I'm especially fond of Chinatown Beat, and in this trilogy, I'd advise starting from the first book there are details in the third one, Red Jade, that make a lot more impact if you've consumed the series in order. A native New Yorker himself, Chang has an immigrant heritage and uses the tension of parental and community expectations to ramp up the pressures on the characters in his novels. The books are set in the 1990s, Chang's way of creating a bit of personal distance - and also some protection against accidentally revealing a prosecutable crime, as many of the details in his books come from firsthand experience in the Chinatown neighborhoods, as well as recollections shared by retired criminals. Sydney Jones, Chang announced last year that he's now working on a sextet of Jack Yu books to follow the first three. In an interview with fellow mystery author J. Henry Chang has staked out generous turf in New York City's Chinatown with Detective Jack Yu, in a trilogy of police detection books: Chinatown Beat, Year of the Dog, and Red Jade. It's a good time of year to indulge in Chinatown mysteries, with the start of the Year of the (Water) Dragon just behind us, and the beginning of the Chinese astrological New Year tomorrow. Equally intriguing are those set in American (and other!) Chinatowns, where another "country" seems just a few blocks away. The wide range of international mysteries suddenly available in the US is exciting.
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