[sufue]

The Pot Thief Who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing is the ninth and most recent (2020) in the Pot Thief series by J. Michael Orenduff. I've really enjoyed this series over the years - it hits a bunch of my favorite themes: archeology, the American Southwest (where my dad's family is from), some good laughs, and a bit of murder, of course. And this book specifically was a finalist for the 2021 Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US, and is discountable at Kobo!

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0912SCH9C
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0912SCH9C
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...otowi-crossing

Spoiler:

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).