REVIEW: Bearly Departed

Bearly Departed
Author: Meg Macy

Sasha Silverman helps manage her family's factory, Silver Bear Shop and Factory, in Silver Hollow, Michigan. Her parents have semi-retired from the business leaving Sasha, her sister Maddie and Uncle Ross to run the business. The family prides themselves on the great quality of Silver Bears. Imagine Sasha's surprise when the company sales manager, Will Taylor, returns from a meeting with her father stating that the family patriarch has agreed to cut staff and move most of the factory operations overseas to cut costs. Unable to reach her parents to confirm Taylor's statements, Sasha refuses to believe Taylor's claims. It soon becomes a moot point when Taylor's dead body is discovered inside the factory. Heated words exchanged between Taylor and Sasha's Uncle Ross make her uncle a suspect in the man's murder. In order to save her uncle and the family business, Sasha knows she needs to investigate and find out who killed their sales manager.

The minute I saw the cover for this book, I knew I had to read it! I have been a teddy bear collector for years. The theme of this cozy mystery had me hooked before I even read one word. Luckily, the story lived up to my expectations. This is a well-paced, fun to read cozy mystery! I liked the story and the characters just as much as I like the teddy bear theme. The cover art is incredi-cute as well.

Sasha Silverman makes a great main character. She is an inventive business woman who works hard to market the family's teddy bear line. And when pulled into a murder investigation, she puts her wits to work to discover the culprit. The side characters aren't as developed, but add nice flavor to the plot. The background details about toy manufacture and how stuffed animals are assembled is interesting and adds nice flavor to this cozy.

Bearly Departed is the first book in the new Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear Mystery series. A second book, Bear Witness to Murder, will be published in 2018. I am definitely going to be reading more of this series! I can't resist teddy bears -- and the mystery kept my attention from beginning to end!

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. **