In 1938, eigh­teen-year-old Ros­alie Gilder board­ed a lux­u­ri­ous cruise ship head­ed for Shang­hai, one of the few ports in a storm for Jew­ish refugees escap­ing the Holo­caust. Over six­ty years lat­er, a box con­tain­ing her jew­el­ry is found dur­ing exca­va­tion for a new build­ing. It might con­tain the infa­mous Shang­hai Moon, thought to be worth mil­lions. When the box is stolen and rumored to be in New York City, pri­vate detec­tives Lydia Chin and Joel Pilarsky are hired to find it. 

Lydia’s research reveals let­ters and diaries pro­vid­ing a fas­ci­nat­ing glimpse into the life and times of the young Holo­caust sur­vivor. Then, Joel Pilarsky is mur­dered and Lydia is fired from the case. She is not deterred and con­tin­ues her inves­ti­ga­tion as the sto­ry­line weaves back and forth between World War II era Chi­na and con­tem­po­rary New York City.

Rosalie’s sto­ry and the vivid descrip­tions of wartime Shang­hai are even more com­pelling than the mys­tery sur­round­ing the miss­ing jew­els. It’s appar­ent why author S. J. Rozan has won so many lit­er­ary awards. She offers a com­plex and sat­is­fy­ing tale that is high­ly recommended.