Strange Faces

by Linda Hall

From experienced and award winning author Linda Hall comes Strange Faces, a collection of seven stories that will take you to a place where killers can linger in your backyard but where magic can sometimes change everything. The voyage begins with Pickers and Choosers, and with a group of young dumpster foragers who witness a murder. Or do they? And why now, after twenty-seven years is the terrible memory resurfacing? In A Nice Cup of Something Hot we meet Mrs. Wilkers, a divorced woman obsessed with her ex-husband, his new wife, and ultimately with death and murder. The connection between siblings plays a key role in two of the stories. We Are Brothers is about very different twins. Weather Ladies attempts to answer the question, what do you do when you find out your sister is a murderer? Mad Scientist is all about revenge. How far can someone be provoked? Far enough to murder? On the lighter side, The Hockey Bag features a young man, who through no fault of his own, gets caught up in a rather gruesome bag of tricks. You will smile, or tear up, with A Small Season of Magic. It’s a story of a girl, of bullying, and what happens when a small bit of magic intervenes. Hall’s writing has been described as “crisp, intense, filled with suspense and intriguing characters” and writing which has the ability to “keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.”

170 pages, Paperback

Published July 13, 2014

About the author

I write mystery novels and short stories. So far I have 20 in print - with more coming. My newest mystery series begins with Night Watch and introduces my new series character, boat captain Em Ridge.

Other series include the Corporal Roger Sheppard mysteries, The Teri Blake-Addison PI thrillers and the Fog Point mysteries, as well as a number of romantic suspense novels and short stories.

For information about sales, new releases, contests, plus a 'free' short story, I'd love for you to sign up for my newsletter: writerhall.com/newsletter

I grew up near the coast in New Jersey, and it was there that my love of the ocean was nurtured. I married a Canadian and have lived in Canada ever since - well, actually, I have lived in three countries: the U.S., Canada and for a short stint - Taiwan.

I hope you enjoy my books.

Reviews

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last time I enjoyed a book of short stores as much as I did Strange Faces by Linda Hall, it was authored by Alice Munro.

Strange Faces has some similarities. Like the characters in Munro’s books, Hall’s are all ordinary people—housewives, mechanics, teachers. And like Munro’s tantalizing first lines, the beginnings of each story in Hall’s seven-story collection pulled me in so I wanted to read more.

“I’ve suspected for some time that I should go to the authorities about Lewis. Why haven’t I? Fear, I suppose. Even anonymous calls aren’t anonymous” first lines of “Mad Scientist.”

“I’ve always been very protective of my sister. Even when she started killing people at her work” – first lines of “Weather Ladies.”

Such beginnings give us a taste of Hall’s cat-and-mouse game with the reader as we try to figure out: is this person reliable, wearing a white or black hat, is he/she even sane?

Most of these tales are dark. Through her characters Hall plumbs the depths of the human heart’s capacity for jealousy, fear, desire for revenge, rage at being deserted. Several stories also speak about bullying. She asks ‘What if…?’ and then sees the matter through to its deadly conclusion. And so there’s murder and mayhem, but ever so genteelly disclosed.

Hall’s stories are full of homey but significant details and whiplash surprises—a very entertaining combination.

[Janet Sketchley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linda Hall has a gift for evoking memorable characters and situations. Most of these stories are suspense or mystery, with the occasional strand of magic or the unexplained. Because the author weaves a form of magic of her own in these tales, pulling us into the fictional world, it's a believable experience. Sometimes too believable, in the stories with narrators we discover to be less than trustworthy--I was reading in a public place and found myself studying the strangers around me and wondering...

In these stories we meet young and old, damaged and whole, down-and-out and starting over. Linda Hall never shies away from social issues in her mysteries, and readers will met lonely souls, caregivers, victims of bullying and of dementia. Many stories deal with family ties and loyalty.

As well as strongly-evoked characters, the author gives us vivid descriptions. Each story contains a depth and richness, as if we're joining fully-developed individuals in a slice of their lives. Back story is always introduced in an organic way in just the right amount to let readers discover what we need to know.

Well worth a read!

Award-winning author Linda Hall's novels include the Terri Blake-Addison series, Canadian Mountie series, Coast of Maine series and others. For a full list, see her website: http://www.writerhall.com/

[Review copy from my personal library.]

[Dorene Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very enjoyable read - a definite "must" for your summer reading book list!

Linda Hall is a strong writer with memorable characters and riveting plots.

Strange Faces

[Norah Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of short stories. Very deft writing and some seriously creepy plots. Two thumbs up.

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these stories. Very compelling and eerie and Ms. Hall's endings are far from what you might expect them to be. Kudos!