The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy

This series is developing nicely.
More pots found and another mystery to be solved. The author balances the history and the mystery very adroitly suits his protagonist’s laidback sleuthing style quite well.

Hubie Schuze digs up pots in the desert, makes copies of them and then sells both the originals and the copies. In this episode he is after a set of pots stolen from his shop before he could copy them and then return them to the Ma tribe. Suspecting they are being held in a secure building of lofts in downtown Albuquerque, he has to learn how to break in past their security systems to search an apartment. It happens that when he is in the man's apartment, that man is being murdered elsewhere. He becomes the prime suspect since he had motive and opportunity.

Happy at finding a new and intriguing mystery series, I was rather put off by Hubie's cavalier attitude to plundering archaeological sites. He has daily conversations with his friend show more Susannah over margaritas with chips and salsa in their local watering holes, a device a guess is necessary to share the character's thoughts with the reader and offer him argument. I was also put off by his lengthy forays into being a cat burglar. They just seemed too contrived and phony. His inviting all of the possible murderers, along with his friends to complete his audience, and then revealing the crime put this novel over the top for me. show less

Hubert , our main protagonist takes a while to get into the meat of his adventure in this second book of the series, but when he gets going the reader is happy to be along for the ride. It is fun to polish up some of the scientific facts you have forgotten since school and to have a few laughs along the way.

The Pot Thief who Studied Ptolemy by J. Michael Orenduff is another book in the his Pot Thief series starring Hubert ("Hubie") Schuze a pottery store owner in the Old Town section of Albuquerque. He has flexible hours at his store, he counts among his friends a crooked cop, a priest, and a Basque afternoon margarita drinking companion. He also disagrees with the United States Congress on policies regarding digging for pots on public lands. And he has talents for picking locks and fooling security systems. He is a very resourceful guy and a lot of fun.

In this book he finds out about some sacred pots that belong to the San Roque Pueblo. He wants to return the pots, well, maybe most of them, to the pueblo but they are in a condo complex show more with a very good security system where he has to use all his talents.

If you would like an interesting, lively mystery, steeped in New Mexican culture this book is for you.

I give this book four stars out of five. Check out the Kindle version on Amazon. It is only $4.59!!! It is a bargain. show less

A great whimsical murder mystery in the Lawrence Block style.