Family Business
A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Mystery
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- $28.99
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- $28.99
Publisher Description
The death of a powerful Chinatown crime boss thrusts private eye Lydia Chin and her partner Bill Smith into a world of double-dealing, subterfuge, murder, and—because this is New York City—real estate in this new mystery by Edgar Award-winning novelist S. J. Rozan.
The death of Chinatown’s most powerful mogul, a powerful Chinatown crime boss, thrusts private eye Lydia Chin and her partner Bill Smith into a world of double-dealing, murder, and real estate scandal in this new mystery by the award winning novelist S. J. Rozan.
Choi has left the Tong headquarters building to his niece, who hires Lydia and her partner, Bill Smith, to accompany her to inspect it. The building is at the center of a tug-of-war between Chinatown preservation interests—including Lydia's brother Tim—and a real estate developer who's desperate to get his hands on it.
When Lydia, Bill, and Choi's niece go to the building, they discover the Tong members are equally divided on the question of whether the niece should hold onto the building, or sell it—and make them rich. Entering Choi's private living quarters they find the murdered body of Choi's chief lieutenant.
The battle for the building has begun. Can Lydia and Bill escape being caught in the crossfire?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Edgar winner Rozan's superb 14th mystery starring New York City PIs Lydia Chin and Bill Smith (after 2020's The Art of Violence), several people jockey to succeed tong leader Big Brother Choi after he dies of a heart attack. Meanwhile, Jackson Ting, a Chinese American real estate developer, wants to buy the headquarters of Choi's tong, housed in a historic building in Manhattan's Chinatown, and construct a 20-story apartment building on the site, a project Chinatown residents fear will further gentrify their community. Lydia is asked for help by Choi's surprise heir, his niece Mel Wu, a real estate attorney devoted to housing justice who's opposed to the project. But when Lydia accompanies Mel to the building to learn a secret Choi confided in his lieutenant, Chang Yao-Zu, they find Chang's stabbed corpse instead. Blackmail and an attempted murder ensue amid rumors of hidden treasure. Rozan evokes the milieu perfectly, while smoothly integrating current debates over neighborhood development into an intricate plot. This is another triumph for this talented author.
