J. Michael Orenduff’s POT THIEF Mysteries on Sale Today from Open Road

J. Michael OrenduffReaders of this blog may recall that I’ve posted about author J. Michael Orenduff (l.), whom I represent as his literary agent. He’s written the delightful POT THIEF mystery series, which were an indie- and self-publishing success beginning in 2009. Last year I licensed the six-book series to Open Road Integrated Media for new ebook and paperback editions. I’m happy to post today that the new POT THIEF editions have just gone on sale from Open Road, whose site leads to all the major ebook and brick & mortar booksellers, such as OverdriveGooglePlay; Indiebound and Amazon.

As a devoted mystery reader myself, I adored these books when I first read them in 2011. They’re set in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico, featuring dealer in Native America pottery Hubie Schutz and his sidekick in sleuthing, wise-cracking Susannah Inchaustigui, a descendant of one of the region’s old-line Basque ranching families. They meet most afternoons at Hermanas Tortilleria, to sip margaritas and discuss their latest puzzler. After years running Undercover Books, a bookstore where I sold lots of mysteries, and as an editor publishing mysteries, I am especially excited that the many readers of Tony Hillerman’s Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn mysteries, also set in the American Southwest, will now also be able to discover the POT THIEF books. In their earlier editions the POT THIEF books won numerous awards and raves from mystery readers, including Anne Hillerman, the late mystery master’s daughter who’s recently revived the bestsellerdom of her father’s series with her own book, Spider Woman’s Daughter, featuring Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito. Hillerman said this about the sixth POT THIEF book:

“I inhaled this book. Witty, well-crafted and filled with unexpected plot turns, The Pot Thief Who Studied Billy the Kid will delight J. Michael Orenduff’s many fans—and win him new ones.”

If you haven’t yet heard of Open Road, please note they have more than 3000 active titles, including five books by my longtime author Ruth Gruber, as well as titles by dozens of important authors such as William Styron, Rachel Carson, Andre Dubus, Sherman Alexie, and Mary Glickman, always in digital editions, and sometimes in print editions, too. They’ve been operating for about five years, innovating and growing along with the emerging ebook market. The company was profiled last year in a profile at paidcontent.org.

If I were still running a bookstore, I would urge all my mystery-loving customers to read the POT THIEF books. Below are Open Road’s new covers with their uniform look. Enjoy!

11 replies
    • Philip Turner says:

      Thanks for visiting my blog and asking about the Pot Thief books. I am the author’s literary representative, and don’t sell the books myself, but thanks for asking about how you can purchase them. Please follow the link below to the Web page of publisher Open Road Media and click the buy button which will give you a number of different booksellers from whom you can buy them in ebook and/or paperback. This link is to the first book in the series, The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras. There are five others, all available from Open Road Media: http://www.openroadmedia.com/the-pot-thief-who-studied-pythagoras
      Thanks, Philip Turner

      Reply
  1. Maya says:

    Loved all the books, but look up the Spanish for “burp” and for “to get up” they are both incorrect in two of the six wonderful books!

    Reply
    • Philip Turner says:

      Submitted for Maya by author of the POT THIEF mysteries Mike Orenduff:

      This comment is for Maya who commented on my Pot Thief Books. I’m delighted that you read all 6 and happy to say that number 7 is on the way. I’m also happy that you made the effort to comment on the use of two Spanish words. As you know, Spanish varies around the globe. When I was in Galicia, I almost couldn’t figure out how to leave the train station because the exit read “Saida” instead of “Salida.” “Erupto” is common in the U.S. Southwest as a corruption of “Eructo.” And Subido (from subir) can be confused with the adjective subido (intense). You comment aroused my curiosity about your linguistic background. Spain? Mexico? South America? I try to put enough Spanish in to capture the flavor of the Southwest, but not so much as to divert the reader. Looks like I did divert you with those 2 words.

      Thanks,
      Mike

      Reply
  2. curt lyon says:

    hi! love them. so,,, uhhhhh
    at the end of D.H.Lawrence..it has ‘new book coming’ TPT ….who studied Lew Wallace!
    Is this available somewhere or is this the 7th one mentioned above?
    thanx so much!!

    Reply
    • Philip Turner says:

      Dear Curt Lyon, so glad you’ve been enjoying the POT THIEF books. The Lew Wallace title in the series has been shelved for now, while the author Mike Orenduff works on a title with Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings and legacy at the heart of the story. No timetable yet for when it will be published, but I will update readers here on my blog. Thanks and best, Philip Turner

      Reply
  3. Fred Jacobs says:

    Hello,
    I am very glad to have found this series! I’ve just completed the first book, and enjoyed it very much. I appreciate the nods to Bernie Rhodenbarr. In addition, as a former math major, Pythagoras’ name in the title caught my eye.
    I read a paperback version published back in 2009, and could not help noticing an error which, I realize, may long have been corrected in further printings, but — just in case not — I hope that Mr. Orenduff will not mind my pointing out that the description of the Pythagorean Theorem at the beginning of Chapter 7 is missing a few words: Hubert explains that ‘The Pythagorean Theorem tells us that the the square of the two short sides of a right triangle is always equal to the square of the hypotenuse’. It should read: ‘The Pythagorean Theorem tells us that the SUM OF the squareS of the two short sides of a right triangle is always equal to the square of the hypotenuse’. (The theorem IS described correctly at the end of Chapter 59, in a paraphrased version).
    I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

    Reply
    • Philip Turner says:

      Hi Fred Jacobs, thanks for visiting my blog to let us know you’ve enjoyed the first POT THIEF mystery. There are now seven titles in the series, with an eighth title coming in 2018. The books, now published by Open Road Media, have all been newly edited before being republished. I’ll pass your comments along to the author, who I’m sure will appreciate your close reading of the book.

      Reply

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