New York private eye BILL
SMITH and his sometime partner/associate LYDIA CHIN
have appeared separately and together in a series of quite entertaining
short stories. Recently, they've made the jump to novels.Lydia Chin and Bill Smith
Created by S.J. Rozan
New York private eye BILL
SMITH and his sometime partner/associate LYDIA CHIN
have appeared separately and together in a series of quite entertaining
short stories. Recently, they've made the jump to novels.
Bill is a rumpled, middle-aged "seen-it-all" cynic with a sentimental streak who's lived alone, above a bar, for sixteen years. He plays piano for relaxation, although nobody has heard him play for over twenty years. I'd love to know the story behind that one. He's also been known to disappear on occasion for an upstate hunting trip. He's had a long stretch in the P.I. business and an even longer string of acquaintances that includes bookies, loan sharks and cops.
Lydia, on the other hand, comes from a tight-knit community, New York's Chinatown, where everyone seems to know everyone else's business, especially her disapproving mother.
A sense of affection infuses the relationship which, so far, has only gone as far as casual flirting. But quite an interesting relationship. I mean, Bill's a fortyish army brat who's been around, and Lydia's a native New Yorker, Chinatown Chinese, twelve years younger, who still lives with her mother. The gentle friction between the two provides a sexy spark to the stories, and the well-drawn recccurring characters and insiders' look into Manhattan, especially Chinatown, make this series one to watch out for.
Born and brought up in the Bronx, Rozan is an architect in a New York firm whose practice includes police stations, hospitals, firehouses, zoo buildings, and the largest terra cotta restoration project in the world, which may explain why she has such an eye for detail when it comes to building descriptions. She's also been a self-defense instructor and photographer, as well as a Knicks fan and a "lousy but dogged" point guard.
UNDER OATH
SHORT STORIES
NOVELS
