Crafts and Life

Silver Bear Shop and Factory manager Sasha Silverman is cozying up to the fall season by hosting Silver Hollow’s Cranbeary Tea Party, the opening event of the village’s Oktobear Fest—a too-cute celebration themed around teddy bears. She barely has a moment to agonize over the return of her former high school rival, Holly Parker, whose new toy and bookstore in town could spell big trouble for her the Silver Bear Shop and her cousin’s small bookstore . . .
 
But when Sasha discovers Holly’s shop assistant dead with a knife plunged in her body, the unpleasant woman suddenly looks like a real backstabber. So does Sasha’s ex-husband, rumored to have rekindled the fiery extramarital affair he once had with the victim. Now, before a gruesome homicide case takes the fun out of both the Fest and her personal life, Sasha must identify the true culprit from a daunting suspect list—or risk becoming as lifeless as one of her stuffed bears . . .

Sasha and Maddie are busy getting everything ready for the town's Oktobear Fest, Maddie is helping in the shop and trying to get her fibreglass Bear painted and ready for the Parade of Bears (just to say the bears stay fixed whilst the people walk round and see them), Sasha is busy with tours, the shop and everything else to do with running Silver Bear.  At the same time she is trying to ignore the fact that her high school nemesis has turned up and opened a gift and book shop, obviously planning on taking custom from the Silver Bear and from Sasha's cousin who is running the local bookstore. To add to her problems her ex husband is still around (and he landed the Mayor with a writ during the Cranbeary Tea Party!) and Sasha's Mum seems determined to get the two of them back together.

Capping all of this off is the fact that Sasha has just stumbled across a dead body and the current list of suspects includes the Mayor, Sasha's ex husband Flynn and Sasha's cousin Max! So on top of the Oktobear Fest Sasha needs to find out who wanted the young woman dead and why.

NB – NetGalley let me have an early edition of this book!