The Bradys and Joss House Jim

A stolen relic. A vanished boy. And a criminal clever enough to walk straight into Old King Brady's office.

Old King Brady has tracked killers, con men, and thieves across every borough of New York. He has never met an enemy quite like Joss House Jim.

When the chief of the United States Secret Service Bureau arrives in person at the Brady Detective Bureau, Brady knows the case is no ordinary one. A sacred brass box has been stolen from San Francisco's most powerful Chinese joss house. The papers inside are priceless—and apparently, someone is trying to sell them right here in New York.

Then a disguised Chinaman walks through Brady's door. Brady sees through the old man's act in an instant—the false eyebrows, the painted skin, the telltale scar beneath the right eye. Joss House Jim, escaped convict and legendary joss house thief, is sitting in his office asking for help.

Brady doesn't believe in coincidences.

But before he can untangle the trap being laid for him, a young Brooklyn boy named Walter Browning vanishes into the labyrinthine streets of Chinatown—carrying a belt full of stolen Chinese manuscripts and walking straight into a world he doesn't understand.

Now Brady races through the darkest corners of New York's Chinatown, where ancient secrets hide behind silk curtains, priests practice sciences no Western chemist can explain, and a clever criminal plays both sides against the middle.

Can Old King Brady find the boy and recover the papers before Joss House Jim vanishes into the shadows again?