The Crafty Teddy-John J. Lamb

The Crafty Teddy
John J. Lamb
Berkley, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425218853

After a quarter of a century as a San Francisco police officers with fourteen of those years as an inspector in the Robbery-Homicide Division, a bullet shattered Brad Lyon’s kneecap forcing him to retire. He moved across country to live in Remmlkemp Mill, Virginia with the love of his life, his wife Ashleigh. They collect and create teddy bears.

All of Brad’s cop instincts are on red alert when he awakens to a sound he never heard before. Taking his gun with him, he goes down the stairs, but the intruder fires a shot at him before fleeing with a valuable antique Farnell Alpha Teddy. Upsetting him more than the shot is the teddy was a present to Ashleigh; the Farnell was never found. A couple of weeks later, Brad notices three Yakuza (Japanese gangsters) asking for directions to the Masssanutten Museum of History. Although retired from law enforcement, Brad follows them to the museum only to find the curator dead, a victim of a homicide. The Sheriff knows of Brad’s detective background and asks him to help on the investigation that is loaded with suspects: the Yakuza, the churlish wife he cheated on, his mistress who believed he would never leave his spouse, her husband who knows he was being cuckolded, and seemingly much of the rest of Virginia.

THE CRAFTY TEDDY is a riveting police procedural that is rich in plot and characterizations (especially the horde with motives), but delightfully lacking in explicit evidence to hone in on one person. Many people had a motive and opportunity to kill the victim; thus the investigation is intense as Brad interviews a variety of suspects. The Bear Collector’s latest tale showcases a fascinating hero, who is macho cop (retired) and cuddly teddy creator.

Harriet Klausner