The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O’Keeffe by J. Michael Orenduff (A Pot Thief Murder Mystery #7)

The latest addition in the Pot Thief series by J.Michael Orenduff,  The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O’Keeffe, brings back out favorite funny and enterprising character Hubert Schuze (Hubie) to once again rescue another treasure (err…pot) from being forever forgotten and buried in the land.

Afterall it is a shame for all those old pots to never see the day of light just because it is no longer allowed to liberate such artifacts without going through a thousand red tape bands of archaeology.

The fact that one can earn quite a nice sum of money is only relevant when one has dearly little of it due to various unfortunately and unexpected situations.

Any other time it is really not about the money at all.

When Hubie is offered a nice sum of coins to retrieve a very special New Mexican pot, it turns out that the White Sands Missile Range, which homes Trinity, the very place where the first atomic bombs were tested, has exactly what he needs. Problem is that it is extremely well guarded all year long. Except that one week when the place is open to the public…

Now all Hubie needs to do is get the pot with the help of his good friend Susannah, who devises an intricate plot to get near the area without the army learning about their somewhat illegal adventures.

The two of them off they go and Hubie manages to retrieve the pot, however he has quickly to hide it before meeting Susannah on the highway because an MP is stopped right next to his friend trying to usher her to the exit because the visit time to the compound is up.

As things usually go, this pot goes missing too the next time he goes back to find it. And so his troubles and adventures really start…

I have only read the first book in the series, The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras, and while catching up to book 7, without having read anything else in between, I had no troubles following the plot, the characters or their relationships with each other. There are some new people introduced here, which I found in part amusing, in part interesting.

I did find reading the chapters involving Hubie’s girlfriend, Sharice, a bit difficult at times. Sharice had recently a mastectomy, and while that is sadly often part of life, I didn’t really agree with how much the author focused on the whole description of the procedure, and what happened, how she looked, about reconstructive surgery etc.

I’m sure lots of people know someone who had to deal with such an ordeal (one of my family members just went through this last week), so reading about such a dramatic, tragic and sad episode in such depth in an otherwise funny, humorous and lighthearted book seemed to me a bit immersion breaking, and I felt myself a bit cringing reading those descriptions. I couldn’t wait for those chapters to end.

Having said that, everything else about the book was just right, and it was in the same fun style that I remembered from the first novel in the series.

The story starts a bit slow, but it really picks up halfway through the book with all the mystery involved.

The writing is great and I found myself chuckling quite often. The author has this way of infusing the narrative with a peculiar note of humor that really gets to me in a good way.

Overall I wouldn’t hesitate to pick the next book in the Pot Thief series when it’s out. It is a read worthy series for anyone who loves a good mystery involving a quirky and fun character with his own (albeit on the edge) moral code and a vast knowledge of pretty much anything and everything.