As far as fictional Manhattan private-investigator couples go, the heirs apparent to Nick and Nora Charles, who lit up Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man in 1934, must be Lydia and Bill of S.J. Rozan's Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series (Family Business; The Mayors of New York). Although they're not married--Lydia's ultratraditional Chinese mother isn't sold on "white baboon" Bill--the couple have been bantering Nick-and-Nora-style through one investigation after another. First Do No Harm is among the sturdiest and drollest installment in the series.
River Valley Downstate Medical Center morgue assistant Jordy Kazarian did the right thing: he phoned 911 after he found a nurse dead with a needle in her arm in the Manhattan hospital's basement. Now Jordy is being accused of killing her. One theory is that Jordy, a former addict, helped the nurse shoot up and, when she OD'd, freaked out and called the cops--never mind that Jordy says he never met the woman. Jordy's lawyer hires Lydia and Bill to nail down what really happened.
As Lydia and Bill tear through Manhattan interviewing hospital staff and associates, the storied city becomes a character, but the fun of this series is that Rozan strays so far from the beaten path in every book that New York is like a different city each time around. Throughout First Do No Harm, Lydia's narration reflects her bubbly tenacity, and her conversations with Bill (about the case, about his cigarette habit) capture the couple's easy rapport--Nick and Nora in a flirty-squabbly downtown incarnation. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer