The stolen blue Book

I quite enjoyed this, the first Claire Reynier mystery. It was certainly an easy read, and interestingly, was really a mystery, not a murder story, as one might expect. I did find it a little dated; it's from 2000 (I'm reading it in 2014), and the author was, I think, trying to be very up-to-date in her sleuth, who spent time on AOL, explained how emails could be sent anonymously , and bemoaned the coming day when book texts would be available via the Internet.


Claire is the curator of rare books / librarian for the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, feeling a little under siege at the University, feeling that she is not held in the esteem that her predecessor was, and having to prove her worth to the administrator, who seems to be interested only in cutting costs and acquiring prestige. An opportunity to prove her worth arises when an old mentor, in ill health, calls to ask her to visit, as he is planning to donate his large collection of rare South-Western-related books to the University. He lives in a old ranch in a secluded area called "the Blue", where attitudes are firmly Western. Claire goes out to visit - it's a 200-mile drive - to collect the books, and is asked to be the executor of his will, which is then witnessed and signed in front of her. Well, it's a mystery story, so of course he winds up dead in the snow the next morning.

But, unusually for a mystery story, there is no real doubt about the cause of death. The old mentor (Burke) was dying and had decided to go out his own way, and crawled off into the snow to die of exposure overnight. He was assisted by his recently discovered daughter Mariah, who turns out to be the main beneficiary of Burke's will.


And this is where the story really starts. Two of the other three children sue to have the will overturned, as the ranch is worth $2M, and they are getting a "paltry" @200K each. The case will turn on whether Mariah really is Burke's daughter, or an imposter and whether Burke was in his right mind when the will was made. Claire, as the executor and a witness to the signing, is landed right in the middle of this case.


At the same time, when Claire transports the books back to the University, she leaves them in her truck, and naturally the carton containing the most valuable ones (marked "valuable") is stolen. Now we have two mysteries to solve - are they related? Well, of course they are, but to tell you how would be to spoil the story!


The book was quite good, and was easy to read. I enjoyed the whole book collector vibe, and the location in New Mexico. Claire did a lot of driving about the state, describing it to us, the audience. But I did find the dated technology distracting, rather than charming period detail.