- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (Feb 3 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312245564
- ISBN-13: 978-0312245566
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 590 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #711,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"To read S.J. Rozan is to experience the kind of pure pleasure only a master can deliver."
--Dennis Lehane
--Dennis Lehane
"With Winter and Night, S. J. Rozan paints with the full pallette of the human heart, using depth, detail, and nuance of character I haven't seen since Raymond Chandler (Yes, I mean it.)"
-- Robert Crais
"Featuring two of my favorite characters in crime fiction, Bill Smith and Lydia Chin, Winter and Night is a chilling and compelling look at the dark roots of violence among American teens. The most intense and topical works from one of America's finest crime writers today."
-- Linda Fairstein
"engrossing storytelling ... As 'The Shanghai Moon' demonstrates, there's plenty of possibility lurking in the old missing-gems plot. It just takes a master like S.J. Rozan to restore the luster of a classic." --Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post
Product Description
With The Shanghai Moon, S. J. Rozan returns to her award-winning, critically acclaimed, and much-loved characters Lydia Chin and Bill Smith in the first new novel in the series in seven years.
Estranged for months from fellow P.I. Bill Smith, Chinese-American private investigator Lydia Chin is brought in by colleague and former mentor Joel Pilarsky to help with a case that crosses continents, cultures, and decades.
In Shanghai, excavation has unearthed a cache of European jewelry dating back to World War II, when Shanghai was an open city providing safe haven for thousands of Jewish refugees. The jewelry, identifed as having belonged to one such refugee - Rosalie Gilder - was immediately stolen by a Chinese official who fled to New York City. Hired by a lawyer specializing in the recovery of Holocaust assets, Chin and Pilarsky are to find any and all leads to the missing jewels.
However, Lydia soon learns that there is much more to the story than they've been told: The Shanghai Moon, one of the world's most sought after missing jewels, reputed to be worth millions, is believed to have been part of the same stash. Before Lydia can act on this new information, Joel Pilarsky is murdered, Lydia is fired from the case, and Bill Smith finally reappears on the scene. Now Lydia and Bill must unravel the truth about the Shanghai Moon and the events that surrounded its disappearance sixty years ago during the chaos of war and revolution, if they are to stop more killings and uncover the truth of what is going on today.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
"I saw gas lamps in the Chinese shops in Shanghai, ...I saw their elimination by electric lights." Hu Shih, Nov 7 2009
By michael a. draper - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Shanghai Moon: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel (Hardcover)
Lydia Chin is asked by her mentor, Joel Pilarsky, to help locate missing jewelry dating back to WWII. A cache of jewelry had been found in Shanghai and identified as belonging to European Jews attempting to escape Hitler's influence. A Chinese official is suspected of stealing the jewels. The jewels might be circulating in Chinatown and Lydia knows that area.Soon after Lydia begins her search, Pilarsky is murdered. Then Lydia learns that one of the pieces she's looking for is the Shanghai Moon, a rare, valuable gem.
When Pilarsky is killed, Bill Smith, Lydia's former partner, and more, contacts her and they agree to work the case together. A usual part of the stories with these two characters is the interesting bi-play between them about their relationship but, sadly, there is little of that in this novel.
S. J. Rozan has provided her readers with a good mystery and a history lesson. Rosalie Gilder's letters to her mother, during the time of termoil around WWII brings out the fears and longing for a better world that the Jews must have felt at that time. I felt as if I was reading an updated "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 setting of Chinatown in New York is well described. With Lydia's mother preparing special meals and giving her views on things, it's as if the reader is looking into the window of life in that part of the city. The plot is complex but the story is interesting and enlightening, worth the effort.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lydia and Bill are back!, Feb 3 2009
By B. G. Ritts "Old Beeg" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Shanghai Moon: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel (Hardcover)
THE SHANGHAI MOON is the ninth installment in S.J. Rozan's award winning Lydia Chin / Bill Smith series. It's been seven years since we last had a look at our favorite New York City P.I.s.This 'who done it/where is it' gives us a group of today's greedy types unfolding against the Shanghai of World War II. The 'Shanghai Moon' is a rumored heirloom of antique jade -- which may not exist -- and people are dying because of it. Chin and Smith once again do a professional job of unraveling what's afoot.
The author's two intervening standalone books, in which she experimented with and stretched her writing, resonate here with a lovely new patina surrounding Lydia and Bill. The prose is beautifully Rozan, and she has crafted a poignant history lesson in the letters chronicling the uncommon love story that backdrops the book. I can not overstate how much I enjoyed this book. Highly recommended!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I'm back." and I'm so glad!, May 6 2009
By L. J. Roberts - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Shanghai Moon: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel (Hardcover)
First Sentence: "I'm back."PI Lydia Chin is back from a case that took her to China, but she is estranged from her friend and partner, Bill Smith. Her former mentor, Joel Pilarsky, contacts her to work on a case with him as he needs a connection to the Chinese community.
During WWII, China accepted refugees fleeing Europe. Rosalie Gilder and her brother were sent to Shanghai ahead of their parents, along with the family jewelry. Rosalie meets and marries a Chinese gentleman and in celebration a piece of jewelry is created using hundreds-of-years-old jade and diamonds from Rosalie's mother's necklace. That piece, known as the Shanghai Moon, disappeared after the way and is much sought by collectors.
Now jewelry, identified as belonging to Rosalie, has been found during an excavation in Shanghai, but the Moon is not among them. A lawyer specializing in Holocaust assets recovery asks for Pilarsky and Lydia's help. After a murder, Bill rejoins with Lydia to find the necklace and the truth.
I have so missed this series. Those who have followed it know that the protagonist alternates with each book, and this was Lydia's turn. But part of what makes the books work is the uncertainty of the relationship between the two characters and where it might, or might never, lead.
Rozen does create great characters, brings them to life. She is masterful in blending the two cultures and educating us about both.
I love Rozan's use of dialogue and humor, particularly Lydia's mental conversations. They add just the right touch of lightness to the story.
And this story was particularly good. There was fascinating information about the recent history of China and their taking in refugees during the war. I learned things I had never known.
I loved Rozan's use of Rosalie's letters and found them fascinating. The plot was so well done. It twisted direction with nearly every chapter.
All I can say is that I hope we don't have to wait as long for the next Lydia Chin/Bill Smith book.
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