Death Money

By Henry Chang

When a floater that surfaces in the Harlem River turns out to be Chinese, Yu leaves his downtown precinct to investigate. Yu knocks on the usual doors, and the trail leads to the Gee family, noodle manufacturers who on the surface look like the ideal immigrant success story. 

When the body of an unidentified Asian man is found in the Harlem River, NYPD Detective Jack Yu is pulled in to investigate. The murder takes Jack from the benevolent associations of Chinatown to the take-out restaurants, strip clubs, and underground gambling establishments of the Bronx, to a wealthy, exclusive New Jersey borough. It's a world of secrets and unclear allegiances, of Chinatown street gangs and major Triad players. With the help of an elderly fortune teller and an old friend, the unpredictable Billy Bow, Jack races to solve his most difficult case yet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781616953522

Reviews for Death Money

[edgoldberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this bland sequel to Red Jade the body of a young Asian man is discovered in frigid waters of the Harlem River between northern Manhattan and the Bronx. Chinese Detective Jack Yu, whose precinct is in southern Manhattan’s Chinatown, is called on the case, the simplistic implication being he is the only Asian policeman in the NYPD. Initially no wounds are seen, suggesting a bridge jumping suicide; however the autopsy reveals a thin, expertly placed knife wound and murder. Yu immediately thinks Chinatown connections and consults his friend Billy Bow, a Chinatown restaurant owner, and Ah Por, an ancient psychic whose prophesies have multiple meanings. Yu’s investigation brings him to the illicit gambling dens in Chinatown and the Bronx frequented by Chinese immigrants and highlights Chinese tong rivalry. :In the three days of the story there is little action of interest; a lot of traveling within Manhattan and the Bronx. Yu’s love interest, portrayed primarily through his muses about her body, adds nothing. Chang’s repetition of events as Yu mulls over clues is unnecessary. The use of italics to represent thoughts and Chinese words is distracting. The ending, although plausible, comes out of nowhere. Pass on this.