Unexpectedly, the elderly Burke, suffering from emphysema, calls her from his home in a remote area of western New Mexico offering the University library his private collection of valuable books on New Mexico. He suggests that she come to inspect the collection and take it back with her.

When she arrives at Burke’s ranch, Claire is asked to be a witness to the signing of Burke’s will in which he leaves his ranch to a daughter, Mariah with whom he has only recently become acquainted. Mariah’s mother is a woman with whom Burke had an affair many years ago, but she never told Burke of Mariah’s existence. Burke feels that Mariah alone among his offspring shares his love of the land, and will carry out his wishes to keep the land as a nature preserve. Burke’s other children have more materialistic uses for the land in mind. Hence the reason for a new will.

The next morning, after a particularly cold and snowy night, Burke is found outside, dead from exposure. Mariah admits complicity in aiding the old man to commit suicide. Knowing the terms of the will, Burke’s other heirs are convinced that Mariah deliberately killed Burke. However, since it will be difficult to prove that such was the case, Burke’s son and other daughters set out to establish that their father was not sane when the new will was executed.

Shortly after Claire returns home with the books for the library, her truck is broken into and the box of books containing the most valuable volumes is stolen. Claire is devastated. Now she must decide how best to deal with the safe recovery of these volumes, which may require the non intervention of the police. At the same time, without police protection, she may be placing herself in danger.

The Stolen Blue is a book lover’s delight. It is crammed full of information about books and book collecting. What constitutes a valuable book? What kinds of people are book collectors? Of what importance is a signed edition? The author demonstrates her wonderful sense of humor in answering these questions.

As a mystery story The Stolen Blue has not as much to recommend it. There is no murder or other dastardly deed committed, and the answer to the puzzle of who stole the box of books is easy to determine. There are not many potential suspects and there are no red herrings to confuse the issue.

However, Ms. Van Gieson has presented her heroine with an interesting moral dilemma. If she enlists the aid of the police in the recovery of the books, she faces the possibility of the books being destroyed. The proof of theft is possession of the books without proof of purchase. A thief readily aware of this might burn the books rather than be caught with them in his possession. On the other hand, if she buys the books, she is guilty of trafficking in stolen merchandise.

The author does an admirable job of creating suspense without the use of violence. In several cases Claire is genuinely frightened, but there is no direct confrontation with an armed man, or any other situation where she is overpowered by a villain. Yet the reader can easily sympathize with her terror.

Being a dedicated book lover and collector, I loved The Stolen Blue for its wealth of information. I would heartily recommend it to anyone with similar interests. However, the mysterious elements in the story are decidedly lacking, so readers to whom plot is essential could be disappointed.

--Andy Plonka