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Reader Reviews 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Entertaining, educational debut in Chinese American series, April 24, 2001 Reviewer: c-c-peterson from Colorado In a genre that is finally reasonalby well populated by woman and African Americans, an Asian slueth (of either gender) is still a rarity. Enter Lydia Chin, an ABC (American Born Chinese)who still lives with her mother in Manhattan's growing Chinatown. For me, a native of Oakland (which has a strong Asian community), the highlight of this book is the entire sensory experience. Rozan, an Anglo, does a wonderful job of writing a book that stimulates the senses of smell and taste. It doesn't hurt that Lydia loves to eat and shares her wonderful meals with the reader. The mystery revolves around a couple of crates of missing Chinese porcelains (hence a wonderful pun in the title). Lydia and her sort of partner, Bill, explore a mix of Manhattan museums and gangs as they seek the china. The resolution is nicely complicated and shouldn't be obivous - at least to the Anglo reader. What keeps the book from pure hard boiled status is Lydia's meddling family (they don't approve of her work); a convenient best friend who's a cop; and Lydia's ambiguous relationship with Bill (good ABC girls aren't supposed to be attracted to white dectectives). Bottom line: A solid debut in a series I'm already looking forward to reading again.
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