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A review by lindca
Paper Son by S.J. Rozan
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.