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The Blue Corn Murders [Audio Cassette]

Nancy Pickard , Agnes Herrmann
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 1999 Jenny Cain Mysteries
Kernels of Truth....

When Eugenia Potter stumbles upon some ancient pottery shards on her ranch, she feels a profound connection with the past.  And a deep desire to learn more about the relics.  Now, she's heeding the call of her soul--by visiting an archaeological camp amid the magnificent cliff dwellings of Colorado's Mesa Verde.

But strange things are happening at Mesa Verde, from the director's increasing mental confusion to a visitor's grisly death.  Even a Talking Circle--a traditional ritual facilitated by the passing around of an ear of blue corn--doesn't reveal the source of the trouble.  And when a busload of teenagers on a hiking trip disappears without a trace, Mrs. Potter begins some digging... to unearth a cruel scheme, a long-buried secret, and the deadly fruits of a killer's dark hungers.
--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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From Amazon

"When she did reach the cafe, she bought her hot sandwich and took it back outside to her car, so that she could sit there and stare at the landmark and think about the Tony Hillerman mystery she had just read. It was set all around the great rock. As she pondered it, recalling scenes from the book, she was glad to leave it to authors like him to find and solve the murderous mysteries of the great Southwest. She'd had her own brushes with homicidal individuals in the past. That was enough--more than enough for a woman who desired only to be a doting grandmother, a good friend, a competent rancher, a bit of a needlepoint whiz, and a plain country cook." The "great rock" is Shiprock; the Tony Hillerman book in question is probably The Fallen Man; and the woman hoping for a crime-free life is Genia Potter, the memorable character first created by Virginia Rich and then continued after Rich's death by Nancy Pickard. As she did in The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murders, Pickard uses characters and plot suggestions left by Rich to create a solid, comfortable mystery of the sort usually classified as a "cozy." But even if you're not a cozy lover, you'll probably be enticed by the setting (an archeological camp near the wondrous Mesa Verde National Park, home of the elaborate, mysteriously abandoned Indian villages), by the characters (some tough and interesting women of varying ages, each with her own reasons for visiting the area), the good food served by a feisty cook named Bingo (the cornbread and cream cheese sticks sound particularly succulent), and even the plot--which involves two murders and the apparent disappearance of 16 teenagers from Texas. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In The 27-Ingredient Chili con Carne Murders Pickard carried forward the Eugenia Potter series created by the late Virginia Rich (The Cooking School Murders, etc.). In this second story based on Rich's notes, Pickard ably blends Native American history into a modern murder mystery. Genia, a 64-year-old Arizona rancher and cook, moves out from the kitchen and into the desert after she finds a pottery shard and inscribed seashell in one of her pastures. Her curiosity piqued, she signs up for a five-day interpretive hike for women at the Medicine Wheel Archaeological Dig in Colorado. What she finds at the camp is discord among her fellow hikers and among the camp's trustees, one of whom is out to fire the camp director. Then a camper from a different group is killed and a group of Texas teenagers goes missing. In a series of ritual Talking Circles, where an ear of blue corn is passed from participant to participant, deadly secrets are revealed. After a young archeologist who shares a secret with Genia and her group falls to her death during an overnight hike, it appears that one among them may be a killer. Keeping a low profile, Genia ferrets out the guilty party. In the process, readers are treated to both Genia's astute observations on human nature and to various theories on the Anasazi's abrupt migration from their southern Colorado pueblos. Mystery Guild alternate selection.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars
4.0 out of 5 stars
Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Too much gab, not enough action Dec 31 2002
By Matt
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The mystery here takes quite a bit of the book to set up, that is, unless you count the 'mysterious' pottery as the gist of the book. After an arduously prolonged development of a mystery, the book is nearly over. The only factors it has going for it are an impressive use of vocabulary and it beats starring at a blank wall for entertainment.
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5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK Sep 15 1998
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
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.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A juicy,tasty and totally satisfying mystery Aug 5 1998
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
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

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