This book is suspenseful not because of the action (although there is plenty of that), but because Hamilton invents believable characters that you will come to care about. The protagonist is a smart reporter who, in the process of investigating a murder, comes across a prostitution ring run by Asian gangs. The author handles what could be a sensational topic with sensitivity. This book reminded me of George Peleconas' work because it paints such a believable picture of a city's dark side, in this case LA. Can't wait to read the next installment in this series.

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This book got off to a slow and somewhat disorganized start. Since it's the first in a mystery series that had been recommended to me, I persevered, fairly certain I wouldn't read beyond the first book. A little past halfway through the book, I realized I'd begun to care about a few characters, wanted some secretive relationships to be resolved, suspected a couple of good guys, etc. In other words I was hooked. It got better and better to the end, and now I'm looking for the next book in the Eve Diamond series.

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Very enjoyable book - Book 1 in the Eve Diamond series. This book kept me guessing... recommend it!

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Though the content of this book is par for the course as far as suspense-driven thrillers go (protagonist navigates through a tangled web of deceit that is personally disturbing and life-threatening), what really makes this book interesting is its tone and its sense of place. Set in modern-day Los Angeles, the prose echos the gritty, no nonsense style of classic Hollywood film noir. The narration is entirely in first person--and the narrator, Eve Diamond, is tough and flawed, with as many deep recesses and secrets as the underworld villains she encounters. The dialogue is sometimes forced and the plot sometimes requires a more than willing suspension of belief, but the book is really at its best capturing the gritty hodge-podge of urbanity that is modern L.A. Perhaps if I lived there it would be different, but this book did much more to convince me that L.A. is an urban metropolis, with its own logic and unique demographics, than six weeks of working in the city did.

Cliff's Notes: For romantic suspense, I still prefer J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas and Roarke, but the film noir prose and sweeping cityscapes of L.A. and its environs made _The Jasmine Trade_ worthwhile nonetheless.

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Hamiliton covers the phenomenon of 'parachute kids' in Southern California when she investigates the apparent carjacking and murder of a teen girl in LA's San Gabriel Valley.

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