The
Clockwork Teddy
A
Bear
Collector's Mystery with Brad and Ashleigh Lyon
John
J. Lamb
Berkley
Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-425-22429-5 (0425224295)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-22429-8 (9780425224298)
Publication Date: October 2008
List Price: $6.99
Synopsis (from the publisher): Sometimes you shouldn’t go home again. Brad and Ash have returned to San Francisco for the first time since moving to the Shenandoah Valley and their visit has suddenly turned ugly. While attending a teddy bear show, they witness a robbery and then have a menacing encounter with an ex-SFPD cop with an ax to grind against Brad. That night, a man is murdered at a seedy motel and Brad’s former partner doesn’t quite know what to make of the unique teddy bear left at the scene. Although they’re on vacation, Brad and Ash offer to share their fur-ensic expertise…especially since it will give them the opportunity to work with their daughter, Heather Lyon, an undercover detective on the force.
Review:
Brad and
Ashleigh Lyon return to their former hometown of San Francisco to
exhibit their hand-crafted teddy bears (and investigate a murder or
two) in The
Clockwork Teddy,
the fourth mystery in this series by John J. Lamb.
Brad was once a San Francisco cop who was forced into retirement after
being shot in the leg. He and his wife Ashleigh moved to the Shenandoah
Valley in Virginia, together collecting and creating whimsical teddy
bears. They return to the city by the bay to attend the Teddy Bear Flag
Republic, but also to visit their daughter, Heather, who has followed
in her father's footsteps and is a detective with the SFPD, and Brad's
old partner on the force, Gregg Mauel. But murder intrudes when Gregg
is called to the scene of a murder, accompanied by Brad. A dead body is
in the room of a seedy motel and found in the alley, a 2 foot teddy
bear robot. Brad helps steer the direction of the investigation to a
local firm, Barbeary Coast Bears. The owner's son is a designer of
computer games for Lycaon Software and for fun, had combined his
expertise of gaming with his father's knowledge of teddy bears
resulting in the robot. But there's commercial interest in the robot
with one firm having paid $400,000 for the prototype. When a man from
Lycaon is shot, and the cash stolen, Gregg and Brad are determined to
solve the crimes ... and is it possible the teddy bear robot may be
able help?
Books about teddy bears may bring to mind cute, early chapter readers,
but The
Clockwork Teddy is a
strong mystery albeit written with a light touch. The bear names, for
example, are fun and truly ingenious. But the best aspects of the story
are the well-developed characters and the carefully plotted mystery
that cleverly incorporates the theme of the series. Brad and Ashleigh
are a delightful investigative team who play off each other's strengths
very well. The plot twists are not overly complicated and consistent
within the context of the story with readers likely to be kept guessing
at the outcome right until the final pages. The Clockwork Teddy
is really an
exceptional mystery and highly recommended.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Clockwork Teddy and to Penguin Group for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Clockwork Teddy? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
The
Mournful
Teddy
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), August 2006
ISBN-10: 0-425-21112-6 (0425211126)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-21112-0 (9780425211120)
The
False-Hearted Teddy
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), June 2007
ISBN-10: 0-425-21610-1 (0425216101)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-21610-1 (9780425216101)
The
Crafty Teddy
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), November 2007
ISBN-10: 0-425-21885-6 (0425218856)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-21885-3 (9780425218853)
The Clockwork Teddy
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), October 2008
ISBN-10: 0-425-22429-5 (0425224295)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-22429-8 (9780425224298)
Omnimystery
keywords for The Clockwork Teddy
...
Location(s) referenced: San
Francisco, California.
