The Treacherous Teddy by John J. Lamb
I'll admit it, my housemate saw this book in a bargain bin and bought the book because she thought I would enjoy it. She's nice like that.
I really wanted to like this book. My housemate bought it because she thought I would enjoy it, and I wanted to make it a worthwhile purchase. But the truth is I was disappointed in the book. Like her, I anticipated bears would have a bigger, more important role in the plot. As it turns out, the bears were a hobby for the investigators and were relegated to a background filler plot point. This made me unreasonably sad. I finished the book, but I was still upset by the lack of friendly bears and bears who were book characters. Obviously the author knows a great deal about collectible bears, but I know more about being a bear. And I know that bears want much more than to be dolls on display, and have much more to offer than serving as a repository for mohair and fabric scraps. Bears are important and could have helped solve the mystery. It's not like there is not a precedent for animals helping out humans in other mystery series. Yes, I know many people look at bears as inanimate objects at worst and children's toys at best, but I am positive there is a way to work the bears into more of a starring role.
If the author had put as much thought into making the bears more integral characters as he had in working the puns into the dialogue and story line it would have been a very different novel, and perhaps I would have enjoyed it more. The mystery itself was quite interesting, and took me some time to figure out. That part of the plot was well-crafted, complete with red herrings and wild goose chases. I was surprised with the final solution of the whodunit aspect, because I was completely going after another suspect, though by the time the characters figure it out, it's as plain as day for the readers. Unfortunately the relatively good mystery could not make up for the disappointment as to the non-starring role of the bears and the overuse of forced puns.
In looking up the author's other works, I found that this was the last book of the series, though it was not originally planned as such. Apparently, the author's publisher did not renew an order for further books after sales figures on the books included in the original contract were less than desired. After reading this book, I can't say I am surprised. I am sorry for the author, because he probably put a great deal of work and effort into this book and the others in the series. But the only work that showed in the final book was the dropping of prominent artisan bear makers' names and forcing a plot around bad puns. That is not enough to keep readers coming back for more.
I do wish the author well in his future endeavors, and would like to say that I am available for interviews if he needs help working bears in as characters in future projects.
One Bear's Opinion: One Warmish Cup of Powdered Hot Cocoa with No Marshmallows
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
No comments:
Post a Comment