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danrosan's review
5.0
The Rozan formula is to take Lydia & Bill (unlikely PI partners), drop them into a strange sub-culture, and let the plot twist and turn in ways which are unexpected but actually make sense, once it’s revealed. More thinking and less violence than a typical hard boiled mystery, and usually you learn something.
Paper Son - a return to PI writing after a string of more conventional novels, some under other names - is probably the strongest expression of this formula to date. The sub-culture is Mississippi Chinese immigrants, the plot twists are incredibly satisfying and inventive, and the inner monologue & dialogue (long a strength) crackles nicely.
If you’ve not seen this series before, no need to start with #1 (although I get some people can’t read series any other way). Pick the narrator you like - Lydia or Bill alternate - and go from there. Besides this one, China Trade and Mandarin Plaid are the most interesting sub cultures. Winter and Night is the best of Bill’s half, but it’s about New Jersey.
Paper Son - a return to PI writing after a string of more conventional novels, some under other names - is probably the strongest expression of this formula to date. The sub-culture is Mississippi Chinese immigrants, the plot twists are incredibly satisfying and inventive, and the inner monologue & dialogue (long a strength) crackles nicely.
If you’ve not seen this series before, no need to start with #1 (although I get some people can’t read series any other way). Pick the narrator you like - Lydia or Bill alternate - and go from there. Besides this one, China Trade and Mandarin Plaid are the most interesting sub cultures. Winter and Night is the best of Bill’s half, but it’s about New Jersey.
reneesmith's review
5.0
The main character, Lydia's voice/persona really pulled me into the story. I enjoyed the interplay between Lydia & Bill, the fast-paced plot, the history of the Chinese people in the South that laid the foundation for the whole story, the Southern setting & characters, and the narrator. So glad I found this new-to-me, entertaining mystery series!
sandin954's review
3.0
A good entry in this series. I like Lydia and Bill and found the Mississippi setting and the information on the Chinese immigrant experience interesting.
in2reading's review
4.0
I am glad that S. J. Rozan has returned to Lydia and Bill. I've always enjoyed their interplay and how the series alternates between their points of view. This installment gave me a lot of background about the Delta that was interesting. I'm looking forward to #13!
bluenancyhawaii's review
4.0
I received this as an advance readers' copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
ALERT: MILD SPOILERS
I've been reading the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series since the beginning, and it's always been a favorite. This book was a long time coming - it's been 8 years since the last installment - so I was pretty excited to read it.
Overall I liked the book a lot. The mystery is interesting, and the setting new for the series. I was a little thrown by the ending, which felt forcedly tied up with a bow. The narrative suggested a different ending, and I had to think about it for a while to decide how I felt. In the end I decided that the solution of the mystery wasn't as important as the theme that runs through the entire book -- that family and identity are very important, but they can't always be defined as cleanly as we would like. This series has always been about the characters for me more than the mystery, and this book serves as an important turning point for Lydia in particular.
I hope that the next installment will come more quickly than this one -- the book ended on a tiny cliffhanger.
ALERT: MILD SPOILERS
I've been reading the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series since the beginning, and it's always been a favorite. This book was a long time coming - it's been 8 years since the last installment - so I was pretty excited to read it.
Overall I liked the book a lot. The mystery is interesting, and the setting new for the series. I was a little thrown by the ending, which felt forcedly tied up with a bow. The narrative suggested a different ending, and I had to think about it for a while to decide how I felt. In the end I decided that the solution of the mystery wasn't as important as the theme that runs through the entire book -- that family and identity are very important, but they can't always be defined as cleanly as we would like. This series has always been about the characters for me more than the mystery, and this book serves as an important turning point for Lydia in particular.
I hope that the next installment will come more quickly than this one -- the book ended on a tiny cliffhanger.
lindca's review
4.0
It’s been a long wait since the previous Lydia Chin/Bill Smith story, and I feared we’d never see another. But Rozan deftly picks up where she left off, giving us a story that seamlessly reintroduces us to the main characters of the series and sends them off on a new investigation.
Lydia’s stern mother surprises her with the news that there is a branch of the family in the unlikely locale of small-town Mississippi. She further astonishes Lydia with her insistence that Lydia must go there immediately to prove a distant cousin innocent of killing his father—and that she should take Bill with her. When the two arrive in Mississippi, they meet some of that family and discover some old secrets.
Lydia’s great-grandfather’s brother came from China to the U.S. as a “paper son,” pretending to be a relation of someone already here to gain entry. The deception included a name change which has lasted through the generations. As someone who grew up in New York City, Lydia views the Deep South as almost a foreign country, with customs, history, and prejudices that are odd to her, including the fact that Chinese grocers had been common in the Delta. When Lydia’s accused cousin escapes jail, it makes it all the more difficult for her and Bill to ferret out what had happened.
Their investigation takes them on a number of twists and turns, exposing history and secrets and reinforcing to them both how much family—born, found, and made—means. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Lydia and Bill back in action and hope it will not be nearly as long a wait until I can read of their next adventure.
Lydia’s stern mother surprises her with the news that there is a branch of the family in the unlikely locale of small-town Mississippi. She further astonishes Lydia with her insistence that Lydia must go there immediately to prove a distant cousin innocent of killing his father—and that she should take Bill with her. When the two arrive in Mississippi, they meet some of that family and discover some old secrets.
Lydia’s great-grandfather’s brother came from China to the U.S. as a “paper son,” pretending to be a relation of someone already here to gain entry. The deception included a name change which has lasted through the generations. As someone who grew up in New York City, Lydia views the Deep South as almost a foreign country, with customs, history, and prejudices that are odd to her, including the fact that Chinese grocers had been common in the Delta. When Lydia’s accused cousin escapes jail, it makes it all the more difficult for her and Bill to ferret out what had happened.
Their investigation takes them on a number of twists and turns, exposing history and secrets and reinforcing to them both how much family—born, found, and made—means. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Lydia and Bill back in action and hope it will not be nearly as long a wait until I can read of their next adventure.
nocto's review
5.0
I'm the wrong person to ask if this is a good book. I was super delighted to find that there was a new book in this series, the twelfth, it's been several years since the last one and I'd thought the series was dead. It goes far away from the usual New York setting as Lydia and Bill head to the Mississippi Delta to investigate a murder among distant cousins of Lydia's. I loved being back with the characters and though I was a bit disappointed that "New York" was missing as a character I think the story worked pretty well, the change of scene added a different dimension, and Lydia and Bill needed some time away.
It was great, and I really hope there will be more before too long.
It was great, and I really hope there will be more before too long.
its_not_yours's review
4.0
I really expected to quit this series after reading this one (from the library), but to my surprise, Rozan did a really good job here, with both the characters and the history and present of racism in the area. Will probably get this to add to my library now, and am hopeful for the upcoming book.
jbrendanshaw's review
4.0
So great returning to this series and these characters. Rozan smartly sends her sleuths - the white Bill Smith and the Chinese American Lydia Chin - South to the Mississippi Delta to investigate a family mystery that doubles as a look at the complexities of race in the South - not simply Blackness and Whiteness but also the place of Asian identity in the history and present of the Delta. Super fun and fast read.
magpiefox's review
4.0
I received this as an advance readers' copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
ALERT: MILD SPOILERS
I've been reading the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series since the beginning, and it's always been a favorite. This book was a long time coming - it's been 8 years since the last installment - so I was pretty excited to read it.
Overall I liked the book a lot. The mystery is interesting, and the setting new for the series. I was a little thrown by the ending, which felt forcedly tied up with a bow. The narrative suggested a different ending, and I had to think about it for a while to decide how I felt. In the end I decided that the solution of the mystery wasn't as important as the theme that runs through the entire book -- that family and identity are very important, but they can't always be defined as cleanly as we would like. This series has always been about the characters for me more than the mystery, and this book serves as an important turning point for Lydia in particular.
I hope that the next installment will come more quickly than this one -- the book ended on a tiny cliffhanger.
ALERT: MILD SPOILERS
I've been reading the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series since the beginning, and it's always been a favorite. This book was a long time coming - it's been 8 years since the last installment - so I was pretty excited to read it.
Overall I liked the book a lot. The mystery is interesting, and the setting new for the series. I was a little thrown by the ending, which felt forcedly tied up with a bow. The narrative suggested a different ending, and I had to think about it for a while to decide how I felt. In the end I decided that the solution of the mystery wasn't as important as the theme that runs through the entire book -- that family and identity are very important, but they can't always be defined as cleanly as we would like. This series has always been about the characters for me more than the mystery, and this book serves as an important turning point for Lydia in particular.
I hope that the next installment will come more quickly than this one -- the book ended on a tiny cliffhanger.