Sunday, December 2, 2007

Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear- Sharon Dunn

Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear
Sharon Dunn
Multnomah, Jan 2008, $12.99
ISBN: 9781590526903

The Three Horses, Montana Bargain Hunters Network (housewife Ginger Salinski, mother of four Suzanne Thames, elderly Alreta and college student Kindra Hall) are in Calamity, Nevada for the Inventors Expo. Ginger’s spouse Earl has a booth at the show in which the couple has taken out a second mortgage to fund his entry.

However, The Wind-Up Hotel is overbooked and the help has quit while the Squirrel Lover's Convention is also in town. However, someone apparently is stealing jewelry from the guests while the owner Dustin Clydell ignores the complaints especially the thefts and the AC is not working. However, the BHN members become upset when Dustin refuses to proved Earl a booth because Ginger was signing in for him; apparently the hotel is overbooked so Dustin demands Earl must sign the registry and he is too late. His wife tries to fix the problem as she thinks her spouse is being unfair and ridiculous. When a six foot man wearing a teddy bear costume is murdered the BHN gang investigates feeling they gained from recent sleuthing experience back home (see DEATH OF A GARAGE SALE NEWBIE).

This is an amusing amateur sleuth tale starring the delightful BHN ladies. The story line uses hyperbole to purposely add humor and inspiration to the mix leading to the fearsome female foursome landing in fiascos over the top of nearby Boundary Peak. Readers will not care as Ginger wonders if her belief in the Lord was wrong as nothing goes right for her and Earl, but she knows better once especially after the breath of life.

Harriet Klausner