SNEAK PEEK | Death of a Six Foot Teddy Bear

Sharon Dunn did not have to do much research for her Bargain Hunter mysteries. She loves to clip coupons and fill up punch cards. Like her main character, Ginger, Sharon’s heart beats a little faster when she gets close to a clearance rack. Death of a Garage Sale Newbie, book one in the Bargain Hunters mysteries, was released in March, 2007 by Multnomah publishers, a division of Random House. Book two, Death of a Six Foot Teddy Bear will hit the bookshelves January 2008.

Sharon’s previous books include three mysteries in the Ruby Taylor series by Kregel publications. Book One, Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves, was nominated for Inspirational Novel of the Year in 2003. American Christian Fiction Writers voted her second book, Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante, Book of the Year in 2004. The third book in the series, Cow Crimes and the Mustang Menace was released summer 2005.

Her books have been praised for their humor and honest portrayal of the Christian journey.

She currently works as a tutor at a local university and has taught classes at the college level. She lives with her three kids, three cats, a husband of twenty years and lots of dust bunnies. You can read more about Sharon and her books at www.sharondunnbooks.com

Excerpt from Death of a Six Foot Teddy Bear

Across the water several boats away, Ginger saw a circle of light. Somebody was in one of the boats. Holding onto Phoebe, Ginger scrambled back out to the dock and ran until she was parallel to the string of boats. In a gondola, the farthest vessel from shore, a man bent over as if staring at something.

“Yo, who’s is out there? What are you doing?” Yo? Where did that come from? She sounded like a sailor or one of those hip-hop fellas.

A familiar voice floated across the water. “Is that you?”

“Earl, Earl, I am so glad I found you. I have been looking for you all night.” Ginger walked to the edge of the dock and leaned over to see better. Earl’s light bobbed up and down. “What are you doing out here?”

Water lapped against the shore. Laughter, soft and distant, rose up from the restaurant. On the other side of the hotels, cars rolled over concrete.

A shiver trickled down Ginger’s back. “Earl?” At the same moment she spoke, Phoebe squirmed free, scratching Ginger’s hand in the process. Ginger recoiled from the sting of broken skin and the warm seep of blood. “Earl, what is it?” Phoebe scampered up the pier, but Ginger remained frozen by some unnamed fear.

Earl stood up. The flashlight cast a circle of light on the boat next to the one he stood in. Ginger focused on the sound of her own exhale and inhale until it seemed to match the rhythm of the water licking the shore. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Earl’s voice floated across the water. “You might want to go inside and get security.” He turned directing the light toward the front of the boat. “There is a man in a bear costume and as far as I can tell he is not breathing.”

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