The Shanghai Moon

This is an an engaging mystery set both in New York City's Chinatown and in Shanghai over a time span from 1930s to the present. It involves a reported gem, The Shanghai Moon, that would have had both the family jewels of an Austrian Jewish family and a jade carving of a prominent Shanghai family. This came into being because a marriage a young refugee Jewess and a prominent young Chinese Shanghai man. Murders take place in Chinatown with connections to this renown jewel and a web of stories blossom before lady private detective, Ling Wan-ju. Beside the fun of resolving the mystery there is a great recreation of Chinatown and Shanghai present and past.

Quotes (page 168-169) “ She offered to turn over husband's list of CCP agents if show more her brother was released. Police officials considered locking her up, taking list by force. Decided against that, fearing her father had influence with Japanese. Chen Kai-rong freed. Sister handed over list, handwritten, not in Chen Kai-rong's hand. Three men on it previously suspected by SMP so authenticity seemed probable. SMP went forward with plan to round up agents, the General Zhang. When agents' homes and businesses raided that night, however, all had fled. Chen Kai-rong, Mei-lin, General Zhang also gone. Chen's Austrian wife briefly arrested, released soon after. Appeared to have no inkling husband was CCP. Credible. Jewish refugee,no knowledge of Chinese politics, likely married him for his money.”

“Chen reportedly made his way north to Red Army. General Zhang turned up in Chongqing with older son.........”

(page 336) “ No.' C.D.'s voice was dry and rustling. 'No, My father didn't kill Rosalie.'

'I'm sorry, but there's too much wrong, Your knowing what went on. Rosalie not having the gem. You and your father not staying together. Maybe the reason you didn't take your brother's million dollars is that you already had the jewel.'

'Is that you believe? Is that what you'll tell my brother and my cousin?'

'I don't know what I'll tell them. I don't know what to believe. Except that this all needs to be explained. If your father didn't give the Shanghai Moon to you---'

'He didn't give it to me. Or anyone else. He never had the Shanghai Moon. My father didn't kill Rosalie Gilder, Ms. Chin. I did.” show less

This is a cracking modern detective story, based in modern day Chinatown in NY, with a sparky Chinese-American heroine private investigator at its core.

What's really clever about Trail of Blood is that you effectively get two stories woven into one novel, because the trail leads back to WW2 and Shanghai. So as well as a fascinating insight into the current cultural background of the heroine, SJ Rozan has also brilliantly described the turmoil of China in the 1940s, when the Japanese invaded, Shanghai was home to refugee Jews who were escaping German oppression, and when the battle between Communists and nationalist Chinese factions was far from over.

On top of all that there's a convincing police procedural and an international hunt for show more missing jewellery worth millions. It might seem strange to mix and convoluted multi-generational Chinese family history with a hard-nosed, gun-toting PI, whose hopeless cousin is a wannabe triad member, but... it works. Very well.

My only complaint is that there may be one too many subplots, which means that now and then the PI, her police chum and detective partner have to pause and discuss at length what-the-heck is going on. This feels as if it's been inserted at the demand of an editor, rightly concerned that the audience might have muddled some of the Zhang, Zhang and Chen plots. It would have been neater and sharper to have streamlined the plot a little, rather than distrupt the flow of the action with chapters of exposition.

However, that's the only thing which stopped this being a 5-start review. I'm delighted to have found SJ Rozan and her characters, and will definitely look out for others in the series. (By the way, this certainly doesn't read as if it's the first book in a series, but it doesn't matter if you start here. The main characters are very well defined and it's easy to pick up what's been goign on with their back story).

Recommended. 8/10 show less

Ah, bliss. Lydia Chin and Bill Smith are back. I've never been disappointed in a book by S.J. Rozan, but I confess the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series is my favorite. They alternate between being narrated by Lydia and Bill, who are partners in a private eye business. Both are believable and intensely human characters.

In this volume, Lydia is asked to help with a case when her mentor Joel Pilarsky asks her to help on a case with a Chinese connection. Bill isn't around, still deeply affected by their last case. When an important person in the case is murdered, Bill comes back. The case winds up involving Shanghai before and during World War II. Shanghai for a while had a large Jewish refugee population, as it was one of the few places that show more would accept the high number of Jewish refugees from Germany.

Rozan crafts a tragic story that involves Chinese and Jewish cultures, love that crosses those cultural boundaries, the horrors of war, and the ties between families. Highly recommended. show less

This was my first S. J. Rozan mystery and I will definitely be reading more of her work. The story, written from the point-of-view of Chinese-American private eye Lydia Chin, involves the search for a legendary gem. Lydia teams up with former partner Bill Smith to uncover the mystery, which spans several decades and crosses between Chinese and Jewish cultures.

Rozan seems to have a good grasp of Chinese-American culture, and I found Lydia to be an appealing and believable character. (I am a second-generation Asian myself.) The Shanghai Moon features a good plot with a satisfying conclusion, interesting historical references, and terrific snappy dialogue. Highly recommended!

This is one of the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series of books. I haven't read any of the previous books, but it doesn't matter as this book works well as a stand-alone read. Lydia and Bill are private investigators in New York, and in this story they are hired by a Holocaust asset recovery lawyer to look for some missing jewellery which belonged to a Jewish refugee. There follows lots of twists and turns as the investigators try to uncover the full story behind the jewellery.

I very much enjoyed this book, and the characters in it. The story is a bit unusual, being a detective story focused on finding answers rather than solving murders (although there are murders to be solved). I felt the book might have been a little bit too long, but on show more the whole it's a very readable and exciting novel, with a bit of history thrown in. show less

This is titled "Trail Of Blood" on the UK. It is amazing that this is # 9 in a series but I have not come across either the series or the writer before; especially when the likes of Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos are quoted on the cover. This book uses the device of old letters and diaries to frame the modern story with the former being set in Shanghai before and during WW2 and the latter in New York's Chinatown. I felt the plot was well worked out but a bit over complicated and the flashbacks slowed the action a bit too much. But I liked the lead character, Lydia Chin and I will be going back to the beginning of the series soon.

P.I. Lydia Chin is asked by her mentor, Joel Pinarsky, to help locate missing jewelry dating back to WWII. A cache of jewels had been found in Shanghai and identified as belonging to European Jews attempting to escape Hitler's influence. Shortly after being found, a Chinese official is suspected of stealing the gems.

Joel Pinarsky is murdered and Lydia gets the news that one of the missing pieces of the jewl collection is the Shanghai Moon, a priceless gem.

With the loss of her mentor, Lydia is happy to see Bill Smith, her former partner and more, return to help her with the case. A usual part of the novels with these two characters involves the bi-play about their personal realtionship but sadly, there is little of that in this show more story.

Lydia is told by her friend, Mary Kee, a detective in the New York police department that a Chinese citizen who was a policeman has been killed. He was in New York searching for Wong Pan, the official accused of taking the jewels.

Besides the mystery story, the author has privided her readers with a history lesson. Rosalie Gilder's letters to her mother, during the termoil in WWII brings out the fears and longing for a better life that the Jews must have felt at that time. I felt as if I was reading a modern "The Diary of Ann Frank" from the point of view of a young Jewish woman exposed to the terrible aspects of Hitler's hatred and persecution.

The plot is complex but the story is interesting and worth the effort. show less