"Deed to Death"

D.B. Henson was born and raised in the southern United States. Her love of reading began at age six when she was given the first book in the Trixie Belden Mystery series. Shortly thereafter, she began writing stories of her own. A former real estate agent, Henson most recently worked as the director of marketing for a construction company. During a slump in the housing market, she made the decision to leave the construction industry and pursue her life-long dream of writing.

Henson applied the Page 69 Test to her novel Deed to Death, which makes its print debut this month, and reported the following:

A bride never expects to attend the funeral of her husband-to-be on the very day they planned to wed, but for real estate agent Toni Matthews, the unthinkable becomes reality. When her fiancé, architect Scott Chadwick, plunges to his death from the top floor of a hotel under construction, the police believe he committed suicide. Convinced Scott would never take his own life, Toni begins her own investigation. As she crisscrosses Nashville on a quest for the truth, she begins uncovering a series of dark secrets.

On page 69, Scott’s business partner, Clint Shore, wastes no time in his attempt to take over the company Scott spearheaded. He meets with a group of mortgage lenders, all concerned about the solidity of the firm, and considering calling in their loans. Knowing the loss of funding will bankrupt the company, Clint scrambles to prove that he is capable of running Chadwick & Shore on his own.

Though not really representative of the remainder of the novel, page 69 plants a seed of doubt in the reader’s mind regarding Clint Shore and his ulterior motive. Could he be Scott’s killer?

Learn more about the book and author at D.B. Henson's website and blog.

Writers Read: D.B. Henson.

Check out the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.

--Marshal Zeringue