The Pot Thief Mysteries Volume One

The Pot Thief Mysteries Volume One
Author: J. Michael Orenduff
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 642
Release: 2017-05-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 150404553X

An Albuquerque pottery dealer looking for artifacts finds murder and intrigue in this “smartly funny” series (Anne Hillerman, author of Spider Woman’s Daughter). A dealer in ancient Native American pottery, Hubert Schuze has spent years searching the public lands of New Mexico for artwork that would otherwise remain buried. According to the US government, he’s a thief, but Hubie knows the real crime would be to allow age-old traditions to die. He honors prehistoric craftspeople by resurrecting their handiwork, and nothing—not even foul play—will stop him in these three installments of the Lefty Award–winning mystery series. The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras: Hubie accepts a $25,000 offer to lift a rare pot from a local museum but changes his mind when he discovers how tightly the exhibit is being guarded. When the pot goes missing anyway, Hubie’s sent on the hunt for the real thief—and on the run from a killer. The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy: Hubie goes on a mission to recover stolen relics from a high-rise apartment building. Unfortunately, his perfect plan falls apart when he’s arrested for murder. That’s what happens when you get caught with blood on your hands and a dead body in the room. Now, Hubie must stay one step ahead of the law as he pursues a beautiful mystery woman in this fast-paced thriller that “hook[s] the reader from the get-go” (Albuquerque Journal). The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein: After Hubie appraises a collection of Anasazi pots for an eccentric, reclusive collector, his $2,500 payment disappears. He suspects the man ripped him off, but soon stumbles into a bigger crime when the collector is murdered. Determined not to end up in handcuffs, Hubie sets out to solve the mystery—and finds himself pulled deeper and deeper into the dead man’s shadowy, dangerous life.

The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras

The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras
Author: J. Michael Orenduff
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2014-01-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 148045852X

First in the lively, laugh-filled series featuring a New Mexico pottery dealer with a side job as an amateur sleuth. A dealer of ancient Native American pottery, Hubert Schuze has spent years combing the public lands of New Mexico, digging for artwork that would otherwise remain buried. According to the US government, Hubie is a thief—but no act of Congress could stop him from doing what he loves. For decades, Hubie has worn the title of pot thief proudly. Outright burglary, though, is another story. But an offer of $25,000 to lift a rare pot from a local museum proves too tempting for Hubie to refuse. When he sees how tightly the relic is guarded, he changes his mind, but the pot goes missing anyway. Soon a federal agent suspects that Hubie is the culprit. After things take a turn for the serious, Hubie knows he must find the real thief quickly, or risk cracking something more fragile than any pot—his skull. The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras is the 1st book in the Pot Thief Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Pot Thief Who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing

The Pot Thief Who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing
Author: J. Michael Orenduff
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2021-06-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504067169

A New Mexico pottery dealer cracks a perplexing mystery in this “winning blend of humor and character development” (Publishers Weekly). Hubert Schuze is an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and he has a fairly lucrative side gig digging up ancient relics and selling them. He also seems to have a talent for finding killers. When Hubie discovers a body outside his pottery shop, it appears the victim was stabbed in the back with something resembling a screwdriver. But the story gets a lot more mysterious when a video turns up showing the man collapsing with no one else nearby. Furthermore, a slip of paper is found in his pocket, with Hubie’s name and address on it, suggesting there may be a connection between the two men—though Hubie has no idea what it could be. Now, the professor and pottery expert must put his sleuthing skills to work—while simultaneously managing his new role running the university’s art department—to piece together the shards of a baffling crime in this “breezy” novel from a winner of the Left Award for Best Humorous Mystery starring a “witty” amateur detective (Albuquerque Journal). “[A] winning series.” —Susan Wittig Albert, New York Times–bestselling author of the China Bayles Herbal Mysteries

Spider Woman's Daughter

Spider Woman's Daughter
Author: Anne Hillerman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2013-10-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0062270508

Don’t miss the TV series, Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn, Chee, & Manuelito novels, now on AMC and AMC+! NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Spider Woman’s Daughter is an intricately plotted, suspenseful, colorful, and unforgettable journey. Readers will fall in love with Bernie Manuelito and look forward to Anne Hillerman’s next effort in what should be a long, enjoyable, successful series. Her depiction of the Navajo Nation is spot on. I loved this book." — Jo-Ann Mapson, author of award-winning Solomon's Oak and Finding Casey Legendary tribal sleuths Leaphorn and Chee are back! The supremely talented daughter of New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman continues his popular series. It happened in an instant. After a breakfast with colleagues, Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito sees a sedan careen into the parking lot and hears a crack of gunfire. When the dust clears, someone very close to her is lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood. With the victim in the hospital fighting for his life, every person in the squad and the local FBI office are hell-bent on catching the gunman. Bernie, too, wants in on the investigation, especially when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is put in charge of finding the shooter. Bernie and Chee discover that a cold case involving Chee’s former boss and partner, retired lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, may hold the key to the shooting. Digging into the old investigation with fresh eyes and new urgency, husband and wife find themselves inching closer to the truth with every clue . . . and closer to a killer who will do anything to prevent justice from taking its course.

The Mirror Thief

The Mirror Thief
Author: Martin Seay
Publisher: Melville House
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2016-05-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1612195156

A globetrotting, time-bending, wildly entertaining masterpiece hailed by the New York Times Book Review as "Audaciously well written...the book I was raving about to my friends before I'd even finished it." Publishers Weekly raved that "with near-universal appeal . . . Seay’s debut novel is a true delight, a big, beautiful cabinet of wonders that is by turns an ominous modern thriller, a supernatural mystery, and an enchanting historical adventure story." Set in three cities in three eras, The Mirror Thief calls to mind David Mitchell and Umberto Eco in its mix of entertainment and literary bravado. The core story is set in Venice in the sixteenth century, when the famed makers of Venetian glass were perfecting one of the old world's most wondrous inventions: the mirror. An object of glittering yet fearful fascination—was it reflecting simple reality, or something more spiritually revealing?—the Venetian mirrors were state of the art technology, and subject to industrial espionage by desirous sultans and royals world-wide. But for any of the development team to leave the island was a crime punishable by death. One man, however—a world-weary war hero with nothing to lose—has a scheme he thinks will allow him to outwit the city's terrifying enforcers of the edict, the ominous Council of Ten . . . Meanwhile, in two other Venices—Venice Beach, California, circa 1958, and the Venice casino in Las Vegas, circa today—two other schemers launch similarly dangerous plans to get away with a secret . . . All three stories will weave together into a spell-binding tour-de-force that is impossible to put down—an old-fashioned, stay-up-all-night novel that, in the end, returns the reader to a stunning conclusion in the original Venice . . . and the bedazzled sense of having read a truly original and thrilling work of art.

The Pot Thief Who Studied Edward Abbey

The Pot Thief Who Studied Edward Abbey
Author: J. Michael Orenduff
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2018-05-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504049926

The pot thief is going back to school, but someone on campus is trying for a different kind of degree—murder in the first—in this “smartly funny series” (Anne Hillerman). Before making a somewhat notorious name for himself as a salvager of antiquated pottery and other desert artifacts, Hubie Schuze was an eager student at the University of New Mexico—right up until they booted him out. Now, he’s back at UNM as a pottery teacher. It should be a breeze, but campus life has changed dramatically in the past twenty-five years. From cell phones to trigger warnings to sensitivity workshops, Hubie has to get up to speed fast or risk losing control of his class. But his dismay at the state of modern academia takes a back seat when a young beauty working as a life model is murdered—and Hubie becomes a suspect. Taking the investigation into his own hands, he soon uncovers a wide palette of sketchy suspects that includes both the self-involved student body and the quarrelsome art school faculty. But what he doesn’t know is that the murderer has a new artistic project in the works: a headstone for the grave of Hubie Schuze . . . The Pot Thief Who Studied Edward Abbey is the 8th book in the Pot Thief Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Dream Thief Volume 1

Dream Thief Volume 1
Author: Jai Nitz
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2014
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1616552832

After stealing an Aboriginal mask from a museum, unemployed stoner John Lincoln realizes that the spirits of the vengeful dead are possessing his body and mind while he sleeps! What follows is an unpredictable tour around the American South as the Dream Thief accrues the memories and skills of various murder victims... and fights to stay awake, before he kills again! Bram Stoker Award winner Jai Nitz and Greg Smallwood, along with a who's who of modern comics talents providing covers and pinups, craft a stylish, fast-paced drama of supernatural revenge!

The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein

The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein
Author: J. Michael Orenduff
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2014-01-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1480458554

A shady pottery collector is murdered in sunny New Mexico in this mystery in a “winning series” (Susan Wittig Albert). Maybe it was the chance to make an easy $2,500. Or maybe it was the opportunity to examine a treasure trove of Anasazi pots—or maybe it was just a slow day at the antiques shop that convinced Hubie Schuze to agree to a strange proposition. A reclusive collector wants a confidential appraisal, with one catch: Hubie must be blindfolded and driven to an unknown location by a chauffeur. Sure, it’s an odd setup, but what could possibly go wrong? Hubie’s nonchalance fades fast when he finds three replicas among the genuine antiquities. Worse, after returning home, he can’t seem to find the $2,500 cash that the collector gave him. Incensed at the rip-off, Hubie is determined to recoup the money, but Detective Whit Fletcher interrupts his scheme, dragging him instead to the morgue to identify a John Doe. When the sheet is pulled back, Hubie is shocked to see the body of the unknown art collector. Hubie is not a suspect—yet. But the longer he pursues this mystery, the more tangled he will become in the dead man’s shadowy life. The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein is the 3th book in the Pot Thief Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O'Keeffe

The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O'Keeffe
Author: J. Michael Orenduff
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2016-02-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504020855

This Southwest-set tale about a hunt for a precious relic offers a “nice mix of comedy and mystery” from an award-winning author (Booklist). A dealer in traditional Native American pottery, Hubie Schuze scours New Mexico in search of ancient treasures. The Bureau of Land Management calls him a criminal, but Hubie knows that the real injustice would be to leave the legacies of prehistoric craftspeople buried in the dirt. In all his travels across the state, there is one place that Hubie hasn’t been able to access: Trinity Site at the White Sands Missile Range, where the first atomic bomb was detonated. Deep within the range are ruins once occupied by the Tompiro people, whose distinctive pottery is incredibly rare and valuable. When an old associate claims to have a buyer interested in spending big money on a Tompiro pot, Hubie resolves to finally find a way into the heavily guarded military installation. But Hubie has more on his mind than just outwitting the army’s most sophisticated security measures. He’s in love with a beautiful woman who has a few secrets of her own—and his best friend, Susannah, may have just unearthed a lost Georgia O’Keeffe painting. It’s a lot for a mild-mannered pot thief to handle, and when his associate is murdered and Tompiro pots start replicating like Russian nesting dolls, Hubie suddenly realizes he’s caught up in the most complex and dangerous mystery he’s ever faced. The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O’Keeffe is the 7th book in the Pot Thief Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Thief of Souls

Thief of Souls
Author: Brian Klingborg
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2021-05-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1250779065

In Brian Klingborg's Thief of Souls, the brutal murder of a young woman in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing—but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, living in exile in the small town, is interested in justice for the victim. Lu Fei is a graduate of China’s top police college but he’s been assigned to a sleepy backwater town in northern China, where almost nothing happens and the theft of a few chickens represents a major crime wave. That is until a young woman is found dead, her organs removed, and joss paper stuffed in her mouth. The CID in Beijing—headed by a rising political star—is on the case but in an increasingly authoritarian China, prosperity and political stability are far more important than solving the murder of an insignificant village girl. As such, the CID head is interested in pinning the crime on the first available suspect rather than wading into uncomfortable truths, leaving Lu Fei on his own. As Lu digs deeper into the gruesome murder, he finds himself facing old enemies and creating new ones in the form of local Communist Party bosses and corrupt business interests. Despite these rising obstacles, Lu remains determined to find the real killer, especially after he links the murder to other unsolved homicides. But the closer he gets to the heart of the mystery, the more he puts himself and his loved ones in danger.