANCE Anger Burns Deep

WITH FIERY VENGEANCE e-Book

 

 

 

 

S is for SEARCH Behind the BLUE Line AtoZChallenge

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Tuesday & Friday - BLUES: Art, Movies, Music, & Police 

In Search of Truth and Honor by Joanne Takasato (a look behind “the blue line”)

In the early 1980s, a young Japanese woman by the name of Joanne Takasato became Honolulu’s first undercover (UC) female police officer. As a UC, she bought the recreational drugs of choice for the time, cocaine, marijuana, and Quaaludes, from dealers in Chinatown and around the Island. She spent solitaire nights in bars pretending to be someone she wasn’t, and she frequented street corners with no badge, no gun, and no identification. Through shear will and belief in Truth and Honor, Officer Takasato paved the way for women in what had always been an all-male field of undercover police work. 

Over a period of years, Takasato severed family ties, created a false identity, and developed friendships only to betray them with arrests and prosecution. It sounds like a remake of a Donnie Brasco movie. But Takasato lived this life and kept a journal, refused to make the movie but wrote the book instead. 

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH AND HONOR by Joanne Takasato is not a light beach read for a sunny Honolulu afternoon in Waikiki. I could only read the chapters in short spurts, taking breaks to let my nerves settle. It is impossible for me to imagine actually living through those years. 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Search-Truth-Honor-Reflections-undercover/dp/1439258848/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398104889&sr=1-1&keywords=In+Search+of+Truth+and+honor

H is for HONOLULU SHORT STORIES

To all the co-hosts of 2014 AtoZ CHALLENGE: Mahalo Nui Loa for all your hard work

and endless hours spent on making this another successful year.

For anyone not following, here is the link: A to Z Challenge Blog

and the hosts:
Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Author Stephen Tremp
Tina @ Life is Good
Damyanti @ Amlokiblogs
Jeremy @ Being Retro
Nicole Ayers - The Madlab Post
M. J. Joachim's Writing Tips
Heather M. Gardner
AJ @ Naturally Sweet
Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian

 

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Monday & Wednesday - REVIEWS: mini-style book reviews

 

MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense is a collection of twisted, heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises. This anthology features 13 utterly unforgettable short stories by 13 of the hottest authors to appear on Hawai’i’s literary scene. 

The mysterious glint in the eye of the mynah bird posing on the cover offers a promise of intrigue within. Honolulu’s Chinatown is the scene of several diverse mysteries that include a New Year’s Eve traditional cozy; a bloodless corpse; an off-duty HPD detective; and P.I. Jimmie Chan who takes on a seemingly simple infidelity case that soon turns deadly.

 

 

From Cozy Mystery, Urban Noir, and Gumshoe, to Classic Crime, you can’t go wrong. Why not let MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense take you on a colorful trip around the islands and show you a bit about Hawaiian culture, its people, and life in paradise? 

Being involved in compiling, formatting, and publishing this anthology in 2013 was a unique and gratifying experience for me. Would I do it again? I’m still thinking. 

What is your experience with publishing?

PEPPER is back WITH FIERY VENGEANCE

In the third novel of the series, Pepper Bibeau returns to Hawaii to visit her son on the Big Island and attend a wedding. The vacation is meant to be a time of healing for her son’s father, and relaxation for the family. Instead, unfolding events reveal Pepper’s inner strengths, and a guilty weakness.

Insurance Investigator Pepper Bibeau returns to Hawaii in December, 1972, where a vengeful stalker shadows her from Island to Island. While in Hawi on the Big Island, to visit her fourteen-year-old son and attend her cousin's wedding, Pepper discovers a body on the blood-soaked back seat of an abandoned classic Woody. A poorly executed plan of a local police detective fails to trap a suspect, who then flees to Oˋahu. 

When a Wisconsin woman is injured in an accident on Oˋahu, and the husband threatens to sue his insurance company, Pepper's assignment is to get his signature on a medical insurance release form. After the suspect in Hawi flees to the labyrinth of Honolulu's Chinatown, Pepper follows. Her plan is simple: settle the medical insurance claim, and flush out the suspect. 

Personal strife, unexplained deaths, and ghostly events are interwoven with the burning anger of a father who has lost all reason. With the sanity of a killer in question, Pepper must fight to save her family, and herself. 

WITH FIERY VENGEANCE Anger Burns Deep is a soft-boiled Mystery wrapped in a Traditional Cozy, an enjoyable read for those quick breaks between all the holiday activities.

Available today, along with all of the Pepper Bibeau Mystery series, at Amazon: http://amzn.to/1iNbwKU

SETTING AND ACCOMPLISHING GOALS

November was a busy month for me. I participated in NaNoWriMo2013 and am a WINNER; co-published an anthology of stories by 13 authors; and put the finishing touches on the novel I started during last year's NaNoWriMo and will publish at the end of this week, December 7, which is my protagonist’s birth date.

Accomplishing that many projects took some interesting juggling of time. Each morning I was up and writing before six o'clock to get in my quota of words for the NaNoWriMo manuscript. I didn’t always reach my goal, but there was always the Saturday write-ins at Ward Warehouse’s Paina Cafe in Honolulu. The camaraderie, and pasta at The Spaghetti Factory during break, helped me move the story forward and reach my word count of 50,000 words on November 29th.

Several hours each day were spent on editing, revising, and formatting my third novel in the Pepper Bibeau mystery series, WITH FIERY VENGEANCE Anger Burns Deep. With assistance and encouragement from critters, beta readers, and editor, I was able to mold the NaNoWriMo2012 manuscript into an exciting story that I am proud to publish.

The anthology, MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense, was a group project with local writers. The short stories are mysteries set in Hawaii:  

From cozy mystery to classic crime, from gumshoe to urban noir, MYSTERY IN PARADISE is a collection of twisted, heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises. These 13 utterly unforgettable stories by 13 of the hottest authors to hit Hawai`i’s literary scene are sure to leave you with chicken skin as they take you on a ride through the seamier side of Paradise.

The e-Book is available NOW on Amazon,

and the trade book is coming soon!

http://amzn.to/1hjXOxo

 

 

Is this mynah bird to die for?

Special thanks go out to contributing author, Laurie Hanan,

for photographing the scenes and designing the cover for

MYSTERY IN PARADISE

13 Tales of Suspense

 

Friendly Haiku with Bougainvillea

 

 

Bougainvillea

River Street in Chinatown

Smiling Wahine

 

 

It always amazes me just how many different colors of bougainvillea exist. At Queen Kapiolani Park in Honolulu recently, I took pictures of an array of bushes that contained almost every color of the rainbow.

 

Even with all those choices though, my favorite is still the brilliant purple of many bushes found around town.

 

The above picture was taken many years ago, before someone decided to chop away the branches of flowering bushes that hung over the Nu’uanu Stream canal where the water flows parallel to River Street in Chinatown. With all the extended stretches of concrete and brick buildings, erected after the plague and fire of 1900, I miss the vibrancy those blossoms offered.

*****