BEAR WITNESS (Alaska Untamed Mystery #1) by Lark O. Jensen will be published on May 10th 2022 by Crooked Lane Books.
Stacie Calder is a guide on a wilderness tour boat based out of Juneau, Alaska. (Don't worry about forgetting the main character's occupation, because you will be reminded of it on almost every single page of the book.) When a passenger goes missing during a tour—and his body is later discovered washed up on shore—Stacie takes it upon herself to investigate her fellow tour boat employees and some of the passengers to see who gave the victim a hand overboard.
I hate leaving negative reviews because I know how demoralizing they can be to the author. That being said, I honestly cannot come up with anything really positive to say about BEAR WITNESS.
Initially, when I requested the book on NetGalley, I was intrigued by the premise. I thought a tour boat guide in Alaska as the amateur sleuth would make for an interesting read. Unfortunately, this book was not for me.
My main issue with the book is the main character. Stacie is childish, condescending, and wishy-washy. She can't make up her mind about anything and goes back-and-forth on her opinion multiple times on the same page. It's pretty bad when, at the end of the book, I was cheering for the murderer to toss Stacie overboard the same way they did to the victim.
And then there's the dog...Stacie takes the Siberian Husky everywhere with her, and it is the most well-behaved dog of all time. (Don't worry, you'll also be reminded of how Sasha is the absolute best dog of all time almost as many times as you'll be reminded of how much Stacie loves her job.) Having spent years living with huskies, I have to say that Sasha is totally unbelievable considering the traits and personality of the breed.
I also had a major issue with the police force and the lead investigator's unprofessional demeanor and almost total lack of investigative skills. Not only does he embark on a personal/sexual relationship with Stacie (despite him considering her a suspect), he basically allows Stacie to conduct the entire investigation for him. Any real life police officer would have arrested her for obstruction of justice and tossed her in jail cell as a way to keep her from meddling in the investigation. Instead, he just lets her do whatever she wants and steps back while she interrogates his suspects. Yes, it's a cozy mystery, and it's up to the amateur sleuth to figure out the culprit before the police. But my suspension of disbelief can only be stretched so far...
As for the writing, it was slow, juvenile, and full of unnecessary and random comments such as "police question suspects, I may be a tour guide but even I know that" and "the tourists were all wearing different colored coats, but that's something you'll see in Alaska." The book is also full or repetition. (We get it. Stacie loves her job, her employers, and her dog.) There was also a lack of depth to the writing and the characters. It read like the first draft of a novice writer opposed to a polished work by an experienced writer.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.