A Bitter Feast

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Throughout this book – but especially in the first chapter – if you don't feel the foreign-ness, the other-ness, of Lydia's Chinatown, you aren't reading it right. Which doesn't really make it different from the other books in this series that are from Lydia's POV, it just seemed particularly strong in this one.

There's more than a clash of cultures with this case – there's a clash of generations. Between those who think like transplanted Chinese, and those who think like American Born Chinese. Some restaurant workers are trying to unionize, and some owners (who may or may not have less-legitimate other businesses) aren't too keen on it. There are some bullets and some bombs involved – which is pretty much where Lydia comes in. If she can identify, once and for all, who is taking this clash and making it violent, it can be stopped (and, well, the other side will probably end up carrying the day).

I'm not really certain that I need a case – or a plot – I could read a short novel-length work of Lydia and Bill just chatting over tea and espresso. Outside of Wolfe and Archie – or maybe early Spenser and Hawk – I can't think of two charcters I enjoy “listening” to more conversing with each other.

Narrative-wise and character-wise there's nothing particularly interesting here, instead it's just what you expect from a Lydia Chin book. Good, solid entertainment from a very reliable author.