"14"

JT Ellison is Murderati's Friday columnist, a short story writer, and a novelist.

Last year she applied the Page 69 Test to her debut novel, All the Pretty Girls. Now she has applied the Page 69 Test to the sequel, 14, and reported the following:

Page 69 of 14 gives the reader a chance to see the investigation of the Snow White Killer from the perspective of the Nashville police. The major clues in the investigation are laid out, theories bandied about. Without the hard DNA evidence, they don’t know if they’re dealing with a copycat or the original Snow White Killer, showing this isn’t a cut and dried case. All four detectives working the case are present in the scene as well, showing their ability to work as a team, they flesh out suppositions and compare research. I hope it does entice the reader to keep reading, and definitely think it’s indicative of the book itself.

Taylor nodded in agreement. “Well, now we have the makeup of this cream found on their temples. Arnica, frankincense and myrrh? What’s up with that?”

“I think we’re dealing with a religious nut. Look at the biblical aspects – the gifts of the three wise men were gold, frankincense and myrrh. They also used myrrh oil in Roman times to cover up the smell of dead bodies. I looked up the modern uses – perfume, anti-inflammatory, homeopathic cholesterol lowering agents ... there’s tons of uses and tons of availability. But the most common use is in churches and synagogues. It just makes more sense that this has some sort of significance to the killer. And the placement, on their temples, makes it seem like he’s anointing them.”

“Lincoln’s right, there might be a religious component to all of this. Toss that into the mix.”

Marcus played with one of his chips. “Maybe he stopped killing back then because he got called to God. You know, took the opposite road, tried to repent. Hell, he might have become a priest or something. And then he just couldn’t stand it, broke free and started killing again.”

They were all silent for a moment, thinking about those implications.

“I wish we had the DNA comparison. That would at least tell us definitively if we are dealing with the same man or a copycat,” Fitz said.

Read an excerpt from 14, and learn more about the book and author at J.T. Ellison's website and MySpace page.

Watch the video trailer for 14.

The Page 69 Test: All the Pretty Girls.

The Page 99 Test: 14.

--Marshal Zeringue