“The Pot Thief Who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing” by J. Michael Orenduff

Book Cover

This is a fun mystery novel, the ninth in a series, by J. Michael Orenduff. The books feature Hubie Schuze who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and makes his living by illegally digging up ancient Native American pots on public lands and selling them. He also supplements that income by copying such pots and selling them to unsuspecting tourists. Despite all that he seems like a nice guy. A nice guy who seems to know a lot of people who get murdered. Not that he does any of that though but he is under suspicion a lot and so has to try and solve murders himself to clear himself.

This latest murder is a puzzler. An unidentified man is killed on his way to Schuze’s shop. Thing is he shares DNA with Schuze and although the man’s death was captured on video, the police have no idea how he was killed or who did it.

So yes, solving the murder and figuring out who victim was is fun but even more fun is following Schuze’s moves as he goes to the solution. We learn about academic politics at the University of New Mexico, how a woman seduced him by teaching him how to iron clothes. He’s on a first name basis with the lead homicide detective. He consults his family, he drinks margaritas at happy hour. It takes him a while but he finally gets it.

There is lots of New Mexican culture and background in these books. I’ve read all of them and am looking forward to another.

5 thoughts on ““The Pot Thief Who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing” by J. Michael Orenduff

  1. Vicki

    I’ve never heard of this series or author. This sounds good so I’ll check out the series. My dad’s name is Hubert and his nickname was Hubie 🙂

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