Customer Reviews

China Trade (Lydia Chin, Bill Smith Mystery)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a genre that is finally reasonalby well populated by woman and African Americans, an Asian slueth (of either gender) is still a rarity. Enter Lydia Chin, an ABC (American Born Chinese)who still lives with her mother in Manhattan's growing Chinatown. For me, a native of Oakland (which has a strong Asian community), the highlight of this book is the entire sensory experience. Rozan, an Anglo, does a wonderful job of writing a book that stimulates the senses of smell and taste. It doesn't hurt that Lydia loves to eat and shares her wonderful meals with the reader.

The mystery revolves around a couple of crates of missing Chinese porcelains (hence a wonderful pun in the title). Lydia and her sort of partner, Bill, explore a mix of Manhattan museums and gangs as they seek the china. The resolution is nicely complicated and shouldn't be obivous - at least to the Anglo reader.

What keeps the book from pure hard boiled status is Lydia's meddling family (they don't approve of her work); a convenient best friend who's a cop; and Lydia's ambiguous relationship with Bill (good ABC girls aren't supposed to be attracted to white dectectives).

Bottom line: A solid debut in a series I'm already looking forward to reading again.

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.

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.

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.

Much better than Grafton, with more interesting characters. Comparable to Jance, perhaps. But forget the comparisons; this is a really good book. If you can find it (try the library), read it.

"China Trade" is a busy book, crowded with images, locales and descriptions. We are immersed in an atmosphere of crowds, colors and lively people. Ms. Rozan has a light and delicate hand with prose.

Lydia Chin, the unlikely private investigator, is appealing in a girlish way. She is bright, protected, enjoys her creature comforts, and is well behaved in a child-like way. Where Lydia shines is in her fleeting observations of what she sees around her. She has an artist and poet's eye for color and description. Her sometimes partner, Bill Smith, is a series of one-liners in this dialogue-driven book. He clearly adores every word and gesture emanating from his beloved Lydia. Her kittenish behavior would drive the average man to the nearest hard-drinking lady rugby player, but not Bill. Lydia's mother is well drawn and humorous, but I met her first in an Amy Tan book.

The plot revolves around stolen export porcelain. I wish we had been given more education about this little known art market. It would have been interesting and helped us understand the motivations of the thief and killer. We have plenty of likely suspects and the story moves briskly. The characters are deftly drawn (except for the hapless Bill) and were interesting in their own right. Ms. Rozan's debut novel displays skill and originality.

As the first of SJ Rozan's Lydia Chin/Bill Smith private investigations, we are given a good view of Lydia's life. We are also introduced to her mother and two of her four brothers, as well as another old friend who is a NYPD detective. The other minor characters of the story all appear to be real people and not just 'cut-outs from an a charlie chan movie'. Rozan shows a knack for characterizing Chinatown's denizens, apothecaries, shops and food. Lydia is an ABC, and american-born chinese, and as such has the same cultural problems of all first generation americans. Coming from a closed, respect conscious society, where women are meant to be wives, she is fighting an uphill battle to be her 'own' woman.

Lydia, is hired by the Chinatown Pride museum to recover stolen antique export porcelains. During her investigation she confronts the leaders of rival Chinatown gangs in hopes of flushing out the robbers. With information gleaned from a meek scholar who habitually steals tiny porcelains from prominent collections, Lydia discovers an antiquities- laundering business that crosses all socioeconomic strata. More than the theft, it's the two murders that accompany her investigation that both Lydia the most.

Her sidekick, full-time PI Bill Smith, provides a minor element of sexual tension; the resolution of the murders (but not the crime) depend on a scheme in which Lydia sets herself up to be attacked by a hit man and to be rescued by the NYPD. It almost works out, and the involvement of a childhood friend, makes the ending bitter sweet (just like real life).

Being Chinese-American, I'm thrilled to be reading about a heroine that I can relate to. The books starts off a bit slow, but builds up pretty nicely. I enjoyed it very much.

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.

This was the first book I'd read from Ms. Rozan, and I wasn't sorry. She takes you into the wonderful world of Chinatown for a ride you won't forget. This book was so good that it got me reading all of her available books. Try any one of them, and I'm sure you'll be pleased.