THE SHANGHAI MOON

Lydia Chin and her business partner, Bill Smith, investigate a shocking new murder and a seventy-year-old mystery surrounding the disappearance of a breathtakingly beautiful brooch, the Shanghai Moon. Flashing back decades via charmingly written letters, the WWII story of Rosalie Gilder's escape from the Nazis and her subsequent marriage to Chen Kai-Rong, a wealthy Chinese man, form the back story, while Lydia and Bill's search for the jewel and a contemporary killer keep us firmly rooted in the present. Samantha Quann's lively performance is always engrossing, if not always spot-on with her Yiddish pronunciations. Quann makes the most of Rozan's dizzying plot twists with precise pacing and full-bodied, plausible personalities. Rozan's clever storytelling and Quann's easy-to-listen-to voice make THE SHANGHAI MOON a real audio gem. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2009]