You shouldn't read this book anyplace where you will be embarrassed to burst out laughing. The Affirmation Bears are side-splittingly funny, in my opinion, and the author has such a funny way of stating things and such funny situations. Imagine what she does with a computer game company (the hero-detective's brother's) sharing office space with therapists -- she manages to poke gentle fun that is nevertheless laugh out loud funny at both groups. The description of the computer people (almost all men) painstakingly picking vegetables off their pizza or the competing ideologies of the therapists (one, for example, is a weight-acceptance therapist, whereas another specializes in eating disorder) are examples of the humor that will make people in these professions laugh at themselves.

The plot takes a lot of suspension of disbelief, but is still well-done. Basically, there's something very odd going on in this new computer game company ("Lawyers from Hell" is the game) and Meg has been asked by her brother to try to figure out what's going on. She has to take a break from blacksmithing because she injured her hand, so she's trying to manage the wacky office. Not far into the story, one of the computer folk is murdered, and her brother is suspected of the crime -- so she must find out enough to get her brother off the hook.

I highly recommend this book -- it's one of the funniest mysteries I've read, and I can hardly wait to read the next in the series. I might even buy the hardback...