1926. The character of Charlie Chan was based in part on the experiences of two Chinese detectives, Chang Apana and Lee Fook, who Biggers had read about in a Honolulu newspaper while on vacation. Biggers wrote six Charlie Chan mysteries. The Chinese Parrot is the second book in the series and begins: Alexander Eden stepped from the misty street into the great, marble-pillared room where the firm of Meek and Eden offered its wares. Immediately, behind showcases gorgeous with precious stones or bright with silver, platinum and gold, forty resplendent clerks stood at attention. Their morning coats were impeccable, lacking the slightest suspicion of a wrinkle, and in the left lapel of each was a pink carnation, as fresh and perfect as though it had grown there.

In this fifth installment of the classic series of mysteries featuring the Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police, readers are confronted by a mystery so confounding by twists and turns that it can only take Inspector Chan to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.

In the third installment of the Charlie Chan mysteries the diminutive Chinese detective who hails from Honolulu finds himself back in San Francisco after his incredible adventures in the California desert with the previous book, The Chinese Parrot. A former head of Scotland Yard comes to town hot on the trail of a 15-year-old murder, where the significant clue is a pair of Chinese slippers. There is also the mysterious disappearance of a series of women, one of whom the British inspector believes may be linked to his case. When the English sleuth is himself inexplicably murdered in a social gathering, it's up to Charlie Chan to figure out the guilty party, and solve the related mystery.