The Mayors of
New York
(Pegasus Crime, 2023) is the fifteenth title in the excellent Lydia Chin and
Bill Smith private investigator series by S. J. Rozan. Chin is a
first-generation American-born Chinese whose battle with her traditional
mother’s expectations runs through each book. Kentucky-born Smith is a
prototypical private eye, rumpled, cynical, world-weary. Their partnership is
unconventional and successful.
I was
delighted to win the character name that Rozan donated to a charity fundraiser
a couple of years ago and was especially pleased to see what a fat role she
gave my name in this book.
In this case
Smith is approached by a former girlfriend who works for the mayor of New York.
The mayor’s teenage son Mark has disappeared. He has run away before and his mother
believed that he would turn up after a day or two but he hasn’t this time.
Since the mayor is deep in negotiations for the new police union contract, she
does not want to ask the police to search for him. She fears she would appear
beholden to the group she is supposed to be standing firm with. She wants Smith
to quietly search for her son and bring him home. Smith doesn’t like Madam Mayor
and feels no compulsion to take the assignment and he really doesn’t like the
former girlfriend. He agrees to look for Mark because he was a teenage runaway
too.
Mark’s
parents are divorced and do not co-parent. They barely parent individually. Neither
of them really knows what Mark has been up to. His twin sister doesn’t know
much more as she’s deeply involved in her own life. The member of the mayor’s
household who does know Mark is the chef, with whom Mark spends time. He describes
Mark’s interests and activities and gives Chin and Smith far more insight than
his family did. It sends the pair across New York, where they meet neighborhood
leaders, unofficial mayors who watch out for their patch of the city. Each of
them proves helpful.
This series
is about New York as much as it is solving crime and this book showcases the
city more strongly than ever. It also delivers a great plot twist, revealing
unexpected sinister motivation for what seemed to be an innocuous minor
character. The final confrontation scene is spectacular.
Starred
reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. Highly recommended.
·
Publisher: Pegasus Crime (December
5, 2023)
·
Language: English
·
Hardcover: 288 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1639365257
·
ISBN-13: 978-1639365258\
The Amazon Associate image system is not working, still, so please go to https://amzn.to/422O1GF to pick it up.
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on
Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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