The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy (Pot Thief #2)

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Review by Allan Leverone in Genrviews Hubert Schuze is a thief, arguably, and argue the point he does with his best friend and sometimes drinking buddy Susannah. In this, the second “Pot Thief” mystery, anthropologist Schuze, a potter not above using his extraordinary skills to create exquisite fakes of ancient Native American clay pots to supplement his income, finds himself smack in the middle of a murder nvestigation, accused of a killing only he knows he didn’t commit. Schuze is convinced by the mysterious residents of San Roque, a New Mexico pueblo, to recover a series of sacred pots stolen from them years before. Sensing the irresistable opportunity to right a wrong - and maybe make a little cash along the way - Schuze happily agrees. Before long, he encounters a beautiful news reporter, a flamboyant department head and amateur art dealer from the very college from which Schuze was expelled years before, baseball-bat wielding thugs, a police detective who’s not exactly dirty but not totally clean, either, and assorted other characters, including a dead body which turns up in the very apartment the “Pot Thief” is attempting to burgle. Driven by snappy dialogue at times reminiscent of Lawrence Block, Orenduff has crafted a likable rogue as his protagonist, a deep-thinking philosopher equally comfortable comparing Ptolemy to Kepler as he is debating the merits of drinking margaritas with and without salt. The book is at its best when Schuze and Susannah bounce ideas and theories off each other and Orenduff is able to unleash his talent for creating consistently witty and occasionally hilarious dialogue. THE POT THIEF is a quick read, offering a satisfying mystery and a glimpse into life in the American Southwest.