"Too Old for This"

Samantha Downing is an internationally bestselling thriller author whose books have appeared on the Sunday Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Her novels include My Lovely Wife, He Started It, For Your Own Good, and A Twisted Love Story.

Her debut novel, My Lovely Wife, was nominated for Edgar, ITW, and Macavity awards in the US, the CWA award in the UK, and was the winner of the Prix des Lectrices award in France.

Downing applied the Page 69 Test to her new thriller, Too Old for This, and reported the following:

On page 69 of Too Old For This, the protagonist, Lottie Jones, is speaking to the police. Lottie is a seventy-five-year-old serial killer who has recently come out of retirement. The police are searching for a missing young woman, and this scene is quite revealing about Lottie. As she answers their questions, she begins to hint at other things going on, sending their investigation off into another direction by implicating someone else may be a responsible for the disappearance. At the same time, she is a bit forgetful, and it takes a few prompts to help her remember some of the details. Or maybe she is not forgetful at all and is only acting that way?

I will let readers decide for themselves about that…

However, what this page does show is how clever Lottie can be, especially when it comes to lying or making up stories on the spot. Because she is a serial killer, she is manipulative and cunning, even in her later years. This exchange is a perfect example of it, and you get a peek into how her mind works. I would say the Page 69 Test, in this case, does provide a good example of what readers can expect in Too Old For This. Lottie is one my favorite characters that I’ve written, and I hope people find her as fascinating as I do!

Visit Samantha Downing's website.

The Page 69 Test: My Lovely Wife.

The Page 69 Test: He Started It.

The Page 69 Test: For Your Own Good.

The Page 69 Test: A Twisted Love Story.

--Marshal Zeringue