BEAR A WEE GRUDGE

Teddy bears and the people who make them drive another Michigan murder mystery.

Sasha Silverman has a long and unpleasant history with rival teddy-bear maker Teddy Hartman. Since the forced sale of his company, Bears of the Heart, he and his wife, Lucy, have opened a pet product store in Silver Hollow and are out to make trouble for Sasha’s family. Stung by his insulting remarks about Sasha and her parents, her sister, Maddie, punches him in the nose, causing Lucy’s Morkie to bite Sasha and leading to a round of threats and police reports. When the obnoxious Teddy is found dead with an ax in his back on the grounds of the town’s Highland Fling festival, Detective Phil Hunter takes the easy way out and arrests Sasha’s dad, who revealed his skill as an ax thrower when he started practicing for the festival contest. Although he is quickly released for lack of evidence, Sasha is certain that the lazy detective won’t put in the work to find the real murderer. So she takes on the job with help from her family and friends. The festival, and the kilt-wearing bears her family’s company made for it, is a big hit. Not even the trashing of Sasha’s car by someone who dislikes her sleuthing deters her from searching for the killer of Hartman, whose abrasive personality made him eminently killable.

The Scottish theme overwhelms the mystery. The cast is likable enough, but this foray is not one of their best.