Bearly Departed
- Author: Meg Macy
- Publisher: Kensington
- Print Length: 288 pages
- Release Date: May 30, 2017
- I Rate it:
- Genre: Cozy
- Purchase on Amazon
Book Summary
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 . . .
Award-winning mystery author Meg Macy lives in Southeast Michigan, close to Ann Arbor, Chelsea, and Dexter -- the area she chose for the setting of her new "Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear" cozy mystery series for Kensington. She is also one-half of the writing team of D.E. Ireland for the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery series; two books have been named Agatha Award finalists. Meg's first published book, Double Crossing, won the 2012 Best First Novel Spur Award from Western Writers of America. She's a graduate of Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction program. Meg loves reading mysteries, historicals, and other genre fiction, and also enjoys gardening, crafts, and watercolor painting.
You can find Meg on:
Book Review by Bree Herron
They are cute and fuzzy. Adorable and kind, who knew that teddy bears could be hosts for the perfect murder setting.
Enter Silver Hollow a town that gives me Stars Hollow feelings, with the charm that Meg Macy created. It is picturesque, with the charming shops and teddy bear factory. This is a place of dreams, and it gets a dark wake-up call with murder. The murder is a crime of passion as old as time, and yet has a snowballing effect that unleashes modern day crimes. The murder may be the reason we started reading this mystery but it was the substance and quality of the characters that will make you stick around.
Sasha Silverman is great. She has such a passion for her family’s heritage and ownership of the factory. I felt as though I stepped into this character, becoming Sasha through the novel. Her passion was self motivated, and rightly so- her uncle was accused of murder. And she couldn’t let him take the fall or be blamed. Trust me the murder is just the bear, not the stuffing. The stuffing of the book explodes with a “didn’t see that coming” scene and twists. I was feverishly reading, creating my mental who-done-it board.
One thing I loved, was that there were actual collector bears mentioned. The author took the time to make the factory and shop feel alive, real for the reader. She also spent time with details for the town, and characters. This is always a deal breaker for me, if an author doesn’t take the time to make the story come to life vividly for me, then I struggle with loving it. That wasn’t a worry with this book, each detail was a labor of love, and you are given just the right amount of suspense to want more.
Overall, one of the best First in a New Series I have been privileged to review. It will be a series to watch, with the unique town, characters and teddy bears. Trust me you will curl up and cuddle this mystery like it was your teddy bear.
There is double the chance to win below!
There are two giveaways for this book today. One is with the lovely tour that I was happy to help kick off, and the other is hosted by the blog in support of a new series.
One winner will receive: Gummi Bears, a teddy bear and a Print Copy of the book! Ends 6/15/17
One winner will receive their choice of e-book or paperback format of the book! Ends 6/8/17
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Thank you so much, Bree! So glad you loved the book.
Thank you for stopping by today! I was honored to review this book for you and wish the series success!
Bearly Departed sounds like a delightful book, and I look forward to reading it. Thanks for featuring it on your blog!
It does look like an awesome read. Great cover.
Bearly Departed sounds like an awesome book that I’d very much like to read.
Thanks for the review. As always, it helps me decide if a book is right for me. This was for sure positive to read. Love the chance to win a great prize package and another to win the book which in itself would be neat!
I love the title and can’t wait to read it!
I can’t wait to read this book. I love the cover!
I’m looking forward to reading this. I collected bears as a child and still have a soft spot for them. Thank you for the chance to win.
I liked your review, especially the last paragraph. Nothing like finding such a good first in a series!
This sounds like a fun book, and I look forward to reading it! I love to find new authors!
I’m afraid that I don’t have a favorite bear. My children did when they were young, and some of them are pretty sad looking now. I put them in their trunks as a keepsake.
When quite young I was given a bear I named ‘Teddy’ (very original for a 5 yr old). He was predominately purple [still my favorite color] in the pattern called psychedelic {at the time} Teddy has seen me through much. He was also loved by my kids. He still watches over my slumbers. And reigns over the bedroom in a fine manner
What a cute cover. Sounds like a good read. Thank you for the chance.
I would love to read this book. I had a teddy bear when I was young. He went everywhere with me.
He lost his button eyes and his fuzzy red nose and he was nearly threadbare by the time I ‘outgrew’ him.
Best of luck in the giveaways! It is a book I will treasure reading!
I am hoping. It looks like such a fun read. Was telling my sister about the book yesterday and she wanted to know if I still had those bear stickers I’d bought a couple of years ago. I’d forgotten about those. I still have most of them. Like the cover of this book. They are cute.
I love the idea of a family teddy bear shop & factory.