"Nuts and Buried"

Elizabeth Lee is the author of the Nut House mysteries, including Snoop to Nuts and A Tough Nut to Kill.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Nuts and Buried, and reported the following:

So let’s look at page 69. It’s a half page. The intro to chapter 10. Doesn’t say a whole lot about the book. Linda Blanchard is in her office, out in her greenhouse. She’s a plant biologist and has some really strong new pecan trees coming along—except the man who takes care of the trees comes in to tell her they aren’t doing well and she feels guilty—as she feels guilty about a lot of things, like people being murdered around her, and her Meemaw mad at her; and her boyfriend besotted by a big ugly dog, showing it the kind of love he doesn’t show her, and she’s acting like a spoiled kid, which makes her feel guilty because she’s supposed to be a grown up woman with more to think about than dogs and men.

At this same moment she’s wrapped up in another murder and about to take a bullet herself—which she doesn’t bother to think about while she’s feeling bad about her trees and maybe her whole out-of-control life.

Learn more about the author and her work at Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue