Thriller and mystery author J.L. (Janet) Greger is a biology professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison turned novelist. Although she likes to send her protagonist—scientist Sara Almquist—on consulting trips to foreign countries, she sometimes has Sara solve mysteries in New Mexico where J.L. lives with her Japanese Chin dog Bug. Learn more about J.L. and her books at her website.
Every pueblo in New Mexico once made pottery; many still do. (Please note: pueblo can refer to the community or the people of the community.) The pots of most pueblos are distinctive.
One of the settings in my mystery/thriller A Pound of Flesh, Sorta is Acoma. It is probably the oldest continually inhabited community in what is now the United States. Tribal traditions suggest the first pueblo buildings were constructed in the 1100's on this 350-feet high mesa. Today tourists travel sixty mile west of Albuquerque to see the historic pueblo and to buy Acoma pottery. Fortunately, visitors to the Pueblo now don’t have to climb narrow stairs up to the top of the mesa because a bus is available
Acoma potters traditionally used a slate-like clay found in the hills surrounding the pueblo and constructed the pots using a "hand coil and scrape" methodology. They did not glaze their pots.
The pots are famous for their thin walls and the geometric designs painted in black and white with occasional earth-tone accents. The lines on these pots are often so thin and the designs so complex that they create a dizzying modern effect. Nowadays many Acoma artists prefer to use pour molded pots as their canvas. However, generally the hand coiled pots are preferred by collectors. Artists, especially those from the famous families of Marie Zieu Chino and Lucy Lewis, sign their pots, which increases their value.
The photo is of a pot made by Emil Chino. I purchased it at Acoma because I thought the flowers at the top softened the intricate design on most of the pot. I suspect traditionalist would consider the flowers a distraction.
One of the concepts I wanted to demonstrate in A Pound of Flesh, Sorta is modern pueblos may market their traditional arts, but the residents face modern economic realities. For example, the plague causes prairie dog die-offs almost every year in New Mexico and Arizona. These die-offs may worry conservationists, but mean economic ruin to ranchers in the area if their livestock become infected.
Barbara Lewis, a character in the novel, is trying to escape some of the "traditions" of her family of ranchers who reside in the tiny village of McCartys on the Acoma Pueblo. Thus she had begun a career in law enforcement in the fictional community of Mercado near the protagonist's home north of Albuquerque.
A Pound of Flesh, Sorta
A Science Traveler Mystery
Sara Almquist receives a mysterious box of animal guts contaminated with the bacteria, which causes the plague. The police doubt it's a prank and suspect gang leaders are trying to prevent Sara from testifying at their upcoming trials. As a scientist, Sara wonders whether the packet might be a plea from a rancher fearing another outbreak of the plague in the Southwest. Soon all suspect the package is a clue needed to solve the suspicious death of one employee in a meat packing plant and the disappearance of another man maimed in an industrial accident.
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