A Bitter Feast Book

There's lots of action, great food, and social insight into the attitudes of various generations of immigrants in S.J. Rozan's fifth book in her superlative Lydia Chin-Bill Smith series. There's also a remarkable moment when Lydia's mother actually admits that she approves of the way her daughter does her job. Mrs. Chin has always hated the fact that Lydia's work as a private detective puts her in danger and in the company of men, like Smith, who don't make suitable husbands. But when Lydia refuses to knuckle under to the demands of a venerable Chinatown patriarch, her mother astonishes her (and us) by praising her "professional manner"--and then goes on to give her a clue that helps her unravel a mystery involving the smuggling of people and drugs. With each novel, Rozan alternates the narrative focus between Lydia Chin and Bill Smith, and this time it's Lydia's turn to take center stage. She uses her ethnicity and acting talent to work undercover as a dim sum waitress at the Dragon Garden (where four illegal aliens have disappeared) and her deep roots in New York's Chinatown to note and comment on subtle changes in the power structure as new Fukienese-speaking immigrants replace the old Cantonese. She and Smith also move their complicated personal relationship forward a notch and consume vast amounts of wonderful food--Chinese, Jewish, even a homemade meatloaf--in a story that manages to satisify all the senses. Previous Chin-Smith outings in paperback: China Trade, Concourse, Mandarin Plaid, and No Colder Place. --Dick AdlerRead More