Beyond Murder
A Charlie Chan Mystery
By John L. Swann
Trade Paperback
Cover Price: $15.95
Charlie Chan is BACK! A New Golden Age Mystery
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.
Excerpt
“Our man insists he was talking about the heroin business, but how he knows that I’m sure I don’t know . . . Maybe the fella was drunk and delirious.”
He shrugged.
“As I said, maybe it means something, maybe not. I know it’s not much, Charlie, but by heaven—I’ve seen you do more with less.”
Chan bowed.
“Small things present one at a time, like bits of sand,” he began.
“Is that so?”
“In country called Tibet, neighbor to China, monks practice ancient art to create sand paintings called mandala, adding many colored bits of sand to create pattern.
“Like small clue you have given me,” he continued. “Each bit of sand by itself is nothing. But when all are arranged properly, big picture tells complete story.”
Flannery scratched the back of his head and frowned. Asian art and complicated metaphors were a bit off the subject for him.
“Well, Charlie—it’s your case, and I’m behind you all the way. Beyond that—”
Chan grinned.
“You are most patient, listening to long-winded man from small island. I must ask for further patience while investigation takes shape, and together we decide which bits of sand to arrange—and which to ignore. Words of drunken man about illegal activity, perhaps, may be taken at face value.
“The snake that sheds its skin is still a serpent.”
About The Author
John L. Swann has worked as a broadcast journalist and in public relations and marketing. His career has included stints as a television news director and anchor and a radio anchor, reporter and talk show host whose work has been recognized by the Associated Press and the New York State Broadcasters Association. After leaving broadcasting, he served as chief of staff to the president of the State University of New York Institute of Technology where he authored From the Mills to Marcy, a history of the college. A native of the rural Midwest, he lives in Upstate New York with his wife, Patricia, whose years of encouragement were the impetus for the writing of Death, I Said, the first in a series of new Charlie Chan mysteries that continued with The Tangled String and now Beyond Murder.
Book Details
- Publisher: Nicholas K. Burns Publishing (November 2025)
- Trim Size: 5.25 x 8
- 247 pages
- ISBN 979-8-9991899-2-9 (paperback)
- ISBN 979-8-9991899-3-6 (ebook)
- Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Private Investigators
Reviews
“I just finished reading this third book in John Swann’s trilogy, Charlie Chan Returns, and it’s fantastic. A must read for Chan Fans. This last one in the series is dead on–a killer pastiche!”
“…his best Charlie Chan Mystery yet.”
“…intriguing…I highly recommend each one of Mr. Swann’s stories.”
