Early Shamus Award-winning novel in the Lydia Chen/Bill Smith series. Mainly focuses on Smith this time around, and has an interesting locale of an old age home in the Bronx, surrounded by gangs and lots of bad guys!

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The Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series is not only literate, enthralling detective fiction, but is also made more interesting by the appealing and somewhat eccentric protagonists and the juxtaposition of their backgrounds. As an American WASP married to a 1st generation Chinese, I especially appreciate the problems they run into in their relationship. The author has Lydia's family dynamics and the culture of NYC's Chinatown portrayed with accuracy and sensitivity.

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Excellent crime novel; very well written; I will read other books in this series.

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Outstanding...I particularly like the way the stories are from either Bill's or Lydia's point of view, giving a balance to their interactions. Also, no waste of silly space-taking dialogue.

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This is an excellent read, as are all of the books in this series. They each stand on their own and there is no need to read them in the order that they were written, as so many readers are prone to do. Delightful insights into Chinese-Americans and how their experiences in China cause them to relate to their life in America. All this with some crime thrown in. WOW! I owe it all to PBS who introduced me to this series.

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-- From Back of Book --

It flows through the Bronx like a river between banks of faded elegance. And at the end of the avenue called the Grand Concourse is the place where people go to die, the Bronx Home for the Aged. The only problem is that people are dying before their time.

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This is a very well-written series featuring an interesting detective team.

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