I was given an ARC of Bear Witness when it first was published, but could not get into the story. I decided to try it again as an audio this week.
I enjoyed the narrator, but it was a DNF again, I made it over a third way into book. The small details being described took away from the main story. I really did not care how many times the heroine was getting coffee while on the wildlife cruise book.
I am Alaskan and am picky about the books I read about our great state and it may have reflected in lack of enjoyment. If you are coming to Alaska you may enjoy the descriptions of what to expect on a wildlife cruise, hopefully without a dead body!
I received a complimentary copy of Bear Witness, but all opinions are my own.

Really enjoyed this book. In a beautiful location. Her love of the wildlife shone through. While it was a good read there were parts that I felt were not necessary. To much repetition ruined it

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity. This book was extremely slow for me. Stacie is a tour guide on a boat in Alaska when someone is thrown overboard. Stacie and her dog Sasha then assist the state troopers in finding out who did it. I feel like this book could be half the length if the repetition was edited out. Alaska is an unusual setting for a cozy mystery, as is the tour guide premise, so this series is very unique. Stacie is a really nice young lady and Sasha is adorable and spectacularly well-behaved. Unfortunately there were some important things that I felt were missing. One being a best friend/confidante for Stacie. She has a few casual friends who live in other towns but no friends in Juneau. This meant Stacie spent all of her time hanging out with Sasha (who I did love) and thinking about the murder, though she never gets any new information and thinks the same things over and over again. This series has potential. I do love the setting and the characters have promise, but it's missing a lot of things that make cozies fun. Interaction between the main character and her friends, investigations being done in multiple locations involving compelling side characters, clues leading to the detection of the culprit, and a contentious police/amateur relationship that provides some dramatic tension and may blossom into something more in future books.

Bear Witness by Lark OJensen
3.5 ⭐️

Overall, I liked the story. I would love to visit Alaska and I loved Stacie's passion for & knowledge of the wildlife.
There were parts of the book that I wondered if the author was trying to fill up word count. Things were weirdly repeated, or unnecessary explained in detail. With that said, I am still interested in reading more about Stacie and Sasha.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the Alaskan setting. It was fun getting to know the characters. It was a good start to a new coY mystery series.

I love an alaskan set mystery - and a cozy is even better!

Stacie works on one of the Alaskan tour boats. One day her passengers and her see a man floating in the water. And everyone knows of the murdered man. He was one of the passengers on the boat previously and was super annoying to the crew, passengers and to Stacie.

Stacie finds herself a suspect and only her and her dog can figure out who the true murderer is!

Alaska is the star of Bear Witness, as Stacie Calder, and her husky Sasha, guides tourists on day-long boat tours through the Tracy Arm fjord. Readers will enjoy the mystery of unraveling how one particularly annoying passenger ends up floating in the water. The story is good, but the repetitive details of daily work as a tour guide may slow the enjoyment of the novel.

This book has a different narrative tone--it felt sort of as though it was breaking the literary fourth wall, with the main character speaking to the reader. The setting was definitely interesting and I really liked the descriptions of the local wildlife. Unfortunately, the story seemed to drag with a lot of repetition and more telling than showing. I ended up skimming the end.

I can count on one hand how many books I’ve ever stopped reading because they were bad and unfortunately, Bear Witness is now one of them. I got to 21% and nothing had happened, and then the main character described why she was wearing a watch—spoiler alert: to tell time—and I was like nope. Sorry, this one is going to be a DNF. I love cozy mysteries and I liked the setting as a tour guide company in Alaska but this book and main character were so flat and I was not interested at all.

I couldn't finish this book. Bear Witness was quite boring and the characters weren't at all likeable. I hate not finishing books, but when I would rather do chores around the house than read, it's a problem. I definitely won't be finishing this book or reading any others in this series.

Stacie Calder is a wildlife lover and a guide on a tourist boat in Alaska. Most of the passengers are vacationers who want to see a whale breach, a mama seal with her baby, bears, birds, and wolves. It’s Stacie’s job to point out the animals and tell about them. Since the boat moves slowly so the noise and movement won’t disturb the animals, each tour can take six or seven hours.

There are regulars, too, Alaskans who like to meet new people, see the sights, and have a day’s outing. Stacie has an assistant, Lettie, who takes over when Stacie mingles, takes a coffee break, or just needs a breather. Stacie also brings her dog, Sasha, to work with her.

When a passenger turns out to be Truit, a former employee in disguise, Stacie keeps an eye on him between talks. He announced he’s going to start his own tour company and is only along to steal what tips, and possible employees, he can.

During a break, she can’t find Truit. As a former employee, he’d know possible hiding places. When he’s still missing on their return and the crew finds no clues, a search and rescue team is sent to look for him with no results. Until the next day’s tour when his body is found.

Liam, an Alaskan trooper assigned to the Initial Response Section, is along for the trip and takes charge. Feeling Stacie might overhear things he wouldn’t, he asks her to share any information that comes her way, a task she takes more seriously than he intended.

Suspicion is on Stacie’s boss, his motive thought to be eliminating the potential competition, weak at best. Truit had offered a number of people partnerships in the business with vague promises. Although no one admits to hating him, he wasn’t well-liked either.

Jensen also writes as Linda O. Johnston and has penned fifty-three books to date with no sign of slowing down. This is her first Alaska Untamed mystery. Other series include the Alpha Forces books, the Kendra Ballantyne series, the Pet Rescue Mysteries, the Superstition mysteries, the Barkery & Biscuits mysteries, and Harlequin Romance Suspense books. Most include dogs!

Stacie Calder is a naturalist whose passion is learning more about nature and sharing that knowledge as the tour guide for a prominent Alaska tour company. She and her dog, Sasha, work with the same crew and captain all the time, and Stacie is very loyal to the captain and the company. Needless to say, when a man is questioning her and the company, she becomes uncomfortable and suspicious that he may try to ruin the company and searches for him. Only he's disappeared and now she's a suspect.

She insinuates herself into the investigation and the primary investigator, Liam, ultimately gives her permission to keep sleuthing with the promise that she'll share what she finds out. Not all her coworkers are enthused with her questions, nor is the dead man's 'friend' who continues to take the tour day after day.

Throughout the story, Jensen provides descriptions of scenery and wildlife, ice floes and glaciers calving, the birds, and other animals they encounter. The descriptions are rich and the reader can appreciate the experience. Having taken tours like that one, it's also very accurate. These are interwoven with the growing relationship between Stacie and Liam, the animosity of some of the crew, her sleuthing, and increased concern when one man is acting strangely.

This is a great start to a new series. The pace is good, Stacie is a likable protagonist, there are multiple suspects, and it's very well-written. There's something for everyone in this great story.

This is a ‘light’ mystery with lots of imagery of Alaskan nature. It’s mild when it comes to thrillers but a nice read overall. I’m not sure how it will be as a series, though. I enjoyed Sasha the dog as a supporting character.

Stacie Calder is a naturalist who doesn't like the idea of working in an office. She loves the outdoor and gets to chance to enjoy it while working on a tour boat in Alaska with her husky, Sasha.
A tourist who asks her lots of questions about herself is found dead the following day. Stacie decides to investigate the murder. She gets herself in tangled with Liam an Alaskan state trooper. The chemistry between these two heats up quickly and comes to a point. But does Liam think Stacie has something to do with the murder? Will she be able to find out who did it before some one comes after her?

I received an ARC as an NetGalley reader.

I really enjoyed this first installment in Alaska Untamed Mystery series. It is set, of course, in Alaska and the MC is a tour guide on one of the many tour boats that take cruises to see wildlife. I really liked the portions where the MC was talking about the animals they saw--birds, seals, bears, and wolves. Then, a man named Truitt who is disliked by the captain is found missing from the tour. Later, they find him dead on an ice floe. I kind of figured out who did it early on, but I didn't realize why until later in the story. I really liked the characters and look forward to reading more in this series. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

A nice and interesting start to a new series. The writing is very atmospheric and I felt transported to Alaska. I look forward to learning more about the characters in future installments.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Stacie Calder works as a wildlife boat tour guide in Alaska. During one of the cruises, a passenger goes missing. Stacie takes it upon herself to help solve the case.

This was an ok book. I found the writing to be very elementary-ish; like a high schooler trying to write a romance story when they've never even been on a date. The author often spells everything out instead of allowing the reader to figure things out for themselves. In fact, I was very surprised to find out the author had written several other books! Most of the characters were relatable, but I had a hard time liking Stacie. She was very egotistical and was very pushy when getting people to talk. It was almost disrespectful. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it just didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

THB: This was a cover grab for me. Anytime I see that a cozy mystery takes place in Alaska, I RUN TOWARDS THE LIGHT! Something about books set in Alaska always hit a special spot.

Lark O. Jensen covered the Alaska scenery perfect. The prose and descriptions were spot on and made this book very enjoyable. My imagination was painting pictures from the start to the end.

The story felt a tad bit repetitive, but the Alaska nature and fun-loving Huskey, Sasha really saved parts of this book.

I liked Stacy, but felt the main character aspect fell short. Liam, on the other hand, left me confused and questioning his motives. I never learned enough about him and constantly felt that he could potential be the killer and not a love interest for Stacy and town admiring sheriff.

I am looking forward to continuing this series, as I need more questions answered. I need to see where the character development goes.

3.5 stars

Two things initially drew me to this book – that great cover & the fact that it’s set in Alaska. I’ve mentioned before how Alaska is on my bucket list and while reading Bear Witness, I found myself wishing that Stacie was a real person – because if I ever do get to Alaska I want to take a tourist cruise with her as my tour guide. Her character was so winsome, and her faithful canine sidekick Sasha added an extra dimension of likability to this dynamic duo. The glimpses we get of Alaskan wildlife and its marine landscape had me feeling like I was riding that top deck of the boat along with Stacie, Sasha and crew.

I really enjoyed the mystery and all that went along with it. I was surprised at how easily the local law enforcement agreed to let Stacie poke her nose into the case in conjunction with their own investigation, but it worked for the community they were in and with the circumstances surrounding the murder. Every loyal cozy mystery reader knows it’s rarely the most obvious suspect who turns out to be the murderer, so we tend to look at everyone with a bit of a side-eye lol. Even so, I was completely surprised when I figured out who it likely was – because I’d had my accusation resting firmly (but wrongly) on a perfectly good ‘less obvious’ suspect the whole time lol.

Whew, don’t even get me started on how swoony Liam is, the law enforcement agent charged with the murder case that casts a somber shadow over Stacie’s employers. His low voiced comments that were clearly flirting even though Stacie couldn’t see it. Swoon!! It’s clear Liam is highly attracted to Stacie and since the feeling is mutual, sparks sizzle in the air whenever they’re in the same space.

(Pardon me a brief aside, here) That sizzle eventually leads to some closed door action between the two, something that I would have preferred take place later in the series, if at all. In my opinion, Liam & Stacie fast-forwarded past all that I love about the intricate ‘early stages of a romance’ dance, bypassing any emotional connection between them (there wasn’t time!) and zeroing in on the physical. It didn’t make sense to me on several different levels, didn’t allow me enough time to become emotionally invested in their relationship, and was just an all-around disappointing development for me.

Bottom Line: Bear Witness by Lark O. Jensen takes readers on a tour of Alaska in all its wild beauty. You’ll spot seals and bears, glaciers and ice floes, even some wolves and a humpback whale or two. But watch out – you’ll also spot a body. And it’s here that the story kicks into gear, drawing us along as the investigation takes root. Liam, Stacie, and even sweet Sasha are engaging characters with layers that I look forward to exploring as the series sails along. If your travel budget looks like mine, this is a great way to vacay vicariously – through the pages of a delightful cozy mystery! Yes, there were some elements of the plot that I didn’t love but overall this is a very entertaining read and I’ll likely keep an eye out for book two!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)