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Whisper Lake #1
Storm Warning
The rustic lakeside homestead is supposed to be a refuge for widow Nori Edwards. However, the moment the single mom arrives, strange and frightening things start happening. Former police officer Steve Baylor--the only resident who'll step foot on the "cursed" property--vows to protect Nori. "And" catch the shadowy someone dead set on terrorizing her. For the first time, she feels safe. But danger won't stay hidden forever...and neither will Nori's stalker, who's waiting for a chance to let a deadly storm roll in.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 28, 2013
4 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
Linda Hall
92 books122 followersI 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 31, 2018
Widow Nori Edwards buys a lodge called Trail's End in the small town of Whisper Lake Crossing, Maine, hoping for a new start there. She gets help fixing up the place from handsome Steve Baylor. Nori didn't know beforehand that Trail's End is said to be haunted by a ghost. Also, a teenage girl went missing from the property and was never found. Now mysterious occurrences are happening again and Steve vows to help Nori find out what is behind it all. While the premise of this book sounded really interesting, I never found myself as invested in the story or connected to the characters as I hoped I would be. I didn't see the point in having Nori be a single mother when her two teenage daughters never appeared in the whole book. This was just an okay read that never completely drew me in to the story.
January 29, 2022
Rating: 1.4 / 5
DNF at chapter 5, so I guess that's 25%?
*yawns*
This was boring. I'm bored.
Just a bunch of setup with nothing happening...
...and nothing special about the characters.
I thought Harlequin-inspired Suspense was supposed to move faster than this?
Guess I don't have enough patience to find out.
NEXT.
DNF at chapter 5, so I guess that's 25%?
*yawns*
This was boring. I'm bored.
Just a bunch of setup with nothing happening...
...and nothing special about the characters.
I thought Harlequin-inspired Suspense was supposed to move faster than this?
Guess I don't have enough patience to find out.
NEXT.
September 25, 2019
It was okay...
18 months after the death of her husband Nori Edwards decided to uproot her life and her twin daughter to Trail's End, a lodge with cabins on the more remote side of a rustic lakeside town. Conveniently, she sent her girls off to bible camp so you never actually get to meet them or see how they take the move. Nori starts making plans to upgrade the buildings on the property and turn it into a kind of summer rental place, complete with an art galley (or at least it was an idea she mentioned).
She meets Steve Baylor, another person who moved to the area after suffering a heartache (his wife left him and took his son with her). Living there for 3 years, Steve is more or less accepted into the community, has re-found his faith and is ready to move on with his life as a carpenter and occasional law enforcement officer. He easily convinces Nori to hire him on as her contractor and gets the local youth involved.
Thing is, it's harder than it should be because rumors are Trails End is haunted. And a couple of teens went 'missing' after partying there when it was vacant. So when strange things start happening, everyone starts blaming Molly Jones...Mary Jones??? The founder of Trails End. It's ridiculous. The local teens either blame the ghost or Scott, the boyfriend.
Speaking of ridiculous, Nori is ridiculous. I know the author attempts to take a tiny portion of the book up establishing that Nori is incapable of remembering various things, like if she has everything when she leaves the house, but trying to use that to have her question whether she locked the door, or left all the cupboards open, or opened or closed all the windows is a bit ridiculous. It's also a bit ridiculous that she keeps finding painted bells around her house, and her wedding ring missing, etc AND SHE DOESN'T CALL THE COPS OR MENTION IT TO ANYONE!!! Instead she decides to believe that maybe there is a ghost, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Why, you ask? Because admitting that someone is stalking her, drugging her and breaking into her house while she's out or sleeping is "far more sinister." Please...it's idiotic and almost gets her killed...sorta...not really.
And Steve. Ugh. Steve should be smarter. Here's a guy that supposedly took down terrorists as a special unit military cop. But he somehow gets it into his head (DESPITE hearing everything Nori was trying to tell him and, eventually, his cop friend Alec about someone potentially drugging her food, vandalizing her property, breaking and entering, etc.) that Nori MUST be behind the disappearance of Heather and Scott.
He doesn't even get Alec to do more than a background check on her. Cops can totally go looking and find all sorts of information on people if they want. Maybe check and see where her girls went to school when the local teens went missing. Where they in school? When did they go missing? When did her husband die? Were they anywhere in or around each other, cause I bet she wasn't doing a whole lot of anything other than grieving when the love of her life died.
I don't know. It was absurd and I REALLY don't think a man with Steve's background would make huge leaps like that. I'm also pretty sure he'd be able to think "planted evidence" if he even put a little thought into the receipt and black pen. Or he is that stupid for thinking a potential murder is that stupid? I digress. I know I'm tearing this book a new one, but...I finished it so it was better than some other books I've read or attempted to read.
Note:
It's also another one of those proposal at the end kind of books. If this all happened in the span of a week or two...the investigation took a week...trial for the kids in juvie court...Painting a mural..being generous I imagine Steve and Nori only knew each other for...couple of months? She lost her husband 18 months ago....eh...not fully believable to me that Steve would pop the question after a couple of months and she'd accept. And where are her girls?!?!??!
Did bible camp turn into boarding school? Would you not discuss it with your teenage children? Is that a me thing, to discuss how my teenage children would feel about me accepting a proposal only a year and a half after their father died? How they felt about the man I was thinking of marrying??? Maybe I'm rumbling again.
But at least they didn't get married in under 6 months...right?
In Conclusion
This book was only okay. I will never read it again. I won't be recommending it to anyone. The characters all turned into idiots for plot convenience. BUT I finished it. So I don't know if that speaks more to the quality of the writing or my current level of patience. Hmm...
18 months after the death of her husband Nori Edwards decided to uproot her life and her twin daughter to Trail's End, a lodge with cabins on the more remote side of a rustic lakeside town. Conveniently, she sent her girls off to bible camp so you never actually get to meet them or see how they take the move. Nori starts making plans to upgrade the buildings on the property and turn it into a kind of summer rental place, complete with an art galley (or at least it was an idea she mentioned).
She meets Steve Baylor, another person who moved to the area after suffering a heartache (his wife left him and took his son with her). Living there for 3 years, Steve is more or less accepted into the community, has re-found his faith and is ready to move on with his life as a carpenter and occasional law enforcement officer. He easily convinces Nori to hire him on as her contractor and gets the local youth involved.
Thing is, it's harder than it should be because rumors are Trails End is haunted. And a couple of teens went 'missing' after partying there when it was vacant. So when strange things start happening, everyone starts blaming Molly Jones...Mary Jones??? The founder of Trails End. It's ridiculous. The local teens either blame the ghost or Scott, the boyfriend.
Speaking of ridiculous, Nori is ridiculous. I know the author attempts to take a tiny portion of the book up establishing that Nori is incapable of remembering various things, like if she has everything when she leaves the house, but trying to use that to have her question whether she locked the door, or left all the cupboards open, or opened or closed all the windows is a bit ridiculous. It's also a bit ridiculous that she keeps finding painted bells around her house, and her wedding ring missing, etc AND SHE DOESN'T CALL THE COPS OR MENTION IT TO ANYONE!!! Instead she decides to believe that maybe there is a ghost, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Why, you ask? Because admitting that someone is stalking her, drugging her and breaking into her house while she's out or sleeping is "far more sinister." Please...it's idiotic and almost gets her killed...sorta...not really.
And Steve. Ugh. Steve should be smarter. Here's a guy that supposedly took down terrorists as a special unit military cop. But he somehow gets it into his head (DESPITE hearing everything Nori was trying to tell him and, eventually, his cop friend Alec about someone potentially drugging her food, vandalizing her property, breaking and entering, etc.) that Nori MUST be behind the disappearance of Heather and Scott.
He doesn't even get Alec to do more than a background check on her. Cops can totally go looking and find all sorts of information on people if they want. Maybe check and see where her girls went to school when the local teens went missing. Where they in school? When did they go missing? When did her husband die? Were they anywhere in or around each other, cause I bet she wasn't doing a whole lot of anything other than grieving when the love of her life died.
I don't know. It was absurd and I REALLY don't think a man with Steve's background would make huge leaps like that. I'm also pretty sure he'd be able to think "planted evidence" if he even put a little thought into the receipt and black pen. Or he is that stupid for thinking a potential murder is that stupid? I digress. I know I'm tearing this book a new one, but...I finished it so it was better than some other books I've read or attempted to read.
Note:
It's also another one of those proposal at the end kind of books. If this all happened in the span of a week or two...the investigation took a week...trial for the kids in juvie court...Painting a mural..being generous I imagine Steve and Nori only knew each other for...couple of months? She lost her husband 18 months ago....eh...not fully believable to me that Steve would pop the question after a couple of months and she'd accept. And where are her girls?!?!??!
Did bible camp turn into boarding school? Would you not discuss it with your teenage children? Is that a me thing, to discuss how my teenage children would feel about me accepting a proposal only a year and a half after their father died? How they felt about the man I was thinking of marrying??? Maybe I'm rumbling again.
But at least they didn't get married in under 6 months...right?
In Conclusion
This book was only okay. I will never read it again. I won't be recommending it to anyone. The characters all turned into idiots for plot convenience. BUT I finished it. So I don't know if that speaks more to the quality of the writing or my current level of patience. Hmm...
December 12, 2010
I am usually not a Novel reader, but this was so good! It had my attention from the first chapter. I loved that it was a Christian Novel, with God reaching out to the characters throughout the story. Linda has a great way of making you feel the rain or the sunshine by painting such a great picture with her words. I liked the suspense/mystery throughout! Great find! Glad I could read it on my Kindle.
October 27, 2014
Oooo I loved this book! It was so very different from other LIS. Creepy and subtle.
May 15, 2020
What a good book. Lots of twists and turns. A new series for me. I look forward to reading more.
September 1, 2023
What a delightful read! It was intriguing and somewhat spiritual. Nori had bought a lakeside home in Maine and it needed major renovations. Steve came to help and there are sparks between them. Problems arise that may be attributed to a ghost. There are two missing teens that disappeared on Noris’ land so the town people and other young people don’t want to work for her. Loved the ending.
February 25, 2010
Linda Hall is a really good writer. Several of her stories are done on the coast of Maine - a very pretty pine tree state.
Legend has it that the ghost of Molly haunts Trail's End, the lodge that now belongs to Nori. A few teens are rumored to have disappeared from there over a year ago and folks are still talking about it. Strange things happen at the lodge or could it be that Nori is overtired or has too much on her mind? Perhaps someone or something is trying to scare her off.
Instead of getting to know her a bit, Steve becomes too concerned for Nori rather soon after meeting her. I thought the story was pretty good; a little corny.
Legend has it that the ghost of Molly haunts Trail's End, the lodge that now belongs to Nori. A few teens are rumored to have disappeared from there over a year ago and folks are still talking about it. Strange things happen at the lodge or could it be that Nori is overtired or has too much on her mind? Perhaps someone or something is trying to scare her off.
Instead of getting to know her a bit, Steve becomes too concerned for Nori rather soon after meeting her. I thought the story was pretty good; a little corny.
August 7, 2014
This was an excellent mystery. Much better than her first trilogy for Love Inspired Suspense. This had the perfect amount of mystery, great characters and twists and turns. Easily one of the best LIS books I've read!
August 19, 2014
Really great book! I couldn't put it down. It was one I would consider to be a great summer read. Would definitely recommend it to friends and read it again!
March 14, 2021
I really enjoyed this book and plan to continue the Whisper Lake series.
April 17, 2022
This is my first book by Linda hall. I enjoyed it for the most part. I love books that have a camp setting and small town so this was right up my alley. I loved all the characters, however I do feel like there could have been more romance involved. I feel like they barely knew one another, it was definitely rushed. The ending seemed very rushed as well. I was waiting for the big "Bang" at the end but nothing ever happened. Instead of him coming to get her, the hero shows up on the boat, no rustle or fight just saved her. He went back in to get the bad guy, but same thing, no action scene, just a quick "we got him". There wasn't any wow factor and the entire ending seemed very rushed... if it wouldn't have been for the atmospheric portion of the book it would hold a lower rating for me, but because of that I'm going to go ahead and give it a 3.5 star rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2020
©2001
21 chapters/246 pages
Book Summary—Nori Edwards has just moved to Whisper Lake Crossings, having bought Trail’s End, a lodge-and-ten-cabins property. She’s moved to start over. Her husband, Marty, was killed, and anyone’s left with their twin 16-year-old girls, who don’t arrive at Crossings with their mother as they’re at a Christian summer camp. So Nori’s all alone. And, unfortunately for her, the place she now calls home is the focus of a centuries-old legend involving a ghost and, through the years, the backdrop for plenty of deaths and accidents Trail’s End is feared by the adults because of the ghost and seems to have a very sour effect on the older teens in the area because one of their own strangely disappeared from Trail’s End two years ago, with her boyfriend, and have never been heard of seen since. So the mystery is: What’s really the deal with Trail’s End? Is it haunted by the ghost of Molly Jones whose life was the first life touched by pain at Trail’s End? Or is it something else? Whose leaving little bells and opening cabinets and closing windows, tampering with Nori’s canvases, and removing her wedding ring? Molly or is Nori losing her mind? Steve Baylor, resident of Whisper Lake Crossings, hopes to help her sort it all out and claim her heart in the process.
My Review (spoiler alert!)—My notes show I read this book in 2011, but I didn’t remember any of it (just vague impressions but nothing concrete), so I read it again. When I read it before, I gave it my quick coding of (smiley face) plus ! (exclamation point)—which means I REALLY like it. But, having just finished it, I have to say I don’t really get why I was so gung-ho about it. The story, itself, was all right, though I guessed what was behind the mystery and why, but I didn’t care for the love story part of it. In 7-10 days of acquaintance, both Nori and Steve believe they’re FALLING for each other? Really? And it’s not even a full 7-10 days of interaction but sporadic meetings and conversations. Yes, I get “love-at-first-sight,” but I don’t buy it when both parties have issues to work out. I don’t know, but the romance was to contrived for me; it felt forced, as if Linda Hall were trying to make it happen to soon. If this is a series, why not allow it to play out over the series? For heaven’s sake, Steve doesn’t even meet her daughters in the book! By the Epilogue, he’s proposing! And, for me, his reaction to finding “incriminating evidence” in her possession, says that he has some real deep-seated issues with trust and women, etc., he NEEDS to work through before even contemplating romance! He went on the defensive attack with her, not asking, not getting her side—he tried, convicted, and sentenced her all upon SEEING two things that could’ve so easily been PLANTED on her person (her backpack), especially considering the backpack’s been out of her possession for at least a few hours if not all day or over night.
No, I didn’t care for the romance, but the mystery’s okay. Though I wasn’t a fan of Nori’s and kept rolling my eyes at her insistence of there being a ghost, the mystery was okay. As heroes go, Steve was okay (I’m all about his 6’-6” muscle-man description), but I wasn’t very into his character. Looks are good (and he had them—tall, dark with blue eyes, handsome), but they’re only skin deep, and, for me, his character needed lots of attention. Or, let’s say, his personality. His character was decent (he’s a good guy), but, because of his past, his soul’s been wounded. He’d need more than 7-10 days of work on his soul before he’d be ready for love (Romans 12:2).
Grade: B (including the “love story”)
A (for the mystery alone)
21 chapters/246 pages
Book Summary—Nori Edwards has just moved to Whisper Lake Crossings, having bought Trail’s End, a lodge-and-ten-cabins property. She’s moved to start over. Her husband, Marty, was killed, and anyone’s left with their twin 16-year-old girls, who don’t arrive at Crossings with their mother as they’re at a Christian summer camp. So Nori’s all alone. And, unfortunately for her, the place she now calls home is the focus of a centuries-old legend involving a ghost and, through the years, the backdrop for plenty of deaths and accidents Trail’s End is feared by the adults because of the ghost and seems to have a very sour effect on the older teens in the area because one of their own strangely disappeared from Trail’s End two years ago, with her boyfriend, and have never been heard of seen since. So the mystery is: What’s really the deal with Trail’s End? Is it haunted by the ghost of Molly Jones whose life was the first life touched by pain at Trail’s End? Or is it something else? Whose leaving little bells and opening cabinets and closing windows, tampering with Nori’s canvases, and removing her wedding ring? Molly or is Nori losing her mind? Steve Baylor, resident of Whisper Lake Crossings, hopes to help her sort it all out and claim her heart in the process.
My Review (spoiler alert!)—My notes show I read this book in 2011, but I didn’t remember any of it (just vague impressions but nothing concrete), so I read it again. When I read it before, I gave it my quick coding of (smiley face) plus ! (exclamation point)—which means I REALLY like it. But, having just finished it, I have to say I don’t really get why I was so gung-ho about it. The story, itself, was all right, though I guessed what was behind the mystery and why, but I didn’t care for the love story part of it. In 7-10 days of acquaintance, both Nori and Steve believe they’re FALLING for each other? Really? And it’s not even a full 7-10 days of interaction but sporadic meetings and conversations. Yes, I get “love-at-first-sight,” but I don’t buy it when both parties have issues to work out. I don’t know, but the romance was to contrived for me; it felt forced, as if Linda Hall were trying to make it happen to soon. If this is a series, why not allow it to play out over the series? For heaven’s sake, Steve doesn’t even meet her daughters in the book! By the Epilogue, he’s proposing! And, for me, his reaction to finding “incriminating evidence” in her possession, says that he has some real deep-seated issues with trust and women, etc., he NEEDS to work through before even contemplating romance! He went on the defensive attack with her, not asking, not getting her side—he tried, convicted, and sentenced her all upon SEEING two things that could’ve so easily been PLANTED on her person (her backpack), especially considering the backpack’s been out of her possession for at least a few hours if not all day or over night.
No, I didn’t care for the romance, but the mystery’s okay. Though I wasn’t a fan of Nori’s and kept rolling my eyes at her insistence of there being a ghost, the mystery was okay. As heroes go, Steve was okay (I’m all about his 6’-6” muscle-man description), but I wasn’t very into his character. Looks are good (and he had them—tall, dark with blue eyes, handsome), but they’re only skin deep, and, for me, his character needed lots of attention. Or, let’s say, his personality. His character was decent (he’s a good guy), but, because of his past, his soul’s been wounded. He’d need more than 7-10 days of work on his soul before he’d be ready for love (Romans 12:2).
Grade: B (including the “love story”)
A (for the mystery alone)
April 5, 2012
Linda Hall is a good author and this book was no exception. It is a good, quick read with the perfect combination of suspense and romance. I like how God is used to reach out to the characters and readers. I related well to Nori who felt hurt and lost after her husbands death. I am a lot like her b/c I too would researched more into the stories of the "cursed" island.
Nori & her children move to the beautiful coastal Maine town after Nori's husband dies suddenly and unexpectedly. Nori is drawn to the island from the very beginning. However, there is something mysterious about the island, it is plagued by stories of curses and mysterious disappearances. Nori tries to understand what's going on before a deadly storm is unleashed on her.
I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys Hall's novels or the Love Inspired novels. It's a good read about how storms of life can roll in on all of us at any time.
Nori & her children move to the beautiful coastal Maine town after Nori's husband dies suddenly and unexpectedly. Nori is drawn to the island from the very beginning. However, there is something mysterious about the island, it is plagued by stories of curses and mysterious disappearances. Nori tries to understand what's going on before a deadly storm is unleashed on her.
I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys Hall's novels or the Love Inspired novels. It's a good read about how storms of life can roll in on all of us at any time.
July 11, 2012
Nori Edwards decides to start her life over by moving to Maine and redoing cabins. She has lost her husband and grief has caused Nori to lose faith in God, but her two daughter's never lost that faith and are away and a Christian Camp. Here she meets Steve, who also has his own battles. The two end up getting close, especially since he is working on the cabin. Things start to get weird when Nori's windows would be open, the doors would be unlocked, an the "ghost" tale is swarming with the locals.
This was a wonderful quick read that I enjoyed. I am certain that I have never read Love Inspired books, but decided to give this a try. This is the kind of book you read, and at the end you just have a overall good feeling. Lately, I am in the mood to become intune with Faith and this book was just what I needed.
February 15, 2011
Adrift after her husband's death, artist Nori Edwards buys Trails End, a lodge with cabins on Whisper Lake. Looking for a peaceful location for her and and daughters to heal, she didn't realize the lodge came with a past. When strange events begin to occur, she leans on Steve, who had previously been part of an elite military corp, to unravel the mystery.
April 22, 2012
Nori moves to Whisper Lake, Maine in hopes of healing from her husband's death and for a fresh start. But instead, she finds herself questioning things such as if she is being haunted to if she is once again falling in love.
July 12, 2015
Although very simply written, this intriguing mystery kept me guessing, as well as keeping me on the edge of my seat right to the end. Very enjoyable.
Note: This line of suspense/romance books from Steeple Hill are very simple, Christian and clean.
Note: This line of suspense/romance books from Steeple Hill are very simple, Christian and clean.
April 24, 2010
Maybe it's my fault, I don't read many "Christian" romances. But this story was crappy.
October 21, 2010
I enjoyed the suspense and characters. A quick, clean Christian romance to read.
June 6, 2011
a quick read. Predictable story line. A good read for a rainy day.
July 23, 2013
I've read this before, but the Love Inspired Suspense ones are worth reading again. Nori wants to start fresh at Whisper Lake. Strange things happen as she tries to get the lodge up and running.
Read
July 20, 2016another good book...enjoyed the setting of this story...will read more of her books.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews