A review by attytheresa
Family Business by S.J. Rozan
4.0
The news swept back and forth through Chinatown all afternoon: Big Brother Choi was dead.
Thus opens a detective story set in the world of NYC real estate development around 2020, specifically in the heart of Chinatown. Big Brother Choi was the last holdout in the parcel acquisition by a developer determined to build a glass tower smack in the heart of Chinatown and forever changing the area. Real estate developers vs. preservationists is key to the story and the motivations of many of the characters. But from the minute you learn that Big Brother Choi was head of one of the most powerful tongs (gangs) and the building was the tong's NYC headquarters, 'the Family', you know there is more. Much more. Then the murder happens, guns come our, rocks are thrown, tong warfare breaks out .... and deep dark family secrets come to light within the tong and ties upper echelons.
This is the 14th In the Lydia and Bill PI series by Rozan, but read just fine as a standalone. How have I never read this author? I have other of the series in my TBR Towers though. I so enjoyed this: Lydia her badass self, the dialogue, the relationships with family and Bill, the tea consumption and tour of Chinatown's bakeries and restaurants (all existing IRL), all the secondary characters. Rozan not only did her research, she integrated seamlessly and accurately.
I did put together a lot of the pieces but barely sooner than Lydia and Bill.
Why did I not read this series years, a decade ago? Time to make a pot of green tea - properly, just bringing the water to hot, not boiling.
Thus opens a detective story set in the world of NYC real estate development around 2020, specifically in the heart of Chinatown. Big Brother Choi was the last holdout in the parcel acquisition by a developer determined to build a glass tower smack in the heart of Chinatown and forever changing the area. Real estate developers vs. preservationists is key to the story and the motivations of many of the characters. But from the minute you learn that Big Brother Choi was head of one of the most powerful tongs (gangs) and the building was the tong's NYC headquarters, 'the Family', you know there is more. Much more. Then the murder happens, guns come our, rocks are thrown, tong warfare breaks out .... and deep dark family secrets come to light within the tong and ties upper echelons.
This is the 14th In the Lydia and Bill PI series by Rozan, but read just fine as a standalone. How have I never read this author? I have other of the series in my TBR Towers though. I so enjoyed this: Lydia her badass self, the dialogue, the relationships with family and Bill, the tea consumption and tour of Chinatown's bakeries and restaurants (all existing IRL), all the secondary characters. Rozan not only did her research, she integrated seamlessly and accurately.
I did put together a lot of the pieces but barely sooner than Lydia and Bill.
Why did I not read this series years, a decade ago? Time to make a pot of green tea - properly, just bringing the water to hot, not boiling.