Re: The enduring fascination with Sherlock Holmes: It's Elementary (article)
Rush, a very good analogy and true--It is unfair to compare. The Holmes stories covered the period 1878-1903 with a final case in 1914; while the Chan novels were written in time 1925-1932 (I think I'm right there, yes?)
However, interestingly enough while the The Saturday Evening Post was serializing Biggers' novels (1925-1932), The Strand Magazine was serializing the last of Doyle's short stories that would be collected (along with 6 other stories) under the title: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes.
Check out the timeline when these stories were serialized in The Saturday Evening Post & The Strand Magazine:
Biggers:
The House Without a Key (1925)
The Chinese Parrot (1926)
Behind That Curtain (1928)
The Black Camel (1929)
Charlie Chan Carries On (1930)
Keeper of the Keys (1932)
Doyle:
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client (1924)
The Adventure of the Three Gables; The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier, & The Adventure of the Lion's Mane, The Adventure of the Retired Colourman (1926)
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger; The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place (1927)
Kind of interesting they were both writing/publishing their works at the same time. Also, that their lives overlapped:
Arther Conan Doyle: May 22, 1859 - July 7, 1930 (71 yrs)
Earl Derr Biggers: Aug 26, 1884 - Apr 5, 1933 (48 yrs)
I wonder if Sir Arthur might have read one or two of Earl's first four novels?