Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #359446 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-15
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .84" h x 4.22" w x 6.84" l, .33 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 304 pages

From Amazon.com
S. J. Rozan is a New York architect who knows how to design a fine mystery novel: by doing her homework, using the best quality materials, and keeping the surprises coming until the very end. In her fourth book about unlikely detective partners Lydia Chin and Bill Smith, Rozan plants Smith high up in the clouds, laying brick on a troubled building site while Chin gets a job as a secretary in the construction bosses' trailer. Both see plenty of action, as what at first appears to be a simple case of a few crooked construction workers becomes a much more complicated story of twisted family relationships. Previous Chin/Smith outings available in paperback include Mandarin Plaid, China Trade, and Concourse.

From AudioFile
P.I.s Bill Smith and Lydia Chin go undercover to investigate a series of thefts and snafus at a New York construction site. They find murder and corruption in a fast-paced mystery that translates well to audio. The production values are great, making this consistently easy to listen to. Vogel's accents for the New York characters, particularly Bill's brick mason co-worker on the scaffold, are delightful. His ludicrous falsetto for Lydia and other female characters can be overlooked as the rest of the presentation more than makes up for it. D.T.H. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Kirkus Reviews
It's a lucky thing for p.i. Bill Smith that he's got construction experience; it's a perfect cover for him to get close to masonry foreman Joe Romeo--who's suspected of bookmaking, mob connections, and a lot worse--at the same time that he's keeping an eye on the suspicious series of accidents at the new 40-story apartment building that's rising at Broadway and 99th. In no time at all Bill's succeeded in persuading his partner, Mike DiMaio, that he isn't much of a mason, and he's placed his first off-track bet with Romeo. But don't count on his collecting very soon, since Romeo promptly joins missing crane operator Lenny Pelligrini and mortar mixer Reg Phillips as the latest casualty of the Armstrong building. At the same time that Bill's turning up evidence linking the cycle of violence to Louie Falco (mobbed-up childhood friend of Chuck DeMattis, the colleague who hired Bill to go undercover), Bill's partner Lydia Chin, also undercover at the Armstrong site, overhears hints that implicate general contractors Dan Crowell Sr. and Dan Crowell Jr., and take-no-prisoners Denise Armstrong herself points the finger at employment-coalition agitator Chester Hamilton. Is there any builder or subcontractor or unaffiliated lowlife in New York who doesn't have a finger in the Armstrong pie? Despite the epidemic of corruption, Rozan's focus on the tragic Armstrong building makes this the sharpest, clearest, most purposefully focused of her four Smith/Chin mysteries (Mandarin Plaid, 1996, etc.). (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.