Still not feeling especially lucky, mind, but finally, this is now done.
Do you like ballooning and chess, then this is possibly for you. A Hardy boys mystery that combines both and with the bonus of going to China (Hong Kong as it was then) in the dying final 4th quarter of the book.
Two mysteries for you here, one being a shady jewellery business scam with a side line in tailored Hong Kong suits, and a life-sized chess piece called the Ruby King, which is not only life-sized (as mentioned) but cursed to boot.
This is currently owned by an Albert Krassner a local business tycoon along with his Chinese wife (who is never named in the entire book) and is the grand prize in a grand chess tournament. The local champ is Conrad Greene who was being bugged by unscrupulous Chinese gamblers who want to rig the contest so their preferred candidate wins.
Chet not only suffers in this (breaks his arm in a stake out) but also has the unlikely hobby of hot air ballooning as well as learning Cantonese to help with the case.
Differences are pretty thin here, but do exist, Tony Prito doesn't say mama Mia or cross himself when Joe takes him on a disastrous flight, and there is the usual UK English spellings from the American equivalents. Also my copy has both Joe and Tony on the front cover one of the only times I've seen Tony Prito drawn.
What you see of Hong Kong isn't bad, there are a few Armchair Graves and bone jars (Gam Ta) containing the remains of long dead Chinese ancestors, and Tai Pak floating restaurant (now closed) off Aberdeen harbour gets a look in as the mystery comes to a climax.
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