Customer Reviews

The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy

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Easily overlooked and at personal peril underestimated, Hubie Schuze is as comfortable as a pair of slippers. He's short, on the wrong side of forty-five, and lives in the back of his shop, an ancient adobe building in the colourful Old Town part of Albuquerque in the Land of Enchantment. Hubie makes replica pots, but given the right circumstances, he also steals originals.
Hubie is a lapsed archaeologist turned businessman, booted out of university for "relocating" Puebloan pots up to a thousand years old. Nothing makes him happier than being alone under the desert stars digging up a treasure. "I figure I'm part of the public, so why shouldn't I have the right to prospect on our land?" he asks in all insouciance. It was much more pleasant before the bothersome Archaeological Resources Protection Act.
True to his own ethical code, Hubie has a bone to pick with the establishment. Phony language such as "deaccessioning" doesn't fool him. In some dig sites, scientists rebury the pottery, or even toss it out. As for the hypocrisy of museums, they lock away glorious artifacts so that no one can enjoy them, a real crime. A master potter and materials scientist in his own right, Hubie loves "pushing pots by day and digging them up by the light of the moon." Those which make up his real income have dubious parentage and command five figures. Dry spells do happen. That's when he has time to volunteer to correct an injustice.
From a trusted connoisseur friend, Hubie learns that five legendary pots were supposed to be returned to the elders at the nearby San Roque Pueblo, but ended up in the hands of an unscrupulous university professor. What's the problem? The professor lives in an eleven-story loft building constructed like a fortress with state-of-the-art defenses. This caper is the ultimate challenge, Topkapi Revisited.
As in the debut novel, where Pythagorus guided Hubie's philosophy, this time Ptolemy's wisdom oversees the parallels. What better place than the ebony New Mexico desert sky to demonstrate the optical illusion of retrograde motion, like a circle in a spiral? The hypnotizing paths of the stars form a pattern for life and give Man an idea of his inconsequence.
Hubie has a reverence for history and the few living links too stubborn to disappear. This respect often gains him access to the inner sanctums and secrets of the sacred kivas. "Ma children are taught to recite their ancestors' names back for ten generations. Everyone before that is called an ancestor without a name."
To hear Hubie describe pottery is to sit at the feet of a poet. "The pot...demonstrated perfectly how a flat plane can be represented on a curved surface....the glaze where the lightning coincided with the clouds must have been altered ever so slightly." When he can touch the same clay that an ancient molded, he is in heaven on earth.
Enjoy a salt-rimmed margarita with Hubie's Basque friend Susannah at Dos Hermanas Tortilleria in the soft breeze and muted light of magical Duke City. Their friendship a touchstone in the uncertainties of life, they spar screwball-comedy style about Warner Oland, Merle Oberon, and Sidney Greenstreet. And on the way home, Hubie's neighbour Gladys, Nuestra Senora de los Casseroles, will be waiting in ambush with a King Ranch Chicken Hot Dish. Life is good.

After reading this novel, by J. Michael Orenduff, I think Ptolemy would have been well served studying The Pot Thief. I truly enjoy the adult discussions that Hubie and Susannah and others indulge in. All while enjoying those luscious sounding Margaritas.

This go round Hubie gets involved in a murder while trying to support Susannah's love life and also restoring, to their rightful owners, some ancient tribal pottery. Although Hubie is low-tech, he grasps the essentials of technology to find creative methods to achieve his ends.

The setting is Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico. It makes you want to head to your travel agency and book tickets now. Hubie makes it so familiar that you feel you could exit off a trolley and find yourself at home without a tourist map!

The truth is I just about like every aspect of this series. Please treat yourself to this intelligent, fun-loving, fast paced, yet peaceful series. Hubie needs our help or not?

The second in the Pot Thief series is just as good if not better than the first, the Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras. Hubert Schuze is up to old tricks "acquiring" pots. I won't say stealing, because you can only steal something if it actually belongs to the person you are taking it from. At least, that's how Hubert looks at it.

Hubert has a difficult time even locating these particular pots, and in the meantime meets a hot woman, does a little B & E, and gets accused of a murder. How's that for a few day's work?

Hubert Schuze is an unconventional hero in today's market, unique in that he is physically unimposing, incredibly bright, and drives his own story. When anything happens to him that is out of his control, he answers back by using his noggin, ultimately solving crimes the police can't. He's an endearing geek, awkward and lovable, and it's nice to see him having just a smidge of luck in the romance department in this one.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, so I'll end by saying Orenduff's Pot Thief series is a must-read. He tells a compelling story, weaving his words in such a way they should be used as an example for all writers on how to show-not-tell. If you don't laugh out loud at Hubert's antics and some of the positions he finds himself in, you either have no sense of humor or you're already dead.

This is a great story by a great writer.

Holli Castillo
Author of Gumbo Justice

Opening lines: If you're looking for a hero, you've come to the wrong place; I lack the iron will and steel nerves the job requires." Hubert "Hubie" Schuze goes on to describe his day job selling old pots in an Old Town Albuquerque shop, and his night job digging them up on public lands. No messing around on reservations or private lands. He figures as long as he's part of the public, technically he's entitled to what he finds on public lands. He thinks digging up a long-buried pot with only the desert stars watching might be better than sex.

Then he adds:"But how would I know that? I'd been living like a monk. It's not easy meeting women when you're on the wrong side of forty-five, only five foot six inches tall, and live in the back of your shop."

Hubie's drinking partner and confidante at Dos Hermanas is Susannah. Over margaritas and salsa they discuss everything from her love life and her art studies to Ptolemy's theory of planet rotation, the Ma Indians of the San Roque Pueblo and the Russian alphabet.

Hubert interest in old pots is piqued when a retired university professor tells him that another professor most certainly kept some Ma pots he was supposed to return to the pueblo. The Ma Indians believe the pots have magic qualities, they're tired of waiting, and they want them back.

The thieving professor lives in the tony downtown Rio Grande Lofts. Hubert immediately begins making elaborate plans to case the joint and eventually break in. His trial runs are nefarious, precarious and hilarious. He's forced to hide out in the basement one night, and another time he's seduced in an elevator by one of the tenants.

Meanwhile Susannah has subscribed to an online dating service and her first response is from the head of the UNM art department. He invites her to a party in his loft and tells her to bring a friend. She invites Hubert. Now he's in like Flynn but anything that can go wrong, does, and Hubert is suddenly a murder suspect.

Orenduff is a scholar with a sense of humor, who embraces his characters even when he pokes gentle fun at them. His ensemble cast, led by Hubert and Susannah, would be at home in a Woody Allen movie.

One of my favorite characters is Father Groaz of St.Neri Church. A great bear of a man, Groaz is Rusyn. Not Russian, but but one of the stateless Rusyns, aka Rutherians, aka the Lemko, aka the Husal, aka the Bojko ... never mind. His heavy accent makes his greeting to Hubert sound like "Hallow, YouBird."

Another favorite is Miss Gladys, aka the Casserole Queen, a gift shop owner and dedicated matchmaker. Her throw-it-together casseroles sound so good I'm going to make the King Ranch Chicken as soon as I can get to the grocery store for ingredients.

Hubert (Hubie) Schuze runs an Indian pottery gallery on the Plaza in Old Town Albuquerque. Since the author is a former president of New Mexico State and his novel was enthusiastically recommendedby Governor Bill Richardson, I figured this guy at least had the credentials to write a mystery set in New Mexico.

More than credentials, Mike has ability, style and wit. This series (the third is soon to appear) is an easily identifiable homage to Lawrence Block's very funny The Burglar Who . . . series, featuring nefarious NYC bookstore owner Bernie Rhodenbarr. The parallels are too numerous to be anything but intentional--the small shop that doesn't make its owner a decent living, a female buddy that Hubie meets for drinks each evening, and the sense that the protagonist's larcenous streak would never be fully engaged if only temptation didn't come his way so often.

As Hubie points out, he used to be able to stock his gallery with legitimately dug up pots from around New Mexico until the Federal Antiquities Act made such treasure hunting a crime. In this novel, Hubie is asked steal a thousand-year-old pot from a UNM Museum. He's intrigued enough to case the joint, but finds the defenses impregnable and turns down the offer. But when he returns to his shop, he finds a BLM agent who accuses him stealing that very pot in the first place.

In his efforts to clear his reputation as a legitimate dealer, Hubie encounters two murders, fabricates a fake antique pot, cons the museum into trading him the real one for the copy, and generally gets deeper into trouble before he can dig himself out.

This is a satisfying debut novel from an assured writer who seems much more experienced in the field of crime and art forgery than his credentials would suggest. I've bought his second book and look forward to getting his third in December.

This light, cozy mystery stars Hubert Schuze, a pot digger and craftsman, who plans to break into an apartment to retrieve some sacred Pueblo pots that have been stolen by a deceitful professor of anthropology and archaeology. The story is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I lived for several years, and the author does a great job of portraying the distinctive culture and flavor of that area.

The book is also very funny, and made this reader laugh out loud many times. I especially liked the conversations between Hubert and his friend Susannah, who is a bit of a Mrs. Malaprop at times (she says he has "post-dramatic syndrome" after some bad guys break into his shop while he's there and smash his pots). I thought it was fun that Susannah lends him a copy of Lawrence Block's "The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza," but Hubie unfortunately doesn't have Bernie Rhodenbarr's ease and confidence after he's gone to the trouble of breaking into a place.

In addition there's a good mystery plot and a cast of colorful characters. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys humorous mysteries or a Southwestern setting.

I really, really liked Orenduff's first book but I have to say I LOVE this one. Orenduff has a talent for mystery writing sprinkled with quick wit that is hard to beat. He obviously does his homework when it comes to making pots. He describes in loving detail just what it takes for his character, Hubie, to duplicate these rare and very old vessels. You will love all the colorful characters he has created and I challenge anyone to read a chapter without laughing out loud as the mystery unfolds. Keep the books coming!!

I loved this book! I grew up in Albuquerque, so reading this was like a walk down memory lane. Even if you're not from the Southwest, the humor and mystery are worth the read.

The Pot Thief books are a great escape -- into the desert, southwest culture, mouthwatering cusine of Albuquerque, friendship and the intrigue of a well written mystery. All this with a dash of history and good amount of humor.

Just visited Albuquerque and picked up this book - - What a great read, an intelligent and funny mystery set in a beautiful part of the country. I can't wait to read more.