CHANGEABLE FACADES

BEST SELLER - Wings-Press for September 2007    A murder has been committed!          No one believes it,         but a young boy and his high school counselor.          Will they catch the killers before he or she strikes again? Cover photograph courtesy of Ilona Mueller Changeable Facades     ISBN 978-1-59705-160-6 Romantic Mystery Samantha Barclay is a counselor at Milton High. When a student confides that his mother was murdered, his counselor  is the only one who believes him. Can she stop the murderer from killing a second time?  Can she escape with her own life intact?  Along the way, she is a reacquainted with an old high school friend, Al Michaels, who has been working in Paxton as a Deputy for the Sheriff's office. Does he believe her and more important, will he help her?                               Special thanks go out to Trisha Fitzgerald for her Cover designs

Prologue

I did it.
I killed her.
Leaning back I take another swig of beer.
Relief flows through me.
It's all over and victory is sweet.
I fooled them all.
The waves off my deck crashed around me, forecasting the arrival of a storm.
I love storms--the danger and excitement of them--mimicking my mood, especially today.
She deserved to die--that bossy, prying witch.
I'm amazed at how easy it was.
Everyone always told me I was smart. All through school I got top marks.
For once I was able to use my brain to my advantage--to plan and pull off this murder.
I can still remember the moment when she knew I had poisoned her.
First there was shock, then sadness and finally disgust.
Fortunately she was too sick to do anything about it.
It had all gone according to my brilliant plan.
But it was her own fault.
Everything would have gone up in smoke if I allowed her to live.
It's now clear sailing ahead.
Soon I will be off to my hideaway in the sun--with a new name, identity and life.
I'm fed up with trying to pretend that I'm decent and moral. 
I'm tired of having to fake love for people I could care less about.
I've had it with responsibility.
After all I've been through, life owes me.
It's time to play, time to have fun.
I deserve a comfortable life and I'm finally on my way.
No-one suspects and no-one is going to stop me now
... and I'll kill again if anyone even tries.

 

   In Suzanne Hurley's debut novel, Changeable Facades, Samantha Barclay's first counseling job at a high school in Paxton, West Virginia, promises to be the start of a bright new future. She rents a comfortable cabin, makes friends with her neighbor, and establishes a rapport with the students. She even finds romance with handsome police officer, Al Michaels.

The only problems in this idyllic new life are her principal who appears to take an instant dislike to her and the plight of a troubled boy, Tommy, who is convinced that his mother was murdered by his father, the town's beloved Reverend Bride.

Before long, the harassment begins. A vandalized car and ransacked cabin, a doll dressed to resemble Sam hung from a flag pole, a disguised figure who confronts her on a jogging path in the woods-all serve as warnings to Sam to leave town or die. But she is determined not to be driven away from a place and job she has grown to love.

Who among the friendly inhabitants of Paxton is behind the escalating threats to Sam's life? Is it Reverend Bride who brands her a sinner during his popular Sunday service? Or Tommy's perhaps- too-friendly middle school teacher, Jim? And why is Sam, a newcomer in town, being targeted? Most important, will she be able to extricate herself from the deadly trap being set for her?

Ms. Hurley answers these questions in an engrossing page turner that keeps the reader guessing until the unmasking of the villain in the harrowing climax. Along the way, she depicts small town life with an attention to background detail that will make the reader long to visit West Virginia.

Sam is an engaging heroine, strong and courageous, with compassion for those in trouble and a sense of humor. Al is the perfect hero-there to offer support and back-up, along with the loan of his dog, an irresistible setter named Max. The characters are real and seem familiar, the kind anyone might have in his own hometown.

Changeable Facades ends with the promise of a sequel. I'll be looking forward to it.

REVIEW WRITTEN BY DOROTHY BODOIN. Learn all about her books at http://www.dorothybodoin.com

www.adeecarey.com 

Changeable Facades by Suzanne Hurley is an intriguing mystery with a dash of Romance. While trying to help a student, guidance counselor Samantha Barclay soon finds herself caught up in a scandalous small town murder. Ms. Hurley really knows how to set the scene with her fantastic descriptions of the small town of Paxton, WV. Her characters are just as intriguing as the town. Sam's first person narration really draws you into the story and I thought Al, Sam's love interest, was adorable. I loved Sam's determination to discover the truth about Mrs. Bride's untimely demise. Her descriptions of the students took me right back to high school and I loved Sam's interaction with them. Sam's moments with Tommy, the son of the murder victim- Sara Bride, were heartfelt and lovely, while she tries to uncover the truth. And her interaction with Al while they struggle toward a relationship had me chuckling. The mounting tension (and threats for the poor heroine) while Sam struggles to discover the truth is fantastic too.
The ending threw me for a loop and I loved the fact that it hints at sequel. I really look forward to reading more about Sam and Al because I enjoyed Changeable Facades so much.

Marguerite Arotin- Author of The Locktender's Daughter- http://www.ohioromance.net 

Suzanne Hurley has done something that new authors are warned against, in Changeable Façade she relates her whole story in first person. That is an extremely hard place to write from, but she does a marvelous, no, brilliant job.

In particular she gets inside Tommy's skin and makes you believe she must have lived the life of a teen age boy to portray him so well. But, she does that with each of her characters. They are all well rounded, believable and unique. The story takes you into the private thoughts of a School Counselor. You walk the mile in her shoes and you begin to see what the process is. This is a deeply moving journey into a community that is one way on the outside with an undertow of complex secrets beneath the placid façade. Explore the lives, feel the angst of this young boy through the skillful hands of a master crafts woman, Suzanne M Hurley.

I highly recommend Changeable Façades you cannot read it and come away the same person you were when you started reading it.

    Billie A. Williams
    Mystery Suspense Writer www.billiewilliams.com