"The Burial Place"

Stig Abell believes that discovering a crime fiction series to enjoy is one of the great pleasures in life. His first novel, Death Under A Little Sky, introduced Jake Jackson and his attempt to get away from his former life in the beautiful area around Little Sky, followed by Death in a Lonely Place and The Burial Place. Abell is absolutely delighted that there are more on the way. Away from books, he presents the breakfast show on Times Radio, a station he helped to launch in 2020. Before that he was a regular presenter on Radio 4’s Front Row and was the editor and publisher of the Times Literary Supplement.

Abell applied the Page 69 Test to The Burial Place with the following results:

I love this idea. There is a prize in France called Prix de la page 112, which follows the same principle (based apparently on a line from a Woody Allen film where a woman is compared to a poem on page 112 of an ee cummings collection).

Anyway, to page 69 of The Burial Place! It's not a terrible place to start, as it happens: the book's first murder has, at that moment, just taken place in the Christie-esque location of an archaeological dig atop a beautiful, deserted Iron Age fort in the depths of the English countryside. We learn that the victim - a fussy local reverend, who had been party to the discovery of a treasure hoard - was found dying in a trench, having consumed some lethal liquid. It is not full of descriptive prose (which I am fond of), but there are little hints of the textures I enjoy writing about: the "bearish pelt" of my hirsute Scottish Inspector; the "sandpapery rasps" of the dig's director wringing her hands in distress.

Crime fiction is propelled - sadly and savagely - by murders, so this page is an important part of the forward momentum of the whole novel. It's a good "plot" page. It is also the last page of the chapter, so ends on what the Victorians called a "curtain line", a sentence that is designed to draws the reader ever onwards. Here it is:

"Thanks for securing the scene for us, Jake. It's a good job you did. Jordan died not long after he got to hospital, I'm sorry to say. Heart attack brought on by exposure to hydrochloric acid. There's a goodish chance he was murdered".

Murder and a mystery in a place of ancient history - it's what The Burial Place is about.

[I've checked page 112 for it's prize-winning potential, by the way, and it is only 6 lines long - another chapter ending. So I've done rather better with page 69, I reckon.]

Follow Stig Abell on Instagram and Threads.

Q&A with Stig Abell.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Always the Quiet Ones"

Jamie Lee Sogn is a Filipina American author of adult thriller novels. She grew up in Olympia, Washington, studied Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Washington and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Oregon School of Law.

She is a "recovering attorney" who writes contracts by day and (much more exciting) fiction by night. While she has lived in Los Angeles, New York City, and even Eugene, Oregon, she calls the Pacific Northwest and Seattle home.

Her debut novel, Salthouse Place, was an Amazon First Reads and was long listed for The Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize.

Sogn applied the Page 69 Test to her second novel, Always The Quiet Ones, and shared the following:

From page 69:

“As I was leaving, I thought I saw you and your friend talking to him by his car. Didn’t look like you guys were still fighting is all.”

I shake my head. “I honestly don’t remember; it was so late.” I shake my mouse and pretend to be distracted by something on my screen. “Greg, I have to work.”

“Sure, yeah, I’ll just . . .” He leaves and shuts the door behind him. As soon as I see him disappear around the corner, I go for my phone.

Looking in my contacts, I find her and begin a new text.

What the hell happened last night? I search and easily find a news article about Landon. I send it to Kelli.

The reply doesn’t come immediately. It doesn’t come at all. For a moment, I panic and wonder if she gave me a fake number. She was a stranger, after all. How could I have been so stupid?

I stare at my computer screen and wish I could go back to the person I was twenty-four hours earlier.

I get no work done. The office is like a tomb. There’s none of the usual banter or the charged hustle. We’re all in shock, and sure, he was an asshole, but we are all in mourning. I stay in my office and only see Greg pass by once more; he avoids looking at me.

I open my Uber app and look at the history. No rides home last night. Maybe Kelli or Landon ordered the car for me. No texts or photos reveal anything either. I go to the Saul Group’s website and look at the associate directory. I realize I don’t even remember Kelli’s last name or the department she works in; I scroll slowly through the list of all associates and don’t see a single Kelli listed. But it’s possible the website isn’t up to date; I know the BCC site still lists interns from last summer. I go to LinkedIn next and search for Kellis in the greater Seattle area working at the Saul Group. Still no results.

The Page 69 Test works remarkably well for this book! On this page, the browser meets the main character, Bea, the morning after an eventful night out took a fateful turn. Feeling mistreated by her toxic male boss, Bea is beginning to feel as if she’s never going to get the promotion she’s been working towards. So after meeting a woman at a nightclub, Kelli, and bonding over shared experiences of being women in the male dominated field of law, Bea and her new friend joke about making a deal to murder each other’s boss. Then, Bea wakes up to some shocking news. Her hated boss has been found dead. Bea can’t remember anything from the night before and she fears the worst.

On page 69, we see her arriving at work the morning after her night out with Kelli, her new friend and confidant… and possible accomplice, but to what, Bea isn’t quite sure yet. Unsure yet if she has anything to feel guilty about, Bea can’t help but feel as if all eyes are on her. Her mind is racing through the scenarios of the night before and who could have possibly seen her and Kelli. Then she begins to realize she doesn’t know anything about Kelli at all. Bea is horrified to think that the woman she knows as “Kelli” might not even exist. Bea might be totally alone and a suspect in her boss’s death.

The test works so well because this page is more or less the setup and conflict for the larger mystery of the novel, that is, who exactly is Kelli and who killed Bea’s boss? And how does Bea fit in? I would hope the browser reading this page would want to continue to find out what happened next. Because it turns out that Bea has a past that makes Kelli’s friendship, real or imagined, triggering in of itself. Even though she is the protagonist, she’s not a perfect character either and hides some secrets of her own. But that’s for another page…

Visit Jamie Lee Sogn's website.

Q&A with Jamie Lee Sogn.

My Book, The Movie: Salthouse Place.

The Page 69 Test: Salthouse Place.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Not Who You Think"

Arbor Sloane grew up in the Midwest and earned her master’s degree of English at Iowa State University. She now teaches community college courses and resides with her family in the Des Moines area.

Sloane applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Not Who You Think, and reported the following:

Here is an excerpt from page 69:

Note: This is a meeting between Amelia, a true crime writer who is covering the case of a missing classmate of her daughter, Gabby, and the school counselor.

I sit down and give him an expectant look, wishing he would hurry up and get to the point.

"I spoke with Gabrielle this morning," he says, tenting his fingers.

"Oh?" I think of how she hugged me this morning, reassured me. Maybe she was putting up a stronger front than she really felt.

"It seems that she's pretty troubled about the Mahoney girl's disappearance. Would it be alright if I met with her a few times a week until all this is solved?"

I pause. For a long time, I've been wondering if it would be good to get Gabby into some type of therapy. Now, after she's read my book, I'm leaning toward yes. It can't be easy, realizing the terrible things that happen in this world and that your mother was tangled up in them somehow.

"You know, I think that might be a good idea."

He nods, pleased.

I think of how satisfying his job must be, seeing people in trouble and actively being able to help ease their pain in some way. I wish that I could take away what Bridget Mahoney is going through right now. It only makes me more determined to find her.

I get up to leave, but Mr. Blair holds out a hand, halting me. I sink back into the chair, but all the while I'm thinking that I can't wait to get out of here. I need to be helping the police. I need to be taking steps toward getting Bridget home.

"I shouldn't be saying this, but I think there's something you should know," he says, then hesitates for a moment.

The Page 69 Test worked pretty well for Not Who You Think! It reveals the complicated relationship between mother and daughter, how Amelia feels conflicted about her work of interviewing serial killers and how it might affect her daughter when she actually reads the book and sees what her mother is investigating. Her worldview might change, knowing that there are people capable of such atrocities. Her innocence will be shattered. It also touches on the current case she's working on, Gabby's missing classmate. It hints at a clue that will give the reader an idea of what happened to Bridget, as well.

In Not Who You Think, the main character, crime writer Amelia Child is determined to explore the causes that lead to a serial killer's development. Her first book is about Gerald Shapiro, a prolific killer who raped and murdered a number of women after catfishing them through social media. With her detective friend, she helped put Shapiro away for good. But then something baffling happens; women start dying again, and the new killer seems to be following Gerald's M.O. She reunites with her investigator friend in a race against the clock to save Bridget, her daughter's classmate, who has been kidnapped. The knowledge she gained about Gerald Shapiro will come in handy, and she turns out to be more embroiled in the case than she initially thought.

Follow Arbor Sloane on Instagram.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Daughters of Flood and Fury"

Gabriella Buba is a mixed Filipina-Czech author and chemical engineer based in Texas who likes to keep explosive pyrophoric materials safely contained in pressure vessels or between the covers of her books. She writes epic fantasy for bold, bi, brown women who deserve to see their stories centered. Her debut Saints of Storm and Sorrow is a Filipino-inspired epic fantasy out with Titan Books. Saints has been named one of Spotify’s Best Audiobooks of 2024, and Buba a Spotify Breakout Author of 2024, and Saints was one of Reactor’s Reviewer’s Choice: Best Books of 2024.

Buba applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Daughters of Flood and Fury, with the following results:

From page 69:

At least he could ease today’s frustration and give Lunurin a place to vent her fears. He wouldn’t let the past rear its ugly head and poison what he and Lunurin had built together, not yet. Not with so much at stake and nothing to be gained.

He pressed his lips to the nape of her neck. Lunurin lifted her head, her dark eyes catching his with heated intention, and he was drowning. He kissed her. Her fingers threaded into the hair at his nape, pulling him closer. Her touch was electric, and he was water before her.

With a sweep of her arm, she cleared her worktable. Broken shell scattered in all directions. The saw bounced off the floor with a clatter and they both jumped, glancing toward the shut door, to see if anyone would come to investigate. But the distant doings of the house continued undisturbed.

Lunurin’s face creased into a laugh. “They’re avoiding my tantrums, I fear.”

Alon kissed the wrinkles above her pert nose. “Good… if anyone comes to check on us, I might do something drastic.”

“Promise?” Lunurin teased.”

If there was going to be anything on page 69 of Daughters of Flood and Fury I couldn’t have orchestrated it better, I love a good innuendo. As a window into the whole work those coming in from page 69 would end up expecting a much higher percentage of steamy scenes and a banter-filled Romantasy vibe. They might be blindsided by the amount of high stakes fantasy politicking, family drama, and high seas piracy they get instead. But as a character study I think page 69 tells you everything you need to know about Alon and Lunurin’s relationship, two of the three main characters of Daughters of Flood and Fury.

I’m a huge fan of intimate scenes that dig at characters’ deepest emotional vulnerabilities. If my characters are stripping down, they’re doing it both physically and figuratively. At home, in private, with her husband, Lunurin doesn’t have to be all powerful, always poised, Lady Stormbringer crowned in lightning with her goddess burning in her eyes. And with his wife Alon doesn’t have to have all the answers, be the perfect diplomat, being present with her is enough.

Where the test falls down is that this passage gives no hint of Inez, and Daughters of Flood and Fury is truly Inez’s book. While Alon and Lunurin remain behind in Aynila struggling to unite their allies to defend their city against the Codician Armada, Inez is chasing her own demons. Busy running away to sea to find her own way with her tide-touched magic and the truth of the rumors about her traitor of a sister returned to the archipelago as a Saint, to aid in the reconquest of Aynila.

Visit Gabriella Buba's website.

My Book, The Movie: Daughters of Flood and Fury.

Writers Read: Gabriella Buba.

Q&A with Gabriella Buba.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Five Found Dead"

After setting out to study astrophysics, graduating in law and then abandoning her legal career to write books, Sulari Gentill now grows French black truffles on her farm in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains of Australia.

Gentill’s Rowland Sinclair mysteries have won and/or been shortlisted for the Davitt Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and her stand-alone metafiction thriller, After She Wrote Him won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel in 2018. Her tenth Sinclair novel, A Testament of Character, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Best Crime Novel in 2021.

Gentill applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Five Found Dead, and shared the following:

From page 69:

It is actually quite tricky to follow someone on a train without being seen, or so we found. Duplantier’s friend might have been in any of the compartments. We lost him fairly promptly. With no idea where he was, Joe and I decide to return to our own compartment where we can speak unheard. And so it is that we hear something from within 16G as we pass. Joe presses his ear against the door and listens.

“There’s someone in there,” he whispers.

“We should inform— ”

Joe shoves the door to 16G with his shoulder, and I note a fleeting look of surprise on his face when the door flings open.

“Napoleon!” I find myself looking at the Frenchman, who sidesteps hastily to avoid being bowled over by Joe. “What are you—?”

Duplantier places as finger on his lips. A couple of awkward seconds follow wherein we just stare at each other. Finally, the Frenchman speaks.

“This isn’t… I assure you… Allow me to… ” He struggles for some explanation and then, apparently finding nothing even vaguely plausible, shakes his head. He motions me in.

Page 69 is a shorter page, sitting beneath the Chapter 7 header. It features three of Five Found Dead’s most important characters: Meredith Penvale, the narrator, a young woman who gave up her career as a lawyer to support her brother through serious illness; Joe Penvale, Meredith’s twin, a writer who having survived and recovered, is finding his muse on the Orient Express, and the somewhat enigmatic, retired French policeman, Napolean Duplantier. The page finds the three of them in the process of sleuthing. Indeed, it captures the moment when their separate unauthorised investigations run into each other, arguably a microcosm of the overall book in which several “detectives” are running their own inquiries which inevitably collide and cross.

The interaction on this page hints at the natures of Meredith and Joe. She wants to inform someone of the fact that an intruder is in room 16G (the scene of the murder) and he simply barges the door and goes in. As protagonists they embody caution and impulse.

The first line “It is actually quite tricky to follow someone on a train without being seen” is revealing and kind of emblematic of the book as whole. It is tricky to do many things on a train, including write a mystery! The moving train is a closed set in which the spaces are in line, so that in order to reach a particular carriage one must pass through others. Location is crucial and movement complicated. It is not possible to kill someone and simply run away. However, on a train there are many doors through which a murderer may step.

And so page 69 does afford the browser a taste of how Five Found Dead works, but is only a tiny snapshot of the multilayered complications and chaos onboard. It doesn’t really give you an idea of the relationships and connections, some longstanding others newly made, which are at play, and it is neither as thrilling nor as funny as other pages might be. It also does not speak in any way about the influence of story on the way in which we deal with reality—a major theme when one writes a new contemporary mystery on a literary landmark like the Orient Express. Even so, it does give the browser a glimpse, that if limited, is not inaccurate.

Visit Sulari Gentill's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Sulari Gentill & Rowly, Alfie, Miss Higgins and Pig.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Close Call"

Elise Hart Kipness is a television sports reporter turned crime fiction writer. Like her main character, Kipness chased marquee athletes through the tunnels of Madison Square Garden and stood before glaring lights reporting to national audiences for Fox Sports Network.

Now as an author, Kipness fused her passion for true crime and sports with the Kate Green series. Her debut novel, Lights Out, is an Amazon bestseller and a Men’s Journal top 10 book of 2023.

Kipness applied the Page 69 Test to Close Call, the third novel in the series, and reported the following:

When I turned to page 69 in Close Call, I found the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. The chapter that ended had to do with a woman who promised to share information with my main character Kate about her father. Then, at the last second (and on this page), the woman reneges on the deal.The new chapter takes Kate back to the US Open, the setting for much of the action in the book. 

So the question is, did the Page 69 Test work? In a round about way, I’d say yes. On one hand, the page doesn’t contain any reference to the kidnapping at the heart of the story. So that’s a negative. But the page is filled with a very important development in the Kate Green series arc. Namely, why did Kate’s father abandon her as a child.  Just as Kate was about to learn the truth, the woman with the answer, refused to share the information. And that happened on page 69.

“Don’t contact me again, Kate. And if you’re smart, let this go.” 

She turns and steps down the brick walkway and into her car, not once looking back. The disappointment crushes down on me, physically gutting my insides.”

The second part of page 69, which begins the new chapter, is really just a scene setter at the US Open Tennis Tournament. Kate is hanging out with her photographer, Bill, who recently quit smoking. While the page  mostly contains interpersonal banter between Kate and Bill, it does take place at the most important spot for this thriller. So I’m going to chalk that portion up to a win too. So, I’d say the Page 69 Test sort of, kind of worked.

Visit Elise Hart Kipness's website.

The Page 69 Test: Lights Out.

Q&A with Elise Hart Kipness.

The Page 69 Test: Dangerous Play.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Odds of Getting Even"

Amanda Sellet is a former journalist and the author of romcoms for teens and adults, including By the Book, which Booklist described in a starred review as, “impossible to read without laughing out loud.” She loves old movies, baked goods, and embarrassing her teen daughter.

Sellet applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Odds of Getting Even, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Jean had plenty of time during her evening shift to figure out how to even the cosmic balance. Charlie had brought her coffee in bed that morning, so she would spice up his evening with a little treat of her own.

As soon as she clocked out, Jean crept to his front door, placing a rolled sheet of paper on the mat. She rang the bell before lunging off the patio to hide behind one of the planters.

The door opened with Charlie’s typical hinge-straining enthusiasm. His smile fell when he realized there was no one there.

“Jean?” he said, uncertainly.

She watched him squint down the path, trying to see into the darkness beyond the trees.

“Is there someone there?” He was retreating into the cottage when he spotted the paper.

“What’s this?” Charlie murmured, bending to pick it up. A grin broke out as he read the words painted across the top of the page. “A treasure map.”

He took a step down, pausing when something crunched underfoot. Lifting his leg, he peered at the scraps clinging to his heel.

“The trail of breadcrumbs,” Jean hissed. “You’re supposed to follow it.”

“Jean?”

“I’m a disembodied voice. Totally anonymous.”

“Oh, right.” Charlie glanced at the path. “They’re very big breadcrumbs.”

“I thought tortilla chips would be easier to see.”

“Good point, anonymous voice. Am I supposed to eat them?”

“No. That would be gross. But I appreciate your commitment to the process.”

What can we tell from page 69 of The Odds of Getting Even? A lot! In this scene, we see our central couple, Jean and Charlie, at the height of the halcyon period of their relationship. These seeming opposites—an impetuous artist and shy snake scientist—have tumbled headfirst into a romance after meeting by chance at the resort where Jean works. From the beginning, their dynamic is playful and full of games, a theme that will continue until the very end of the book. Jean teases and cajoles Charlie into stepping out of his comfort zone, in this case literally, via the treasure map she leaves at his door.

There are hints of brewing tension in Charlie’s reluctance to leave the safety of his room. By now, the reader is beginning to suspect what Jean has willfully ignored: Charlie is hiding something from her, and his secret has made him leery of discovery. After he follows Jean’s map to the end, she opens up about a painful chapter from her own past—an act of trust he can’t quite reciprocate.

Very soon, the book will take a sharp turn into Part Two of the story, where we go from the blissful honeymoon stage to a characteristically ridiculous revenge scheme full of farcical twists and screwball scenarios. But for now, we are witnessing two people who delight in each other’s company, heading out for a moonlit stroll with only the faintest sense of a ticking clock counting down the hours until the outside world intrudes on their secluded hideaway.

The unlikely love story between Jean and Charlie is the beating heart of The Odds of Getting Even, and it’s right out in the open on page 69.

Visit Amanda Sellet's website.

Q&A with Amanda Sellet.

The Page 69 Test: By the Book.

Writers Read: Amanda Sellet (December 2022).

Writers Read: Amanda Sellet (August 2024).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Mess"

Michael Chessler was born and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English and American literature, and also studied Italian literature at the Università di Firenze. After working various odd jobs in the entertainment industry—perhaps the oddest being a short stint as a motion picture literary agent—he began a career writing, producing, and directing television. Chessler has developed pilots for all the major networks, and has been a showrunner, producer, director and writer on a number of TV series.

He applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, Mess, with the following results:

From page 69:

Teddy had kissed Jane goodbye before she left. She smiled when she felt his warm lips on her cheek, but also tensed. Part of her wanted to take his hand and lead him back to bed and spend the day there with him, whereas another part of her just wanted to run. She wouldn’t be able to resolve any of this now, and she had a job to get to, so she held him tight for a lingering moment, nibbling his ear, something that reliably delighted him.

Lindsey’s Honda CRX pulled up as Jane took a last sip of her now-tepid coffee.

“Oh my god, I am so, so sorry I am late! Wow, this house is cute! Like, super cute, right?”

“It’s beautiful. Let’s hope it’s not a big nasty mess inside.”


When Leila Allen opened the door and invited them in, Jane sighed with relief. The interior was gorgeous, beautifully appointed, and immaculate. Leila appeared to be in her mid-fifties and exuded elegance. Her hair was in a neat chignon, and she carried herself with the grace of a dancer.

“Good morning, welcome.”

“Your home is really beautiful.”

“Yeah, so cute!” Lindsey chirped.

“Thank you. I’ve been here a while, so— lots of time to try to get it right.”

From the entrance hall, Jane could see a living room, a library, and a grand split staircase with Mexican tile on the risers.

The floors were a dark stained oak, and the walls were painted a soothing parchment. Antique pieces artfully intermingled with contemporary ones. The color palette was mostly saturated greens and crimsons, but nothing felt heavy— just grounded.

Page 69 of my book is a surprisingly good preview of my novel. At the top, while my protagonist Jane Brown sits in her car parked outside the house she’ll be organizing that day, waiting for her co-worker to show up, she reminisces about that morning’s good-bye with her boyfriend Teddy. This passage illustrates that she is deeply conflicted about her feelings for him, and resolving these feelings is central to the novel.

Next, we follow Jane and her co-worker Lindsay into the home they’ll be organizing, and see how Jane is constantly assessing and making assumptions about her clients. This dynamic repeats throughout the novel as Jane goes into a different home in almost every chapter, and her initial judgments of people are often completely subverted once she gets to know her clients better—usually because their attitudes toward their possessions are so unintentionally revealing.

Visit Michael Chessler's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Lime Juice Money"

Jo Morey is a graduate of the Faber Academy and the Curtis Brown Mentoring Scheme. The manuscript for Lime Juice Money was awarded the 2023 Claire Mannion Literary Endeavour Prize, came runner-up in the Cheshire Novel Prize, and was shortlisted for the Primadonna Prize, the Plaza First Pages Award and Killer Nashville's Claymore Award in the literary category. Morey lives in West Sussex, England at the foot of the South Downs with her husband, two boys, and two Portuguese Water Dogs.

She applied the Page 69 Test to Lime Juice Money, her first novel, and shared the following:

From page 69:

Wittering Lodge, Stann Creek District, Belize 26th? January 2023

There is a bewitching comfort that comes from stirring, watching a spoon turning through a changing texture, building, and transforming ingredients like alchemy; elements bursting together as sauces thicken, warmth dispersing around and around. Time slows.

The cacao silkened in the crackled enamel saucepan, one of only two I’d been able to find in Dad’s attempt at a kitchen. I ached for my utensils sat in their jar next to the stove in Forest Hill, the wooden spoon my mother had gifted me not long before she died. Wrapped in crinkling tissue paper, tied with a velvet green bow, I loved beauty in simplicity, even then. Whenever I held that spoon I felt close to her, knowing she had poured her love into choosing it, and that she’d once touched it, too; she had noticed me—she had known me. I watched its beech age over the years, bowing and darkening gradually— just as she might have eased older and wiser if only she could have stayed.

A rogue finger came from behind me and plunged into the bowl.

“Shit. You scared me.”

“Ow! It’s hot!” Aid said, his finger coated in chocolate. I slapped the back of his errant hand. He smelt of stale beer.

“Of course it’s hot!” I laughed but when I turned to look, he stood like stone.

He wasn’t laughing. “It wasn’t meant to be hard. I’m sorry.”

I turned back to the mixture and stirred.

“Are the pancakes ready?” Dylan called from the rug, where he was surfing a sea of paper and coloured pencils.

“Won’t be long,” I said, shutting off the gas and grabbing the foiled plate I’d set aside. Aid stood over me, still staring.

Page 69 of my literary suspense novel, Lime Juice Money is an interesting representation of the book in that it brings several elements together. My protagonist, Laelia is settling into her father’s jungle lodge in the Belizean jungle, and while she is making chocolate for pancakes to feed her family, she reminisces on the life she has left behind in London, as well as on her childhood and her late mother. Memory (and the fragility of memory) is a big theme in the novel, and this teases out an aspect of that.

Laelia was a chef in London before she lost her job due to mishearing a customer’s allergen request (Laelia has a hearing impairment but was too ashamed to wear her hearing aids at work), so this scene is a moment of her reconnecting with the kitchen and what she enjoys doing best.

Laelia’s new partner, Aid becomes an increasingly volatile and shady presence and here, we see their relationship beginning to falter ever so slightly. He is drinking more in Belize, and Laelia is starting to notice. Aid ‘stood like stone’ and is losing his sense of humor. Throughout the novel, Laelia must balance the needs of her children and her uncertain emotions with the increasing desire to be free of the dangers she senses around her.

What’s missing from this page are some of the darker elements and intrigue of the story as well as its deceptions. Lime Juice Money is seeded with secrets and lies, betrayals, corruption, and greed across both its timelines. The page 69 extract is from Laelia’s narrative, but some of the novel follows her father Ellis’s discovery of rare orchids in Belize in the 1980s, the breakdown of his marriage, and the regretful decisions he makes. The unsettling atmosphere lurking behind the veil of paradise is everywhere to see, and hear, and smell. Memories become more fractured. Accounts become more unreliable. The noises beyond Laelia’s tinnitus become even more bewildering.

Ultimately, Lime Juice Money is a tangled, searing journey that takes the reader into the heart of danger with a chilling final twist.

Visit Jo Morey's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Truth Is in the Detours"

Mara Williams drafted her first novel in third grade on a spiral notebook—a love story about a golden retriever and the stray dog who admired her from beyond the picket fence. Now she writes about strong, messy women finding their way in the world. Williams has a BA in English Literature from the University of California at Berkeley, takes creative writing from Stanford Continuing Studies, and actively engages in writing groups and critique circles. Williams’s novel The Second Chance Playlist was a winner of the 2024 Emily Contest. When not writing or reading, Williams can be found enjoying California’s beaches, redwoods, and trails with her husband, three kids, and disobedient dog.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Truth Is in the Detours, and reported the following:

From page 69:

I concede I got us into this mess. But he acts as if I threw them into the fires of Mount Doom. I refrain from saying so and asking whether he’s impressed I still remember the reference—despite having watched The Lord of the Rings only because he forced me.

“Know how to hot-wire a car?” I try instead.

He gestures to himself in a wild head-to-toe pattern. “What about this gives you the impression I would know how to hot-wire a car?”

I take the opportunity to inspect him. He looks ready to shoot eighteen holes of golf, not steal a car—polo shirt, flat-front shorts, and crisp white Nikes. I suppose he has a point. “Okay, then, what do you propose we do?”

“I’ll call a locksmith. See if we can get a key made.” He frowns at his phone, holds it up like he’s in a Verizon commercial, and stomps away. He calls over his shoulder, “Don’t touch anything or go anywhere. And do not lock us out.”

#

The nearest automotive locksmith is a hundred miles away and can’t make it here until tomorrow morning.

Instead of staying at a quaint beachside motel near Santa Barbara, we must crash at the Imperial Motel and Saloon along a dusty patch of land somewhere on Route 166. It’s the only motel within a five-mile radius of the rest stop. But the motel won’t have our room (singular) ready until after dinner. There’s a small music festival nearby, so we were lucky to snag a room at all. They’ve promised it will have two beds, so there’s that. But Beau can’t storm off and pout on his own, and I can’t wash this day off me. There’s no lobby, and unless we want to make another five-mile trek back to the rest stop, we don’t even have the car to retreat to for solitude. So, the saloon it is.

We jump into page 69 when Ophelia has just lost the keys to Beau’s car while at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere.

The Page 69 Test works fairly well. Readers would get a good sense of the characters, their initial dynamic, and their different methods for dealing with obstacles (humor for Ophelia, frustration for Beau). The scene is a decent representation of the road trip chaos within the first half of the book—when nothing goes according to plan—and how much Beau resists the mental and literal chaos Ophelia has ushered into his life. However, this snapshot shows nothing of the emotional arc of the book, the grief journeys they’re both on, and the mystery they will ultimately uncover. It introduces a point of tension before they’ve softened toward each other. What isn’t apparent on the page is what is driving this dynamic—the resentment formed from old grudges and the sorrow over the loss of their friendship.

The test is an interesting one. Page 69 is roughly 26% of the way through the book, so the inciting incident has happened, and the characters have already wrestled with how to respond. Now they’re just beginning to wade through the murky middle, when the early setbacks and false wins come quickly and will force them to grow.

Visit Mara Williams's website.

Q&A with Mara Williams.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Dead Come to Stay"

Brandy Schillace (skil-AH-chay), PhD, is a historian, author, journalist and mystery novelist. Winner of the 2018 Arthur P. Sloan Science Foundation award and the 2024 Royden B. Davis, S. J., Distinguished Author Award, Brandy has bylines at WSJ, Scientific American, Globe and Mail, HuffPo, WIRED, Boston Globe, and UNDARK. She is host of Unsolved Mysteries of Medicine (2025) and the popular YouTube livestream, Peculiar Book Club, featuring bestselling authors of unusual nonfiction, from Mary Roach to Ed Yong. Schillace has appeared on Mysteries at the Museum with Don Wildman, The Unbelievable with Dan Akroyd, Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny, and Histories Greatest Mysteries with Laurence Fishburne. She gives regular keynotes and is a tireless advocate for social justice, disability and LGBTQ+ representation.

Schillace applied the Page 69 Test to The Dead Come to Stay, her second mystery featuring the amateur sleuth Jo Jones, with the following results:

From page 69:

It still wasn’t bacon, in Jo’s opinion. And it didn’t compare with Tula’s sausage rolls. But it was hard not to enjoy something warm and buttery, especially when you were walking on your own through damp, open country.

Jo parted with Gwilym at the branch between Upper and Lower Lane; he was headed back to the Red Lion—she just wanted to put her feet up at home. The first time she’d taken the right to roam trail from cottage to town, it seemed endlessly long. Now she did it regularly, sometimes once a week in the warmer months. Lone walks gave her brain a chance to unspool; no conversation to keep up with, no one asking for explanations. Just her own thoughts. And a bacon butty, which would have benefited from fresher bread.

The disappearing hiker had been walking alone, too. Nothing strange about that, though mostly the hill-hikers came in pairs or groups. The Pennines could be surprisingly tricky. One hill looked a lot like the next hill, cell service was spotty, fog rolling in unexpectedly. People did get lost. A woman and her dog got lost on the peak of Ingleborough in the late fall; freezing weather moved in, and a rescue team had to track them down. Then there was the runner who fell; they didn’t find him until it was too late. Granted, Abington hugged a corner in the south east, where the geography happened to be a lot more forgiving. Still, watching a hiker disappear almost before your eyes…

The Page 69 Test works really well for the book! Though it doesn't get to the heart of the murder mystery, it really showcases the way autistic amateur sleuth Jo Jones thinks--and it tantalizes with another of the book's mysteries (and a key to the larger plot).

It's astonishing how much a reader can learn in short order from page 69 of The Dead Come to Stay. For starters, you have the fact that Jo Jones, an American in England, has some trouble adjusting to things in her new home. "Bacon" for instance; in the US, we mean streaky, crispy, smoked bacon rashers. But in England, bacon is typically back-bacon, a different part of the pig, and it looks, tastes, and has the mouth-feel of ham. Sandwiches are sometimes called "buttys"--another clue that our heroine is in the north of England. Food textures matter a lot to autistic people (I know, as I am also autistic). Though this short excerpt doesn't explicitly tell you Jo is autistic, it mentioned the fact she needs "alone" time with her thoughts, and that keeping up with conversation or endlessly explaining herself to others (neurotypical people especially) is tiring work. We are told, too, that the weather is cool and damp, and that she is wandering alone through an area with a hiker has disappeared mysteriously... and that her understanding of the region and its terrain is bookishly precise. Jo is a book editor, and the hiker she has seen vanish will have bearing on the murder mystery! In fact, even the mention of needing fresher bread is a clue. Overall, a really great introduction to her character and the book!

Visit Brandy Schillace's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Framed Women of Ardemore House.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Behind Sunset"

David Gordon was born in New York City. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. It was also made into a major motion picture in Japan. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Purple, and Fence, among other publications.

Gordon applied the Page 69 Test to new his novel, Behind Sunset, and shared the following:

Behind Sunset is a neo-noir mystery set in LA in the 90s. Elliot Gross, a twenty- something aspiring writer living in a garage in Hollywood, is working as an editor at X- rated magazine Raunchy, when the notorious owner sends him in search of his lost love, a missing model, a journey that takes him through the depths of the porn underground, the equally shady New-Age spirituality business, and into the heart of Hollywood’s dream factory.

This time, page 69 is, perhaps fittingly, misleading. It is, to be honest, not a thrilling page for a thriller. Elliot is just watching TV. He is killing time waiting for his three gorgeous roommates, all wannabe actress/models, to get ready to go to a party in the Hollywood Hills. He is tagging along because a stripper he met at a club told him the woman he seeks is close friends with the birthday boy. As a last minute, zero-cost present, he decides to wrap up the obnoxious satin jacket with a Raunchy Magazine logo that his boss gave him and which he hates. All important story stuff but, like I say, nothing much happening on that page as he watches the news.

However, what he sees on the TV is a freeway police chase tracked by helicopter, a classic LA event. The most famous of course was the OJ Simpson white Bronco chase, but locals know this happens a lot and it is always surreal to see the suspect flee, as if he might escape despite being on what was the forerunner of reality TV. Some even drive to their own homes. Then Elliot sees news footage of a wildfire - images that are sadly only more frequent and terrifying today. As for the birthday party, several disturbing and fateful encounters will occur up in those hills tonight, and even the jacket he is bringing will trigger unforeseeable and violent consequences.

Lastly, the Hollywood Hills themselves, (the title refers to the hills “behind” Sunset Blvd) are central to the book - a maze of streets where the book’s most mysterious characters live, where Elliot gets lost constantly, and which symbolizes the labyrinth of danger and desire into which he has been led.

Visit David Gordon's blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Serialist.

The Page 69 Test: Mystery Girl.

The Page 69 Test: White Tiger on Snow Mountain.

Writers Read: David Gordon (August 2019).

The Page 69 Test: The Hard Stuff.

Q&A with David Gordon.

The Page 69 Test: The Wild Life.

--Marshal Zeringue