The Turquoise Shop

In a small, artsy New Mexico town, the arrival of a wealthy stranger from back East is enough to get folks talking. Even a few years after Mona Brandon landed in Santa Maria, the rumor mill still churns with tid-bits about her money, her influence, and - when a corpse is discovered in the nearby desert that may or may not be her husband - her secret and suspicious past.

From the counter at her local jewelry and art shop, Jean Holly has a front row seat for all this gossip and more, after her acquaintance with Pat Abbott, the detective investigating the apparent murder, turns romantic. With his deductive reasoning and her local knowledge combined, they have everything they need to discover whodunnit. But will they be able to put the pieces together and solve the mystery before the killer strikes again?

With characters and a setting inspired by Mabel Dodge Luhan and the Taos art colony, The Turquoise Shop is a delightful Golden Age mystery adorned with Southwestern historical detail. It is the first novel in the popular and long-running Pat and Jean Abbott series, which charmed mid-century audiences with over twenty-five installments and which was adapted for multiple radio programs in the 40s and 50s.

“This story has, in short, a picturesque background and some real interest in its plot.--New York Times”

"This story has, in short, a picturesque background and some real interest in its plot." -- New York Times

Frances Crane (1890-1981) was an American author and a former writer for The New Yorker. Crane was invited to leave Nazi Germany in the late 1930s after writing a number of unfavorable articles about Adolf Hitler. After settling in Taos, Crane introduced private investigator Pat Abbott and his future wife Jean in her first novel, The Turquoise Shop (1941). The Abbotts investigated crimes in a total of 26 volumes, each with a color in the title, with settings around the country and globe. Anne Hillerman is the New York Times bestselling author of the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito novels, a continuation of the series created by her father Tony Hillerman.

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