Monday, May 09, 2022

Bear Witness by Lark O. Jensen

 
First Line: I felt my grin explode all over my face.
 
Trained naturalist Stacie Calder loves her job as a tour guide, sharing her knowledge of Alaskan wildlife from the decks of a boat, but her job is threatened when the body of a man is found on the ice during one of the tour boat's excursions.
 
The dead man spent most of his final afternoon badgering her and other members of the crew with questions and arguing with the captain. As the police focus on the crew as possible suspects, it's a real possibility that the tour company could go out of business, and that's all the impetus she needs to conduct her own investigation. At least she is sleuthing under the watchful eye of Alaska State Trooper Liam Amaruq.

~

This first book in the Alaska Untamed cozy series seemed to suit me right down to the ground. I've enjoyed several tour boat excursions myself, and I certainly love learning about wildlife while getting the chance to see it and photograph it. However, Lark O. Jensen's Bear Witness is more suited to those cozy readers who like a large dollop of romance in their mug of mystery.

Stacie, always accompanied by her faithful blue-eyed husky, Sasha, ostensibly gets involved in the investigation because she's worried about the job she loves so much, but she's really in it because she's strongly attracted to handsome Alaska State Trooper Liam Amaruq. Since I don't much care for romance in my mystery, I soon tired of her longing glances and quivering hormones. In addition, the wildlife in Bear Witness is really mere window dressing, a hook to get wildlife lovers like me to read the book. 

As you can tell, this book simply was not my cup of tea, but I know that I just described a cozy mystery that many other readers will love. To them, I say bon appétit!

Bear Witness by Lark O. Jensen
eISBN: 9781643858975
Crooked Lane Books © 2022
eBook, 320 pages
 
Cozy Mystery, #1 Alaska Untamed mystery
Rating: C-
Source: Net Galley

10 comments:

  1. Well, that's another book I don't have to read because you did. Not my cup of tea.

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  2. Sorry to hear this didn't work for you, Cathy. I agree with you about those glances and that quivering, though; not my thing. Too bad, though; the premise seemed like such a good one. Oh, well. Something I won't have to squeeze into my TBR, I think.

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  3. The setting sure sounds appealing. But, like you, I prefer less romance in my mysteries.

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  4. I enjoy romantic suspense, so I'm okay with that aspect. I'm more curious about the setting, and how Alaska is presented. I'm a big fan of Dana Stabenow, who sets the Alaska bar pretty high, and I've found from other reading experience that I have a lower tolerance for authors who don't do the state justice.

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    1. You use Stabenow and I use Stan Jones as far as setting the Alaskan bar. This one does not compare in any size, shape or form, I'm sorry to say.

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