Hall, Linda 1950- (Linda Carol Hall)

PERSONAL:

Born 1950; married; husband's name Rik; children: two. Education: Moody Bible Institute, graduated. Hobbies and other interests: Sailing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. E-mail—Linda@writerhall.com.

CAREER:

Author. During early career, worked as a newspaper journalist in British Columbia, Canada, and in the adult literacy field writing curriculum materials; University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, fiction writing instructor.

MEMBER:

Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers of Canada, Writers Federation of New Brunswick.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Beacon Award for best inspirational novel, 2004, Winter Rose Award for best inspirational novel, and Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers, all for Steal Away; Best Canadian Christian Novel, Word Guild, for Katheryn's Secret; Best Novel in Write Canada competition, Word Guild, for April Operation and August Gamble; August Gamble was also named a C.S. Lewis Noteworthy Book.

WRITINGS:

The Josiah Files (science fiction), T. Nelson (Nashville, TN), 1993.

Steal Away ("Teri Blake-Addison" mystery series), Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 2003.

Chat Room ("Teri Blake-Addison" mystery series), Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 2003.

Dark Water (mystery), WaterBrook Press (Colorado Springs, CO), 2006.

Black Ice (mystery), WaterBrook Press (Colorado Springs, CO), 2007.

"ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE" SERIES

August Gamble, Bethel (Elkhart, IN), 1995.

November Veil, Bethel (Elkhart, IN), 1996.

April Operation, Bethel (Elkhart, IN), 1997.

"COAST OF MAINE" SERIES

Margaret's Peace (mystery), Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 1998.

Island of Refuge: A Novel of Suspense, Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 1999.

Katheryn's Secret (mystery), Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 2000.

Sadie's Song (mystery), Multnomah (Sisters, OR), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Although she grew up in New Jersey, Linda Hall lives in Canada with her husband and often sets her novels either in that country or in Maine. About the New England state, the author writes "with precise knowledge," according to Tracy Farnsworth in a Romance Reader's Connection article. "I can attest that her descriptions of Maine's coast are accurate." More than setting, though, Hall's crime and mystery novels are distinctive for their Christian themes. Critics have commented appreciatively on the fact that the writer portrays church communities with an objective eye, showing both their flaws and benefits. As one Publishers Weekly critic put it in a review of Sadie's Song: "The church is portrayed evenhandedly as both an imperfect entity … and a caring group of people."

Hall began her career as a journalist working in British Columbia on a daily newspaper. At the age of forty, she decided to take a chance at a dream and write a novel, which became The Josiah Files, a near-future tale with Christian themes. She then embarked on her "Royal Canadian Mounted Police" series, set in Canada, followed by her "Coast of Maine" series. Unlike many series, which share in common one or more characters, the "Coast of Maine" books are only tied together by their setting and by certain Christian themes. Hall also typically features female protagonists in her stories. Margaret's Peace is about a woman suffering from two deaths in her life. Her sister died mysteriously when Margaret was thirteen, and as the book opens she has been traumatized by the recent death of her own child. Looking into her past reveals ugly family secrets in "a dramatic and powerful story of a woman's struggle to come to terms with her family's past," according to Melissa Hudak in the Library Journal. Island of Refuge is another mystery in which it is discovered, after a woman named Jo's death, that the girl she claimed as her daughter was not really hers. Writing again in the Library Journal, Hudak called this particular novel a "flawed, curiously uninvolving thriller." Sadie's Song features a theme of spousal abuse. When Sadie Thornton's husband has career problems, he takes it out on his wife. Sadie survives through the aid of people who come into her life, and the implication is that God has sent her these helpers to get Sadie through this trying time. While critics noted that there is not a strong plot to the novel, they praised the characterization and writing. "Hall opens the door for communication and help for Christian women tom between their faith and their safety," suggested Melanie Duncan in the Library Journal. Bev Huston, writing for the Romantic Reader, concluded that "Linda Hall pens a story that touches the very heart of every woman even if it is fiction."

With Steal Away and Chat Room, Hall created her first repeating detective character in Teri Blake-Anderson. Teri is a former cop and current private investigator who was inspired to pursue this career after her mother disappeared when Teri was fourteen. Married to a college professor, she and her husband are both church-going Christians, and Hall portrays their spiritual beliefs as an integral part of their lives. In Steal Away Teri investigates the life of a televangelist's wife before she supposedly died in a boating accident. Cross Home contributor Don Smith complimented Hall on her realistic Christian protagonist: "Hall unapologetically allows Teri to drink coffee, eat bagels, make love to her husband, listen to secular music … and dislike some aspects of her church like normal Christians do." Klausner, writing for Best Reviews, asserted that the book "will STEAL AWAY the reader from the ordinary world and transport them into the pages of this fascinating tale of portrayal, redemption and second chances." Chat Room has Teri seeking answers to the disappearance of her lawyer friend, Kim Shock. Although Romantic Times Online contributor felt the story was marred by a "plot hole," the reviewer still enjoyed the "stimulating plot." Klausner, writing again in Best Reviews, liked the fact that Chat Room "contains a powerful message of opening the tent to everyone even those who seem reticent about belonging."

Subtle Christian themes continue to pervade Hall's more recent fiction efforts, including the stand-alone mysteries Dark Water and Black Ice. In the former, a private investigator begins to fall in love with his client, a jewelry designer and single mother who thinks she is being stalked. Booklist contributor John Mort felt this novel was typical of Hall's mysteries, "full of thoughtful, flawed characters." Black Ice involves a mystery in which a young girl is found dead behind a bed and breakfast, her body in the position of prayer. Although a Publishers Weekly critic felt the short chapters made for a jumpy narrative, the critic declared the book an "intense mystery."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2001, John Mort, review of Sadie's Song, p. 1844; June 1, 2003, John Mort, "Christian Fiction," review of Steal Away, p. 1740; June 1, 2006, John Mort, review of Dark Water, p. 41.

Library Journal, April 1, 1997, review of November Veil, p. 78; April 1, 1998, review of Margaret's Peace, p. 75; April 1, 1999, Melissa Hudak, review of Island of Refuge, p. 79; June 1, 2001, Melanie C. Duncan, review of Sadie's Song, p. 132.

Publishers Weekly, January 29, 2007, review of Black Ice, p. 44; April 30, 2001, review of Sadie's Song, p. 51.

ONLINE

Best Reviews,http://thebestreviews.com/ (April 10, 2003), Harriet Klausner, review of Steal Away; (September 6, 2003), Harriet Klausner, review of Chat Room.

Cross Home,http://www.crosshome.com/ (May 11, 2007), Don Smith, review of Steal Away.

Linda Hall Home Page,http://writerhall.com (May 11, 2007).

Romance Reader's Connection,http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/ (May 11, 2007), Tracy Farnsworth, review of Steal Away.

Romantic Times,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (May 11, 2007), Bev Huston, reviews of Sadie's Song, Black Ice, and Dark Water; Jill Elizabeth Nelson, reviews of Steal Away and Chat Room.