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Charles C

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Agates Are Forever: A Nick Cameron Mystery (1)

by Logan Terret

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Reading for the 3rd time

read in March 2025

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Charles C said: " This is a fun read. The hero, Nick Cameron, is a sort of desert flaneur who wanders Arizona in his Porsche 911, hitting rock shows and occasionally finding bodies, which pose mysteries he solves with his Navajo jewelry artist mentor, Frankie Benally. This is a fun read. The hero, Nick Cameron, is a sort of desert flaneur who wanders Arizona in his Porsche 911, hitting rock shows and occasionally finding bodies, which pose mysteries he solves with his Navajo jewelry artist mentor, Frankie Benally. Who is the brains of the outfit. Not that Nick is by any means stupid, being a PhD geologist, but detection is not his chosen occupation. He spends his spare time on a process for “hydrogen wells,” which are apparently a real thing.

But lo, a “dame” named Theo who is “hotter than a Soviet drill bit at the bottom of the Kola Superdeep Borehole” shows up in Quartzrock, Arizona in her Wisconsin-licensed Subaru with some fancy Lake Superior agates, and asks Nick for help selling them. Of course he agrees, but when they visit the eminent lapidaries Nick has identified as possible customers, they are dead. And Theo soon becomes a prime suspect in their murders, because the dead rock jockeys were trying to get their hands on her family trust. And what hardboiled detective doesn’t help an heiress in distress, especially if she’s an agate heiress and he’s a geologist? With that kickoff, it’s onward to Northern Wisconsin where part of the mystery is unraveled and Theo hides out from the cops, then back to Arizona and into Mexico, where Nick meets the great-granddaughter of a soldadera (female revolutionary soldier) at a long-abandoned gold mine. And on to a rather thrilling (really) conclusion.

Nick’s vocabulary is retro, with roscoes, dames, dishes, and wooden kimonos, which might seem odd in a present-day setting, but it works because that is how Nick is. Frankie is taciturn and somewhat enigmatic. The supporting cast is diverse, including White, Native American, Latino, East Indian, Black, and Chinese characters, all well-heeled and well-educated.

Lots of geological trivia and beautiful descriptions of the Sonoran Desert by day and night. Frequent veiled references to aspects of the scientific method, which is actually the opposite of what most people think, occur now and then, giving food for thought to those who are interested, but not intruding on the narrative for those who are not.

If Nick’s retro vocabulary and tendency to behave like a man don’t bother you, you’ll like this book. ...more "

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(page 280 of 280)
— Mar 07, 2025 08:52AM

Mar 08, 2025 07:26PM · see review