by S. J. Rozan
First published 2009
Chinese-American private investigator Lydia Chin hasn't spoken to her partner Bill Smith in months when her former mentor Joel Pilarsky calls with a case. Excavators in Shanghai have discovered a cache of World War II jewelry that belonged to Rosalie Gilder, a Jewish refugee who found sanctuary in the city during the war. A Chinese official stole the collection and fled to New York. Lydia and Joel are hired to track down the missing pieces, but Lydia soon discovers the cache included the Shanghai Moon, a legendary jewel worth millions. Before she can pursue this lead, Joel is murdered and she's fired from the case. Bill Smith returns to help her investigate. Together they must decode what really happened to the Shanghai Moon sixty years ago during wartime Shanghai and how those events connect to Joel's death. As more bodies pile up, Lydia and Bill race to uncover the truth about the missing jewel and stop the killer before they become the next victims.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Shanghai, New York
Period: World War II
641 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Pr