First of all, I have to admit that when I started Paper Son, I didn’t realize it was number twelve in a detective series. The NetGalley blurb didn’t mention this, and when I got the book, I didn’t spend enough time looking at the cover to notice A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel under the title. I picked it for the Chinese and mystery themes, and the book stands alone,  but I’m sure there’s plenty that I missed without reading the others.

Lydia Chin’s mother asks (ok, tells) her to take a case helping out a never-before-mentioned cousin in Mississippi, who is accused of murder. When Lydia asks about this new relative, especially why they don’t share a surname, she discovers some of her relatives are descendants of a paper son, and hold his “adopted” father’s name.  I knew about this practice (Laila Ibrahim’s Paper Wife is another good story that hinges on this system) but not about the rest of the life of Chinese immigrants in Mississippi.

Bill Smith, Lydia’s work partner and also secretly her romantic partner, comes with her to investigate the murder, and the suspect’s escape from custody. In Mississippi, Bill’s southern roots come out, and I just loved this part. My husband is a southerner who reverts to his drawl when we cross the Mason-Dixon line for a visit. (Or when he gets off the phone with his very southern mother.)

Their mystery has many twists, including meth dealing, Fine Upstanding Southerners, gambling, family secrets, and a certain interracial couple, no, not Bill and Lydia, another couple who may be keeping their relationship secret from unaccepting relatives. This is much more an exploration of the cultures in the south than a police procedural. There’s almost no gore or violence, thankfully, even though the original murder that brought Lydia down south was a a stabbing.

Anyway, I’m so delighted that I didn’t realize I was walking into the middle of series, and gave this mystery a try.