Bear Witness: An Alaska Untamed Mystery

Five days a week, wildlife specialist Stacie Calder, the winning narrator of this appealing series launch from Jensen (the Pet Rescue mysteries), cruises the Alaska coast aboard the ClemElk, a tour boat, with her two-year-old husky, Sasha. One day, Stacie has just alerted the tourists to a pod of harbor seals and pups along the shore when a pushy passenger starts loudly grilling her about the boat’s safety. Soon after the ClemElk’s captain identifies the rude man as Sheldon Truitt, a former employee planning to start a rival coastal tour business, Truitt goes missing. Might Truitt have fallen overboard—or was he pushed? Truitt’s body is later spotted on the shore, and though the most obvious suspect in what becomes a murder investigation is the captain, dozens of others aboard the ship may have had a motive for ensuring the conniving Truitt never returned to port. As romantic sparks fly between Stacie and Liam Amaruq, the state trooper assigned to the case, a killer more dangerous than any wild predator prowls the ClemElk. Jensen nicely balances the crime solving and Stacie’s personal life, and dog lovers will cheer Sasha’s heroics. Cozy fans will eagerly await the sequel. Agent: Paige Wheeler, Creative Media Agency. (May)