Stone Quarry

Rating:
Summary: Wholly average
Review: By reading the hype written by a lot of my favorite authors of mysteries and thriller about S.J. Rozan's latest book, "Stone Quarry, I expected a lot from it. What I found though was somewhat entertaining, not at all informative, and wholly average.

Bill Smith, private detective, and his on-again/off-again partner, Lydia Chin, are the stars of this current installment of an ongoing series. While vacationing in his deceased uncle's cabin in upstate New York, Smith becomes engaged in a what appears on the surface to be a simple burglary involving a reclusive artist who wants to remain anonymous but still recover some valuable paintings that were stolen from her. The situation devolves quickly into a fight to the death with local crooks who may-or-may-not have mob ties, along with some bought-off cops on the local force.

While Rozan does an able job with telling this story, it follows a well-trodden path and ends in a place we've all been many times before. By the end of the story, I found myself being able to skip ahead without missing anything, which to me, says a lot about a book. While it appears that Rozan may have a huge following, she didn't gain a new one with me.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best in this exceptional series.
Review: S.J. Rozan gets better with every book. I can't think of many writers with a more vivid sense of place: whether it's the kitchen of a dim sum palace in Chinatown, or a roadhouse in upstate New York, the settings of Rozan's novels, like her protagonists, are engaging and original. Bill Smith and Lydia Chin are rarities in the mystery genre: heroes with evolving inner lives, moral conflicts, and intelligent and humorous voices. Stone Quarry is Rozan at her best: it is wonderfully written and impossible to put down.

Rating:
Summary: A new departure
Review: Shamus winner S. J. Rozan tries something new: setting a book in upstate New York instead of New York City. The city was such a strong presence in the earlier books that I was afraid this one would be weaker, but it's a great read: atmospheric, dark and moving. Good plot, good characters, too. BTW, it's a Bill Smith book, so Lydia Chin fans, wait your turn.