Mandarin Plaid [Paperback]

S. J. Rozan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (1996)
• ASIN: B000OT1FTW
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,699,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

SJ Rozan was born and raised in the Bronx and is proud of it. She spent over twenty years as an architect in New York City and is kind of proud of that, too. Now she writes and teaches. She's done 10 books in the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series (the newest, ON THE LINE, comes out Sept. 28, 2010) and two standalones. She's also published three dozen short stories. A collection of her stories, A TALE ABOUT A TIGER, is available, and a second volume is coming.

SJ's work has won the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, Nero and Macavity Awards, and she's a recipient of the Japanese Maltese Falcon. She's served on the National Boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She's a past President of the Private Eye Writers of America. She's been Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime (El Paso, 2003), Toastmaster at Bouchercon (Indianapolis, 2009), an invited speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (2003) and as if that weren't enough, she has the key to the city of Fort Worth, Texas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Rozan mystery, November 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mandarin Plaid (Lydia Chin, Bill Smith Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Rozan so far., April 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mandarin Plaid (Lydia Chin, Bill Smith Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lydia's back in the lead - Yea!, January 3, 2002

By 

Carol Peterson Hennekens (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mandarin Plaid (Lydia Chin, Bill Smith Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.