Monday, December 28, 2020

Book Review: Wedding Bear Blues by Meg Macy (Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear Mysteries #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Strong mystery, characters once I got to know them
Cons: One sub-plot didn’t feel realistic
The Bottom Line:
Wedding rehearsal
Ends when someone is murdered
Fun and cozy book




A Killer Walk Down the Aisle

Weddings can be an extremely stressful time, but fortunately, they don’t usually lead to murder.  Except in cozy mysteries, where they make an excellent backdrop to murder and mayhem.  That’s the case in Wedding Bear Blues, the fourth Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear Mystery from Meg Macy.

Sasha Silverman and her sister Maddie are both bridesmaids in the Valentine’s weekend wedding of Cissy Davidson.  However, the weekend is turning out to be anything but a dream.  Cissy is becoming more demanding that her weekend be perfect, the best man and maid of honor have a past and hate each other.  The ring bearer (a dog) is not trained well, but he’s still better behaved than the flower girl.  Sasha and Maddie are just ready to have the weekend over.

The tension makes the wedding rehearsal difficult, but it only gets worse at the rehearsal dinner.  Various members of the wedding party are sniping with each other, but then Maddie discovers one of them dead in the bathroom.  With the wedding postponed, Sasha finds herself asked to clear another member of the wedding party of the crime.  Can she do it?

I’ll admit that I struggled to keep the various members of the wedding party straight at first.  It didn’t help that we met them all in a couple of group scenes early on.  However, we are given enough background to remember who everyone is, and the further I got into the book, the easier it was able to remember who they were on my own.

The plot is strong.  The more Sasha investigates, the more motive she finds for the murder.  I always love mysteries like that.  There are the usual assortment of red herrings that also help confuse things.  Yet when the case is wrapped up, everything makes perfect sense.

The book has a few sub-plots that weave in and out of the main mystery.  I enjoyed them, although I did find one of them a stretch.  I suspect this is more on me.  I’m willing to believe that Sasha is capable of solving a mystery that the police can’t solve, but I couldn’t believe this one sub-plot was realistic.  As I said, it’s me.

While we do get some updates on the various friends and family in Sasha’s life, the story here focuses on the mystery and a core cast of characters, something I really appreciated.

Wedding Bear Blues is a wonderful winter time cozy.    Grab your favorite hot drink, snuggle under a blanket, and enjoy this book.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

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