China Trade

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding series
Review: New York P.I. Lydia Chin is investigating the theft of Chinese export porcelains from the Chinatown Pride museum. With the help of her sometimes partner, Bill Smith, her investigation leads her through Chinatown into the world of Chinese gangs and what she finds there is heartbreaking and tragic. As a good Chinese daughter Lydia still lives with her mother, rare in a hard-boiled detective series. Of course, Lydia's very traditional family is horrified by her career choice which is in turn humorous and frustrating. This is fine start to an intriguing series with each book alternating between Lydia and Bill's point-of-view.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific new duo!
Review: Rozan has created an exciting,funny,courageous and intelligent detective team. Lydia Chin and Bill Smith have a great working relationship and Bill would like it to be more. Hopefully Lydia is moving in that direction as well. The dialogue is sharp and funny, the plot plausible and fast. I tore through the first three books in this series and I am ready to start the fourth. Enjoy!
Ree-views

Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: Rozan, who's also an architect, writes a terrific mystery. This book, the first in the series, introduces Lydia Chin, a twenty-something Chinese-American PI whose mom hates what she does for a living and whose White partner pines for her. Chin has a similar attitude to Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone, but is greener and more vulnerable. She's believable, likeable, and interesting. S.J. Rozan is definitely an up-and-comer in this genre.

Rating:
Summary: A memorable first novel
Review: S. J. Rozan's book _China Trade_ introduces the private investigative team of Lydia Chin and Bill Smith, two of the more realistically-drawn and memorable characters in a contemporary private eye series. Told from the viewpoint of Chin, Rozan does a great job of reflecting Lydia's cultural background, which plays an important role in the mystery surrounding a stolen lot of export porcelain. Rozan's descriptions of Chinatown and the New York City neighborhoods where the investigation takes place are quite realistic and easily visualized. Couple this with a very complicated plot, full of twists and turns, and the mix adds up to a very memorable first novel. I'll be looking for further volumes in this series.

Rating:
Summary: A very impressive first novel
Review: This is a very entertaining novel with a complex plot and well-developed characters. My only criticism is that the dialogue seemed a little forced and unnatural at times. The thing that impressed me most, though, was the plot. This is one of the few modern mysteries that I have read that has a complex, realistic and clever plot.