Ep 72: S.J. Rozan, John Shen Yen Nee Celebrate THE MURDER OF MR MA; Bo Law Kung Fu Lion Dancers

Ep. 72 of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang airs 4/14/24 on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and streams on MNN2.
Launch Party for S.J. Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee's THE MURDER OF MR MA at The Granddaddy with Bo Law Kung Fu Lion Dancers
Sifu Paul Koh served as the Kung Fu consultant for the book.
Rozan (the Lydia Chin and Bill Smith novels) teams up with debut author Nee for a bewitching series kickoff that cleverly riffs on the Holmes/Watson dynamic with the investigative duo of novelist and lecturer Lao She and Judge Dee Ren Jie. In 1924 London, Lao (the Watson figure) is summoned by mathematician Bertrand Russell after Dee, Russell’s friend, is mistakenly arrested with a group of Chinese agitators. Concerned that Metropolitan Police inspector William Bard, whom Dee angered during WWI while resolving disputes between Chinese laborers and the British soldiers who recruited them to provide support in France, will discover that Dee’s been locked up, Russell convinces Lao to help him spring the judge from jail. Though their scheme goes south, Dee manages to escape, and he enlists Lao’s help in probing the murder of shopkeeper Ma Za Ren, who was under Bard’s command during the war. Someone fatally stabbed Ma in his store with one of the ornamental weapons he had for sale. Given Bard’s harsh anti-Chinese biases, Dee doubts the official inquiry will be thorough enough to settle on anything but the most obvious explanation, and dedicates himself to getting justice for his countryman. The intricate plot, which is bolstered by vivid period detail and playfully riffs on real-life figures in Chinese history (including Lao), is enhanced by healthy doses of humor and well-orchestrated action.
www.amazon.com/Murder-Mr-Ma-S...
Bo Law Kung Fu 290 Grand Street 2nd Floor New York, NY 10002 Tel: [phone] www.blkf.nyc
About the Authors
John Shen Yen Nee is a half Chinese, half Scottish American media executive, producer and entrepreneur who was born in Knoxville, grew up in San Diego, and is now based in Los Angeles, with a penchant for very long run-on sentences. He has served as president of WildStorm Productions; senior vice president of DC Comics; publisher of Marvel Comics; CEO of Cryptozoic Entertainment; and cofounder of CCG Labs. You can read more about him at www.johnnee.com.
SJ Rozan is the best-selling author of twenty novels and over eighty short stories, and editor of three anthologies. Her multiple awards include the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, Macavity; Japanese Maltese Falcon; and the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. She’s served on the national boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, and as president of Private Eye Writers of America. She was born in the Bronx and lives in Manhattan.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media producer, activist, documentarian and an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, an Arts and Entertainment and Lifestyle program that airs on Sunday at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and streams on MNN2. www.liachang.com www.liachangphotography.com