The first three Fu Manchu books were published in the four years between 1913 and 1917; but it was not until 1931 (some 14 years after the third book in the series) that Rohmer returned to the series with "Daughter of Fu Manchu". The reason for the long interval was that Rohmer wanted to be rid of the series after "The Si-Fan Mysteries". The first three books had been successfully filmed by Stoll in the twenties as a pair of serials. In 1928, Rohmer finally bowed to pressure and agreed to write a fourth novel as a serial for "Collier's". Paramount had the first Warner Oland picture gearing up for production and the daily newspaper strip based on the series was in the offing.