"Dead Is Best"

Jo Perry earned a Ph.D. in English, taught college literature and writing, produced and wrote episodic television, and has published articles, book reviews, and poetry. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist Thomas Perry. They have two adult children. Their three cats and two dogs are rescues.

Perry applied the Page 69 Test to her latest novel, Dead is Best, and reported the following:

My page 69 has only two sentences which end a scene in which my ghostly protagonist and the ghost dog observe a family meeting with the dead man's lawyer to go over his will.

Anyone opening the book to this page (and the one that precedes it) would learn that the dead man was murdered and that he doesn't know who killed him or why; that his murder was overkill--six gunshots; and that the police have no idea who killed him. Also that his family isn't as crushed by his murder as they might be and that he hates his brother.

The reader would also see how the dead dog enjoys exploring the world of the living now that she is freed from its constraints.

Visit Jo Perry's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Jo Perry & Lola and Lucy.

My Book, The Movie: Dead is Better.

The Page 69 Test: Dead is Better.

My Book, The Movie: Dead is Best.

--Marshal Zeringue