"A Fatal Twist"

Tracy Weber is the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series. The first book in the series, Murder Strikes a Pose, won the Maxwell Award for Fiction and was nominated for the Agatha award for Best First Novel.

A certified yoga therapist, Weber is the owner of Whole Life Yoga, a Seattle yoga studio, as well as the creator and director of Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program. She loves sharing her passion for yoga and animals in any way possible.

Weber and her husband Marc live in Seattle with their crazy new German shepherd pup, Ana. When she’s not writing, the author spends her time teaching yoga, trying to corral Ana, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house.

Weber applied the Page 69 Test to A Fatal Twist, the new Downward Dog mystery, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Chapter 7

The uniformed officer escorted me from the interview room to one of the hospital’s waiting areas, where Sam and Rene were—appropriately enough—waiting for me. One glimpse of Rene’s concerned expression and I burst into tears.

“I’m sorry, you guys. I didn’t mean to stand you up.”

Rene wrapped me in the deepest hug her three-person body could accommodate. “Of course you didn’t, sweetie. We knew that.”

“I found another body.”

“They told us,” she replied. “It sucks, big time.” Accurate, if a bit of an understatement.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked.

“Not now, but I will be. Can we get out of here? I want to go home.”

Rene and Sam peppered me with questions all the way to the parking garage. After receiving a half-dozen monosyllabic replies, they took the hint and remained uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the drive home. I felt bad for shutting them out, but I couldn’t focus well enough to make conversation. My brain had been shocked into traumatized, numb mush.

The three neurons still firing tortured me with a relentless litany of questions. If Rachel hadn’t killed her husband, obviously someone else had. The “how” was obvious. But who did it, and why? Would Rachel ever forgive me for talking to the police? What would happen to Nicole if Rachel was arrested? And the question that yelled at me the loudest: how could I put the brakes on this freight train before Rachel and Nicole both got dragged underneath it?

Page 69 is the beginning of Chapter 7, which takes place immediately after Kate has been interviewed by the police. A few hours earlier, Kate discovered the body of a murdered fertility doctor. Kate witnessed the slain doctor’s wife fleeing the scene, and she is concerned that her testimony will condemn Rachel—who she firmly believes is innocent—to a life behind bars, leaving Rachel’s teenaged daughter, Nicole, parentless.

This scene shows Kate’s internal dialogue and conflict, but it doesn’t exemplify her normally open, caring, and humorous relationship with Sam and Rene. It also doesn’t show her sharp wit or her self-deprecating humor. Then again, how many of us would feel like joking around after finding a man stabbed through the heart?

Visit Tracy Weber's website, blog, and Facebook page.

Coffee with a Canine: Tracy Weber and Tasha.

The Page 69 Test: Murder Strikes a Pose.

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The Page 69 Test: Karma's a Killer.

My Book, The Movie: Karma's a Killer.

--Marshal Zeringue