Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson

This collection of stories from Patricia Briggs was published just last September (2014) and includes stories featuring some of the characters from the "Mercy Thompson" series (see my other posts by searching Briggs in this blog). Some of these are stories that wanted telling (per Briggs own notes in the book) but did not fit well with the main story arc of her other books. Some provide prelude to new series (e.g., Alpha and Omega), others are long ago history that inform current novels (e.g., Silver), some have peripheral characters as protagonists, and some are side stories for key players. All in all they are enjoyable and a wonderful enrichment of this series.

• Silver: the back story of Samuel (Bran's older son) and Ariana (fairy)
• Fairy Gifts: payback of an old favor between vampire and fairy, set in Butte, MT
• Gray: a remorseful vampire returns to Chicago, the site of her greatest love and greatest regrets
• Seeing Eye: a powerful, blind, white witch gets revenge against the witch who blinded her--her father--with the help of a werewolf. Moira and Tom appear in Hunting Ground, 2nd book in the "Alpha and Omega" series.
• Alpha and Omega: how Charles Cornick (younger son of Bran) meets his mata, Anna.
• The Star of David: sort of a Christmas story featuring David Christiansen, former VietNam vet, now mercenary and werewolf, gets forgiveness from his daughter.
• Roses in Winter: Kara is the youngest werewolf ever to survive the turning and has had no pack. Her family sends her to Bran finally because they can't handle her and her fate hangs in the balance until she is befriended by Asil. 
• In Red, with Pearls: Mercy's good friend and gay werewolf, Warren, takes on a witch who targets his lover Kyle. 
• Redemption: Ben, the snarky werewolf sent to Bran for rehabilitation from England, has helped Mercy many times, and here he helps a woman targeted for sexual harassment where he works as a database administrator.
• Hollow: Mercy helps a man escape the torments of a vicious ghost--his dead wife.
• Outtake from Silver Borne: the  happy ending to Samuel and Ariana's story.