Paper Son by S. J. Rozan

PAPER SON by S. J. Rozan is the twelfth Lydia Chin and Bill Smith mystery novel; it’s the first, as far as I know, to take place in the Mississippi Delta rather than in New York’s Chinatown.  Lydia and Bill travel to the South at the behest of her mother and Captain Pete Tam due to the death of Leland Tam, supposedly at the hands of his son, Jefferson. That is the first Lydia learns of the Tam branch of her family who are related to her father because several generations ago a Chin travelled to America as a paper son and adopted another man’s name. The story becomes even more confusing due to the multiplicity of characters, generations, and races – black, white, Asian and many mixtures.  In addition, Rozan makes frequent use of idioms and colloquialisms like, “Nice enough [fellow], but always has some new, bright idea. Not one of ’em worth a bar of soap after a week’s wash.” That dialogue is fun and amusing at first, but eventually hinders the flow of the story and (at least my) ability to differentiate characters. That may be Rozan’s underlying point about immigrants, appearance, class and even regional differences – that we are too quick to judge – since she says near the beginning, “One thing about the South.  Generally, even when you get what you expected, it turns out not to be what you thought.” PAPER SON is a complicated mystery full of stereotypes and surprises. This new title received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly.