My Musing ~ Bearly Departed by Meg Macy

Bearly Departed by Meg Macy is the first book in the NEW “Teddy Bear” mystery series. Publisher: Kensington, May 30, 2017

The Silver Bear Shop and Factory might be the cutest place around, but there’s nothing warm and fuzzy about murder.

As manager of the family teddy bear shop and factory, thirty-one-year-old Sasha Silverman leads a charmed life. Well, except for the part about being a single divorcée with a ticking biological clock in small-town Silver Hollow. And that’s just kid’s stuff compared to Will Taylor, the sales rep who’s set on making drastic changes to the business her parents built from scratch—with or without Sasha’s approval.

But before Will digs his claws in, someone pulls the stuffing out of his plan . . . and leaves his dead body inside the factory. Reeling from shock, Sasha’s hit with more bad news—police suspect her hot-tempered Uncle Ross may have murdered him. Sasha knows her uncle would never do such a thing, and she’s launching her own little investigation to expose the truth. As she tracks Will’s biggest rivals and enemies for clues, Sasha can’t get too comfy—or she’ll become the next plaything for a killer.

This is a delightfully charming debut featuring store manager Sasha who quickly becomes involved in a murder when her uncle becomes the prime suspect and it is the path that Sasha takes that makes this an enjoyable read.

This author did a great job in creating a wonderful story with a comfortable tone and a steady pace that fit the tempo of this lighthearted whodunit. The narrative was visually descriptive putting me in the middle of all the action and the character development was on par with being the first in the series. The staging of the mystery kept me entangled in all aspect of this intriguing drama from the discovery of the murder, to the actions of the residents and to the apprehension of the killer, in a setting that speaks of coziness, yet mayhem ensued.

The author presented a nicely woven tale where any of the characters we’ve met along the way could be the suspect, but with clues here and there, it was fun watching how it all played out, especially the small tidbits that directly pointed to the killer who was hiding in plain sight. This was a great read and I look forward to the next book in the exciting new series that is a welcome addition to the cozy genre.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.