S.J. Rozan

S.J. Rozan (born 1950, Bronx, NY) - an acclaimed American mystery writer, best known for her Lydia Chin/Bill Smith private investigator series, and a former practising architect.  She has famously described herself as a ”nice Jewish girl growing up in the Bronx”. Her full name is Shira Judith Rozan, and her family background is Ukrainian-Jewish. While she is best known for her deep dives into Chinese-American culture through her detective series, she has increasingly integrated her own heritage into her work: 

Jewish Themes:  The Shanghai Moon explores the history of Jewish refugees in Shanghai during the Holocaust. The plot follows the search for a legendary piece of jewelry belonging to a refugee, Rosalie Gilder, and uses letters and diaries to depict the tragic experiences of the Jewish community in wartime Shanghai.

Literary Contributions: She has contributed to the Jewish Noir anthology series [see Kevin Wishnia in this bibliography] and written short stories like “Playing for Keeps,” which follows a young Jewish girl in post-WWII America. [Google/AI]

Rozan, S.J., (The Shanghai Moon [hc, Minotaur Books, 2009]) 978-0312245566 [pb, Minotaur Books, 2020] 978-0312644529