No Colder Place [Mass Market Paperback]

S. J. Rozan (Author)

Book Description

Series: No Colder Place | Publication Date: October 15, 1998

Bill Smith is going undercover again as a favor to an old friend who wants him to investigate thievery on the 40-story Manhattan site of Crowell Construction's latest project. His bricklaying is a little rusty, but passable as he checks out the foreman who's under suspicion. A crane operator has disappeared--along with some heavy machinery. But when a well-orchestrated riot causes the foreman's “accidental” death, Smith plunges into a morass of bribery, blackmail and blood looking for answers. With the help of his Chinese-American partner Lydia Chin, he follows a trail of twisted loyalties, old-fashioned greed and organized crime to its heart-stopping conclusion. Murder--with no end in sight.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

S. J. Rozan is a New York architect who knows how to design a fine mystery novel: by doing her homework, using the best quality materials, and keeping the surprises coming until the very end. In her fourth book about unlikely detective partners Lydia Chin and Bill Smith, Rozan plants Smith high up in the clouds, laying brick on a troubled building site while Chin gets a job as a secretary in the construction bosses' trailer. Both see plenty of action, as what at first appears to be a simple case of a few crooked construction workers becomes a much more complicated story of twisted family relationships. Previous Chin/Smith outings available in paperback include Mandarin Plaid, China Trade, and Concourse. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

It's a lucky thing for p.i. Bill Smith that he's got construction experience; it's a perfect cover for him to get close to masonry foreman Joe Romeo--who's suspected of bookmaking, mob connections, and a lot worse--at the same time that he's keeping an eye on the suspicious series of accidents at the new 40-story apartment building that's rising at Broadway and 99th. In no time at all Bill's succeeded in persuading his partner, Mike DiMaio, that he isn't much of a mason, and he's placed his first off-track bet with Romeo. But don't count on his collecting very soon, since Romeo promptly joins missing crane operator Lenny Pelligrini and mortar mixer Reg Phillips as the latest casualty of the Armstrong building. At the same time that Bill's turning up evidence linking the cycle of violence to Louie Falco (mobbed-up childhood friend of Chuck DeMattis, the colleague who hired Bill to go undercover), Bill's partner Lydia Chin, also undercover at the Armstrong site, overhears hints that implicate general contractors Dan Crowell Sr. and Dan Crowell Jr., and take-no-prisoners Denise Armstrong herself points the finger at employment-coalition agitator Chester Hamilton. Is there any builder or subcontractor or unaffiliated lowlife in New York who doesn't have a finger in the Armstrong pie? Despite the epidemic of corruption, Rozan's focus on the tragic Armstrong building makes this the sharpest, clearest, most purposefully focused of her four Smith/Chin mysteries (Mandarin Plaid, 1996, etc.). (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; Reprint edition (October 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312966644
• ISBN-13: 978-0312966645
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #337,502 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Gratifying Read, January 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: No Colder Place (Lydia Chin, Bill Smith Mystery) (Hardcover)

I've finally looped back and read No Colder Place, the only one of S J Rozan's books that I had managed to miss. I was not disappointed . I think what I enjoy so much about this author's work is the perspective that a major female author is once again bringing to the Mystery/Detective genre. Rozan brings a woman's interest in the nuances of interpersonal dynamics, and in No Colder Place, she combines that with her knowledge as an actual working architect. Not every author could get me thoroughly engaged in a murder mystery surrounding a construction site. But this one can - in fact, she actually put me in the gratifying position of feeling knowledgeable about what was happening in and around the construction site. And as always, Bill and Lydia are a wonderfully unique and complex pair of sleuths. I can't help myself - I LIKE these guys!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of S. J. Rozan ... so far, April 28, 2001

By 

Charlotte Vale-Allen (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Colder Place (Mass Market Paperback)

No Colder Place was my introduction to S. J. Rozan's books (I have subsequently read all of her work), and it's a breathtakingly fine piece of writing. Of her two leading series characters, Bill is, by far, my favorite. This talented, clever, brooding, somewhat lovelorn man is a superb creation. Bill lives; he breathes audibly. When he sits down to his piano to learn a piece of music, you can almost hear the melancholy classical notes pouring into the atmosphere.

In this book, his undercover role as a bricklayer is so real that you can almost feel the ache in his spine and the soreness of his hands. It remains, to date, my favorite of Rozan's books. It has my highest recommendation. This is an author at top form, doing what she does best--giving us the wonderful Bill, deep in his element.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, Dennis Lehane!, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: No Colder Place (Lydia Chin, Bill Smith Mystery) (Hardcover)

I picked up this book because I heard Dennis Lehane raving about Rozan's writing in an interview. He was right! Atmospheric, almost poetic images -- of a construction site! Convincing characters, too, and good gritty dialogue. And five other books in the series! Can't wait.