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cemoses's review against another edition
3.0
I was invited to review this book by Netgalley and the Publisher.
I wish I could have given the book a higher rating. I liked the characters and the New Mexico setting. .
The second half of the book was better than the first half. The first half is slow and it takes a long time to get to the mystery. The book is part of a series and the author takes a long time in introducing the characters. The main character (the Pot Thief) has a love interest and a female friend named Susannah.
While the author spends a lot of time explaining the backgrounds of the other characters, he spends very little time on the history of the relationship main character (the Pot Thief) and Susannah. In the book Susannah is a major figure. She is the amateur detective of the book. Many of her ideas about how to solve crimes come from reading mystery books. While the idea of an amateur detective getting her ideas for her reading of mystery novels could be highly entertaining, some of her references to other mystery books I found confusing.
The second half of the book improves it gets to the mystery.
The book was enjoyable. However, despite having all the ingredients for being a better light mystery, the book does not hit it desired target. The author needs to improve his actual execution of what are good ideas for a mystery.
I wish I could have given the book a higher rating. I liked the characters and the New Mexico setting. .
The second half of the book was better than the first half. The first half is slow and it takes a long time to get to the mystery. The book is part of a series and the author takes a long time in introducing the characters. The main character (the Pot Thief) has a love interest and a female friend named Susannah.
While the author spends a lot of time explaining the backgrounds of the other characters, he spends very little time on the history of the relationship main character (the Pot Thief) and Susannah. In the book Susannah is a major figure. She is the amateur detective of the book. Many of her ideas about how to solve crimes come from reading mystery books. While the idea of an amateur detective getting her ideas for her reading of mystery novels could be highly entertaining, some of her references to other mystery books I found confusing.
The second half of the book improves it gets to the mystery.
The book was enjoyable. However, despite having all the ingredients for being a better light mystery, the book does not hit it desired target. The author needs to improve his actual execution of what are good ideas for a mystery.
bkdrgn303's review against another edition
3.0
What a fun and different little mystery. This one takes place in Albuquerque and features a UNM dropout, Hubert Schuze, who owns a shop and sells old, Native American pottery. One day Hubert is approached by a man who offers him a large sum of money to steal an ancient Mogollon pot that resides in the university museum and the game is afoot. The author is quite knowledgeable about Native American pottery and lore and he can be irreverent and quite funny as well. This book is short, just over 200 pages, but the author tends to wander a bit in a few philosophical and existential ponderings. In another book I might find this a bit annoying but here, the main character is so nicely drawn that you know that every musing fits. This one actually gets 3.5 star. I hope the next book is as well done because this could become a favorite series.
pitosalas's review against another edition
3.0
Odd little book set in Albuquerque. Saw it on a shelf in a small bookshop. Local author. Just a whodunit. But set in New Mexico with local cultural and historical touches.
edsantiago's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
An unexpected pleasure which I might’ve appreciated more with a little preparation, so I’m targeting this review toward people who know nothing about this book series.
The most important thing to know ahead of time is: whatever expectations you might have, let them go because this will be both more and less. Yeah, there’s a murder mystery, and an interesting (VERY CONVOLUTED) side plot, but those feel incidental. The bulk of the story, as I saw it, is just a pretty decent fella living a fairly ordinary life, treating people with respect and kindness and compassion, and for the most part surrounding himself with similarly caring loved ones. As other reviewers have noted, what makes this book is the <i>relationships</i>. And they’re lovely. Mature. Strong. Low-drama. Some people might find a book like this boring; I found it refreshing even with the pages-long digressions into college scheduling conflicts. It felt like life.
Proofreading was appalling, worst I’ve seen in years. The occasional mystery elements required Golden Gate-level suspension of disbelief. Tangents galore, little side stories that get abandoned—again, much like life. And the Edith Warner snippets felt like afterthoughts, tacked on in postproduction because oops we should probably connect somehow to the book title. Even so I really enjoyed it, am glad to have read it. Would love to pick up another one in the series, but (sigh) I first need to become more tolerant of misprints.
The most important thing to know ahead of time is: whatever expectations you might have, let them go because this will be both more and less. Yeah, there’s a murder mystery, and an interesting (VERY CONVOLUTED) side plot, but those feel incidental. The bulk of the story, as I saw it, is just a pretty decent fella living a fairly ordinary life, treating people with respect and kindness and compassion, and for the most part surrounding himself with similarly caring loved ones. As other reviewers have noted, what makes this book is the <i>relationships</i>. And they’re lovely. Mature. Strong. Low-drama. Some people might find a book like this boring; I found it refreshing even with the pages-long digressions into college scheduling conflicts. It felt like life.
Proofreading was appalling, worst I’ve seen in years. The occasional mystery elements required Golden Gate-level suspension of disbelief. Tangents galore, little side stories that get abandoned—again, much like life. And the Edith Warner snippets felt like afterthoughts, tacked on in postproduction because oops we should probably connect somehow to the book title. Even so I really enjoyed it, am glad to have read it. Would love to pick up another one in the series, but (sigh) I first need to become more tolerant of misprints.
pattieod's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of fun, learned about New Mexico. The protagonist is sort of annoying, and the approach to the mystery itself is a little trite, but the whole concept is interesting and different enough that I'll be looking for another in the series.
mazza57's review
2.0
To be honest i felt this was a little too slow and laboured to call it a good read. there were some good parts and it had a bit of humour to make it more interesting. There are more in the series but not certain I am attracted enough to continue
slferg's review
5.0
Hubert lives in Albuquerque, and runs a store with no name that sells pottery. He makes some of the pots himself, but a lot he buys from Indigenous people to sell. His pots are expensive, so he doesn't have many customers and his shop doesn't really have a name. He never got around to putting up a sign. Then a pot is stolen from a display at a park that is only one of two of it's kind known. And some people are pretty sure he stole it. So he's trying to figure that out when someone asks him to steal the other one from a local museum. Hubert's friend, Susannah, a perpetual student who is going through all the majors (apparently) at the college, meets with him every evening at 5 at the local bar where they drink magaritas and talk about things in their lives. She has some friends that are designing logos for a business class and asks if they can design one for him. He says sure, but he doesn't even have a name for his store. So they'll just have to design it and he'll see if he likes it. A special agent accuses him of stealing the pot from the park, since he's trying to think of a way to steal the other he feels a little guilty. Actually he's not sure he's going to steal if, but playing around with the idea. But he has been reading an anthology of articles about Pythagoras that keeps coming up.
The book is a little different, but very interesting. Hubert has a nephew who is very good at computers that he's always calling for help - who helps him out for money. Just a little to tide him over.......There is quite a bit of humor and I like the way the story is told.
The book is a little different, but very interesting. Hubert has a nephew who is very good at computers that he's always calling for help - who helps him out for money. Just a little to tide him over.......There is quite a bit of humor and I like the way the story is told.
mart15inez's review
4.0
A clever entertaining book with interesting characters, especially the main one, Hubert Schuze.
raji_c's review against another edition
3.0
I managed to read all the books () in the Pot Thief Mysteries series. I really liked the first book in the series. It felt like watching an old English movie (think Casablanca without the angst). A reluctant hero who is on the ‘wrong side of forty-five’ and is afraid of violent confrontations but quick on the draw with his quips makes for an interesting read. Some interactions had me laughing out loud. The ‘mystery’ was really just a tiny part. My appreciation of the books rose and fell through the series. The strength of this series is really its cast of characters who are extremely easy to fall in love with. Another plus is the information on Pythagoras, Ptolemy, Escoffier, Lawrence, Billy the Kid, and Georgia O'Keefe. A drawback is the familiarity of sentences, situations, mannerisms all spelt out in the same words in different books. It can be a little tedious when you read the entire series in one go like I did. On the whole, a pleasant way to spend time but not something I might go back to.
Come to think of it, this is my second series based in, well I cannot call it small town America, so maybe, not-really-mainstream America. I find I like the perspective. And surprisingly (or not), there is a lot of interesting food in both the Orenduff and Jerusha Jones series!
Come to think of it, this is my second series based in, well I cannot call it small town America, so maybe, not-really-mainstream America. I find I like the perspective. And surprisingly (or not), there is a lot of interesting food in both the Orenduff and Jerusha Jones series!