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Amanda Brenner is a native Midwesterner who has traveled extensively throughout the United States, and who now lives quietly with her husband and an assortment of wildlife visitors to their urban home. Her interest in writing began at an early age when westerns were popular attractions at the local theater. It seemed only natural that her first novel, Trail of Vengeance, should be in that genre. After finishing a second western, Shadow of the Rope, she began to explore a new direction and completed three contemporary mysteries involving private investigator Sid Langdon, a self-doubting magnet for offbeat clients and hapless scenarios, the latest being The Mystery of the Nourdon Blue. Amanda enjoys learning from the books she reads, a characteristic reflected in the research she includes in her own works.
Reviewed by Paul Johnson for Readers' Favorite
The fabulous sapphire known as the Nourdon Blue has captivated the imagination of searchers for many years. And so it was for Andrew Weberley. Despite rumors about its deadly curse and doubts of the stone’s very existence, Andrew fully believes and is determined to risk his life to search the sweltering jungles of Guatemala for the stone. Weberley is a world traveler and away from home months at a time. However, he always manages to contact his family on special occasions. Something is different this time. After months without word from her father, Felicia Weberley hires private detective Sid Langdon to find him. With very little to go on except Weberley’s last known location Sid attempts to track the stone, believing it will lead him to the missing man. Along the way he comes upon the murky world of stolen artifacts. After some initial disappointments, he gets a lead to check on a pawn shop in Seattle’s Chinatown. There he finds a delusional pawnbroker who trades in antiquities but is at the same time financing a search for the ultimate prize — the Nourdon Blue. Can he locate the missing man, and possibly the stone? Or, will his dire premonitions come true?
"The Mystery of the Nourdon Blue" is technically well-written and the story is very detailed. The author has chosen some interesting characters; however, for me they weren’t as well-defined as I would have liked. I did, however, really like Max. The plot was good but was slow to develop and lagged a little from time to time, asking for a little more action. Ovevall, "The Mystery of the Nourdon Blue" is a good story, well worth the time to read it.
