Mandarin Plaid

Rating:
Summary: Lydia's back in the lead - Yea!
Review: In my recent review of "Concourse," I bemoaned the lack of Lydia in the story. The great news is that Lydia is definately back in place as the protagonist in this book. Bill Smith is still around but only in a supporting role. Why is this important?

First, the mystery itself returns to having Lydia's Chinese ancestry and life in Chinatown play a major plot in the book. Concourse was just another Caucasian mystery in many ways. It also sees the return of the lots of insights on life as a Chinese-American daughter and younger sister. In sum, this book has much of the atmosphere and humor that I enjoyed so much in the first book, "China Trade."

The mystery itself is only so-so. Lydia's hired to deliever a blackmail payment for a clothes designer. The list of possible suspects is pretty short and it wasn't hard to guess the ending. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the setting so much that I didn't really mind.

Rating:
Summary: Lydia's back in the lead - Yea!
Review: In my recent review of "Concourse," I bemoaned the lack of Lydia in the story. The great news is that Lydia is definately back in place as the protagonist in this book. Bill Smith is still around but only in a supporting role. Why is this important?

First, the mystery itself returns to having Lydia's Chinese ancestry and life in Chinatown play a major plot in the book. Concourse was just another Caucasian mystery in many ways. It also sees the return of the lots of insights on life as a Chinese-American daughter and younger sister. In sum, this book has much of the atmosphere and humor that I enjoyed so much in the first book, "China Trade."

The mystery itself is only so-so. Lydia's hired to deliever a blackmail payment for a clothes designer. The list of possible suspects is pretty short and it wasn't hard to guess the ending. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the setting so much that I didn't really mind.

Rating:
Summary: Lydia's back in the lead - Yea!
Review: In my recent review of "Concourse," I bemoaned the lack of Lydia in the story. The great news is that Lydia is definately back in place as the protagonist in this book. Bill Smith is still around but only in a supporting role. Why is this important?

First, the mystery itself returns to having Lydia's Chinese ancestry and life in Chinatown play a major plot in the book. Concourse was just another Caucasian mystery in many ways. It also sees the return of the lots of insights on life as a Chinese-American daughter and younger sister. In sum, this book has much of the atmosphere and humor that I enjoyed so much in the first book, "China Trade."

The mystery itself is only so-so. Lydia's hired to deliever a blackmail payment for a clothes designer. The list of possible suspects is pretty short and it wasn't hard to guess the ending. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the setting so much that I didn't really mind.

Rating:
Summary: Best Rozan so far.
Review: Of the first four Lydia Chin / Bill Smith mysteries, this is the best. Rozan does better in the books narrated by Chin than in those narrated by Smith, and the plot, while not quite believable, is more involving and coherent than in China Trade. Rozan is at her best when describing the life of Chin, living both in the tradtional world of Chinatown and in the contemporary world of Manhattan. It's a good "trash" read for your next beach day or airline flight.

Rating:
Summary: Another excellent Rozan mystery
Review: This book loses a star for a plot that is not quite up to Rozan's usual high standard (but is still not bad). It would be a mistake to pass this one up, though, in spite of the plot flaws. The characters are terrific, as is the dialogue. The ending is very suspenseful. The best thing about this book, however, is the two detectives. After a somewhat shaky start in China Trade, Lydia Chin and Bill Smith have improved to become extremely entertaining. The chemistry between these two could burn a house down. (Rozan has wisely toned down Bill's fawning over Lydia). In sum, very worthwhile.