Charlie Chan hustles a whole passel of suspects aboard their cruise ship, knowing one of them is a murderer. He risks his life by staying aboard himself. At least that's what suspect Leo G. Carroll tells him—to which Chan replies, "Life has been risked for jewels far less valuable than friendship."
An old friend has been murdered right in Lieutenant Chan's office, and Chan takes it as a personal challenge. The clues all point to some member of a round-the-world cruise as the murderer
but which one?
A great assortment of the usual suspects keeps this Chan mystery moving along nicely. Besides archaeologist Leo Carroll, there's Cora Witherspoon, a dizzy rich lady; Marjorie Reynolds, her secretary; Robert Lowery, handsome and suddenly wealthy nephew of a second murder victim; and Charles Middleton and Claire Du Brey as a weird couple who do séances. Cruise leader Lionel Atwill wants the whole story kept out of the papers—and how suspicious a character is he?
Mr. Chan is assisted in his investigation by number two son Jimmy Chan, played with energy and style by Sen Yung, who gets a couple of laughs but plays it mostly straight.
Sidney Toler is excellent as Mr. Chan; very much at the center of the action, his confidence and timing are superb. The suspects snap at Mr. Chan, bite at each other, make their noise
and Chan just keeps that little smile on his face, polite, slightly mocking, letting them have their say, waiting for someone to make a mistake
.
An exciting and clever climax tops this one off and clinches it as a top notch series entry.
