Mandarin Plaid
St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 1996
ISBN 0-312-96283-5
Christina says:
Chinese American fashion designer Genna Jing is about to have her
breakthrough with her own line Mandarin Plaid when her designs for the
spring collection are stolen. She wants to pay the ransom for them to keep
things quiet and her investors happy and hires PI Lydia Chin to deliver
it. In spite of this precaution the exchange goes wrong. Lydia and her
partner Bill Smith are fired but still determined to get to the bottom of
this case.
S. J. Rozan alternately writes her books from the point of view of
Lydia and Bill. In MANDARIN PLAID, the third book of the series, Lydia
Chin is the narrator. She gives us a glimpse of the exotic world of New
York’s Chinatown and the reader gets to meet her Chinese mother again
who doesn’t like her daughter’s profession one bit, not only because
it keeps bringing her together with her white partner. Like in the first
book of the series CHINA TRADE Lydia is hired in MANDARIN PLAID because
one of her brothers recommended her to her clients, but although some of
the main characters are Chinese Americans, the author seemed to make a
particular effort to clarify that not every crime that involves Chinese
have something to do with Chinese gangs. Lydia and Bill hunt the villains
from Chinatown through the glitzy world of fashion to posh high society
homes. It was a bit too predictable who was behind the whole thing, but in
spite of this small gripe MANDARIN PLAID is just as enjoyable as the rest
of the series. Rozan is a master when it comes to catching the atmosphere
and diversity of New York, and her characters are lively and
three-dimensional down to the smallest parts. |
Any comments? Write us:
Christina Gross
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