The Pot Thief Mysteries

A dealer of ancient Native American pottery, Hubert Schuze has spent years combing the public lands of New Mexico, digging for artwork that would otherwise remain buried. According to the US government, Hubie is a thief - but no act of Congress could stop him from doing what he loves. For decades, Hubie has worn the title of pot thief proudly. Outright burglary, though, is another story. But an offer of $25,000 to lift a rare pot from a local museum proves too tempting for Hubie to refuse.

Pot thief Hubie Schuze is back, and this time his larceny is for a good cause. He wants to recover sacred relics lifted from San Roque, a mysterious pueblo that is closed to outsiders. Usually Hubie finds his pottery a few feet underground - but these artifacts are 150 feet above the New Mexico soil, on the top floor of the Rio Grande Lofts. Hubie will need all his deductive skills to craft the perfect plan - which is thwarted when he encounters the beautiful Stella. And then he is arrested for murder. That tends to happen when you are in the room with the body.

Maybe it was the chance to make an easy $2,500. Or maybe it was the opportunity to examine a treasure trove of Anasazi pots - or maybe it was just a slow day at the antiques shop that convinced Hubie Schuze to agree to a strange proposition. A reclusive collector wants a confidential appraisal, with one catch: Hubie must be blindfolded and driven to an unknown location by a chauffeur. Sure, it’s an odd setup, but what could possibly go wrong?

The pot thief discovers that archaeology is not nearly as cutthroat as the restaurant business A treasure hunter, pottery dealer, and occasional manufacturer of imitation American Indian artifacts, Albuquerque’s Hubie Schuze knows quite a bit about throwing clay. But ancient Native American pottery is not really intended for dining, so he is puzzled when a restaurateur comes to him asking for dinner plates. The job sounds boring, but the fee does not: $25,000 for 100 plates for a new Austrian restaurant in Santa Fe.

Eighty years ago, D. H. Lawrence moved to Taos to make a home for himself in the mountains of New Mexico. To welcome the famed writer, his neighbor brought over a stew and left the container as a gift. But this was no Tupperware - it was a handcrafted pot made in the ancient tradition. Decades later, the neighbor’s great-grandson wants it back, and there is no one in New Mexico better at stealing artifacts than Hubie Schuze. Hubie agrees to search the Lawrence ranch for it. But then a blizzard descends on the estate, trapping Hubie and other guests indoors with a killer....

Although his work is technically illegal, Hubie Schuze has no qualms with digging up ancient Native American artifacts. The government calls him a thief, but Hubie thinks of himself as a treasure hunter - and his latest quest could be his last. After lowering himself into a cave in search of Anasazi pottery, Hubie uncovers a long-dead corpse, buried where the Anasazi would never have left a body. As he puzzles over this discovery, he hears a chilling sound: his truck, left behind on the cliff face, being driven away.

In all his travels across the state, there is one place that Hubie hasn’t been able to access: Trinity Site at the White Sands Missile Range, where the first atomic bomb was detonated. Deep within the range are ruins once occupied by the Tompiro people, whose distinctive pottery is incredibly rare and valuable. When an old associate claims to have a buyer interested in spending big money on a Tompiro pot, Hubie resolves to finally find a way into the heavily guarded military installation.

Before making a somewhat notorious name for himself as a salvager of antiquated pottery and other desert artifacts, Hubie Schuze was an eager student at the University of New Mexico - right up until they booted him out. Now, he’s back at UNM as a pottery teacher. It should be a breeze, but campus life has changed dramatically in the past 25 years. From cell phones to trigger warnings to sensitivity workshops, Hubie has to get up to speed fast or risk losing control of his class.