"Death in Salem"

Eleanor Kuhns is the 2011 winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition. She lives in New York, received her master’s in Library Science from Columbia University, and is currently the Assistant Director at the Goshen Public Library in Orange County, New York.

Kuhns applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Death in Salem, and reported the following:

I always find this an interesting exercise and surprising useful in identifying themes of the book.

In Death in Salem, page 69 involves two important characters. Will Rees is one. He is engaged in preparing to search the tunnels underneath Salem, an area that turns out to have a great deal of importance. The other is Peggy Boothe, daughter of Jacob who is the first murder victim. She and Rees are discussing the key to the tunnel door, after walking through a cellar filled with treasure. Not just the murder is important here but also secrets and the keys to them. Page 69 alludes to the secrets this family has: theft, smuggling among others.

Learn more about the book and author at Eleanor Kuhns's blog and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Death of a Dyer.

The Page 69 Test: Death of a Dyer.

Coffee with a Canine: Eleanor Kuhns & Shelby.

--Marshal Zeringue