Blue Corn Murders

This warm and enjoyable book is a tad more adventure than mystery, but has much to recommend it. This was the first solo outing of Nancy Pickard's continuation of Virginia Rich's series featuring Eugenia Potter. The two had written letters to each other, having in common husbands who were cattle ranchers. It felt like fate to Nancy Pickard when Mrs. Rich's husband asked his wife's editor if another author could continue the mystery series after her sad passing. Virginia Rich's creation is carried on quite nicely by her admirer, Nancy Pickard, whose own Jenny Cain mystery series is very successful. Some pottery shards found on Eugenia's ranch give her inspiration to attend the Medicine Wheel Archaeological Camp in Colorado to learn more. It is there the older but lively Euginia will bond with a group of friends and have more adventure than she'd bargained for. There are many secrets at Medicine Wheel, and at least one of them will lead to the murder of a young misguided girl named Gabriella who was an Indian wannabe. A missing group of young tourists driven to a dig and a small shampoo bottle full of LSD will play a part in solving Gabriella's murder, but not before a second one occurs and an even darker secret is discovered. Though the setting and story may sound sort of dark, The Blue Corn Murders very much has a "cozy" feel and style to it. It is well into the book before anything that would constitute a murder mystery takes place. But the atmosphere created by Nancy Pickard is both warm and enjoyable, making it a fun read. Euginia is likable and the other characters become real as the book progresses. Scenes of passing an ear of blue corn around a Talking Circle in the firelight, and archaeological digs add as much flavor as the food the camp's cook, Bingo, creates for the group. There are tidbits about those Ancients called the Anasazi by the Navajo, but Hisatsenom by the Pueblos, and the ruins of ancient cities now abandoned. It is in these ruins, in a Kiva, designed for community worship, that Gabriella will leave this world for the next, with help from someone unknown. Those who enjoy a lot of atmosphere and a very likable central character will find both in The Blue Corn Murders. It is an easy read, and as long as you are aware going in that it is more on the cozy side, you will find it very enjoyable. Archaeolohists Corn Bread and Bingo's Chocolate Cornies are just two of the five recipes included in this light mystery with a lot of flavor.

Nancy Pickard is continuing a series started by Virginia Rich. Ms. Rich has since died. Ms. Pickard has done a great job with this series and I look forward to others in this series by her. Genia is an older woman who lives on a ranch in Arizona. She finds old pottery on her land and joins a woman's hike with an archaeologist to try to learn more about the pottery and where it came from. Many things happen and of course, Genia ends up helping solve murders.

When Eugenia Potter finds pottery remains and carved shells on her ranch just outside Tucson, she decides it is time to learn about the Native Americans who once occupied the land. She packs her favorite snacks and heads to Cortez, Colorado. There, Eugenia joins an archeological camp, hoping that she can fulfill her dream of learning about the previous residents and perhaps even seeing a ruin or two.However, this is not an idyll trip back to nature. A busload of Texas teenagers suddenly vanish and two attendees are murdered. Eugenia decides it is time to investigate what is going on before someone else, perhaps even herself, is hurt.THE BLUE CORN MURDERS is an interesting Genia Potter mystery that adds much richness to the main character, originally developed by the late, great Virginia Rich. The story line is fulfilling and the secondary characters provide great depth to this combination archeological-culinary who-done-it, starring one of the top female ama! teur sleuths to ever grace a novel. This reviewer strongly recommends both the Rich and Pickard novels that make up this wonderful series because both writers provide fabulous reading entertainment. Harriet Klausner