The Jasmine Trade

I finished Denise Hamilton's The Jasmine Trade and am ready to rule: Check it out.

Denise is a former Los Angeles Times reporter, and this is the first of several Eve Diamond mysteries. Her protagonist, it turns out, is also an LA Times reporter, and we end up learning a lot about the city as we follow her through her sleuthing. The Jasmine Trade is about "parachute kids," Asian teenagers living on their own and attending school in Los Angeles while their parents run their affairs from the old country.

Turns out Eve lives in Silverlake, Carey McWilliams's old neighborhood. Did you think for a second that I wouldn't tie that in somehow?

Next up: Los Angeles Noir, edited by Denise. This is part of the series from Akashic Books.