Book Review: A Bitter Feast

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

A Bitter Feast     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
S. J. Rozan
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator
Series: Lydia Chin / Bill Smith # 5
St. Martin's, Sep 1998, $23.95, 320 pp.

Private Investigator Lydia Chin has been hired to find a missing person, who disappeared in the middle of New York's Chinatown. The seemingly simple case begins when she works undercover as a waitress in a Chinatown restaurant, a place where allegedly four illegal aliens vanished without a trace.

However, her inquiries are slowed down by the demographic change in the local community. Apparently, the newly arrived Fukiense-speaking Chinese are more and more taking over from the previous generation Cantonese immigrants. This makes it more difficult on Lydia, who has lived her entire life in the neighborhood, to obtain information. Still, with the help of her professional and growing personal partner Bill Smith, and shockingly (at least to this reviewer) her mother, Lydia plows ahead with her investigation.

This series is more of a movable feast rather than A BITTER FEAST because of the wonderful reoccurring characters and the insiders look into Manhattan, especially Chinatown. The ethnic foods (not just Chinese) add a fabulous taste to a great who-done-it. Award winning S.J. Rozan has scribed another winning entry to a triumphant mystery series.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner