"The Wonder of One"

Suzanne Redfearn is the #1 Amazon and USA Today bestselling author of nine novels: The Wonder of One, Call of the Camino, Two Good Men, Where Butterflies Wander, Moment In Time, Hadley & Grace, In an Instant, No Ordinary Life, and Hush Little Baby. Her books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have been recognized by RT Reviews, Target Recommends, Goodreads, Publisher’s Marketplace, and Kirkus Reviews. She has been awarded Best New Fiction from Best Book Awards and has been a Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist.

Born and raised on the east coast, Redfearn moved to California when she was fifteen. Currently, she lives in Laguna Beach with her husband where they own Lumberyard Restaurant. In addition to being an author, Redfearn is an architect specializing in residential and commercial design. When not writing, she enjoys doing anything and everything with her family—skiing, golf, tennis, pickleball, hiking, board games, and watching reality TV. She is an avid baseball fan. Her team is the Angels.

Redfearn applied the Page 69 Test to The Wonder of One and reported the following:

I’ve always loved this test. The Wonder of One is my ninth published novel, and I’ve done this test on every one of them, and each time I’m stunned by how well it works. This book is no exception.

From page 69:

Still upset but unsure what to do about it, I did as he asked, cupping my hand over my right eye and tentatively closing my eyes again.

“Feel its warmth.”

Strangely, though my nevus had always been the same temperature as the rest of my skin, heat pulsed beneath my hand.

“It has energy that emanates from within.”

Dull but certain, I could feel it, a warm throb like the thrum of a heart.

“In each of us there burns a spirit flame, a deep belief in oneself that must be nurtured and never allowed to go out.”

Tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump . . .

The nevus beat as if it had a life of its own.

“And so long as it exists, we exist and cannot be destroyed.”

Tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump . . .

The pulse matched the cadence of his voice.

“The power of each of us comes from within,” he repeated. “For you, tadpole, from the moment of your conception, your spirit flame burned so bright it could not be contained.”

It sounded similar to what Profe and Boodo had always said about my nevus, that there was something within me that, from the start, needed to get out. But hearing the chief say it, a mystical, powerful stranger, made the words more meaningful. And though I didn’t know it sitting on the dock in that moment, those tiny seeds of hope, planted in my young mind, would take root deep in my soul, where they would germinate in the fertile, receptive soil to grow into something remarkable.

“The mind is the greatness, and the body simply a means it uses to run faster, jump higher, shoot straighter, sing, roar, or do anything you set it to do. The head rules, and if you learn to truly understand that and trust it, you will understand everything.”

The thrum behind my hand quickened until it beat fast as a hummingbird’s wings, and I pressed my hand against it.

“A body can be broken by another, but never the mind.”

This is literally the essence of the story, the idea that each of us carries the power within us to change things. I was blown away when I opened to page 69 and this was what was on it. Amazing!

Visit Suzanne Redfearn's website, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Coffee with a Canine: Suzanne Redfearn and Cooper.

My Book, The Movie: Hush Little Baby.

The Page 69 Test: Hush Little Baby.

The Page 69 Test: No Ordinary Life.

Writers Read: Suzanne Redfearn (February 2016).

My Book, The Movie: No Ordinary Life.

My Book, The Movie: In an Instant.

The Page 69 Test: In an Instant.

Q&A with Suzanne Redfearn.

My Book, The Movie: Hadley and Grace.

The Page 69 Test: Hadley & Grace.

Writers Read: Suzanne Redfearn (March 2022).

The Page 69 Test: Moment in Time.

My Book, The Movie: Moment in Time.

Writers Read: Suzanne Redfearn (February 2024).

Writers Read: S. E. Redfearn (October 2024).

The Page 69 Test: Two Good Men.

Writers Read: Suzanne Redfearn (October 2025).

My Book, The Movie: Call of the Camino.

The Page 69 Test: Call of the Camino.

My Book, The Movie: The Wonder of One.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Word Salad"

USA Today bestselling author Susan Coll's novels include The Literati, Real Life & Other Fictions, and Bookish People. Her other books include The Stager, Acceptance, Rockville Pike, and Karlmarx.com.

Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, NPR.org, theatlantic.com, The Millions, and other publications. Her novel, Acceptance, was made into a television movie starring the hilarious Joan Cusack.

Coll is the recipient of multiple grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She works at Politics and Prose Bookstore and was the president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation for five years. She teaches occasional workshops at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Coll applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Word Salad, with the following results:

I have applied the Page 69 Test to most if not all of my novels, and it’s always fascinating to consider how a random, single page captures – or fails to capture—the themes of the larger narrative.

In the case of Word Salad, I am happy to report that the DNA of page 69 offers a perfect lens onto the novel at large, on top of which it’s a passage that I especially like.

On page 69, Matilda, my narrator, has been summoned to the information desk at the bookstore where she works. The previous evening, there had been an incident involving an aggressive photographer who had harassed a visiting author. Matilda was caught in the middle and is now being accused of assault. She has just been served legal papers. On page 69, she is in a state of alarm, agitated and confused. At the same time, she is trying to help a customer find books on the Battle of Gettysburg, providing a glimpse into the normal rhythms of bookstore life---in this case the customer decides not to purchase any of the many books Matilda has put in his hands. What I most like on this page is the unhinged dialogue that Matilda has with a child who is staring at her. The child thinks that Matilda looks “funny.” When Matilda asks for clarification, the child explains that Matilda’s lipstick is “peculiar.” Matilda has in fact been wearing a somewhat peculiar shade of lipstick that she inherited from her recently deceased mother, so this exchange is jarring, and she overreacts even though she is the first to agree that the lipstick is in fact peculiar. Overall, this page captures the book well, offering a glimpse of bookstore life while introducing a central plot point -- the legal threat hanging over Matilda. It also hints at one of the larger themes---the complicated grief Matilda feels about her mother’s recent death.

Visit Susan Coll's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Susan Coll & Zoe.

The Page 69 Test: Acceptance.

The Page 69 Test: Beach Week.

The Page 69 Test: The Stager.

The Page 69 Test: Real Life and Other Fictions.

The Page 69 Test: The Literati.

--Marshal Zeringue

"World News from Waverley High"

Linda Kass began her career as a magazine journalist and correspondent for regional and national publications. Along with her new novel, World News from Waverley High, she is the author of three previous works of historical fiction: Tasa’s Song (2016), A Ritchie Boy (2020), and Bessie (2023). A longtime civic leader, she is the founder and owner of Gramercy Books, an independent bookstore in Central Ohio. Kass lives in Columbus with her husband, Frank; they have four children, six grandchildren, and a labradoodle named Wally.

Kass applied the Page 69 Test to World News from Waverley High and shared the following:

If browsers open World News from Waverley High to page 69, they’d gain solid insight into the essence of my story. The page includes a key scene with two of the major characters, Derrick Wright and Lena Rosen, as it focuses on the national tension permeating this single school year at Waverley High.

The teenage characters are in their Current History class, where they follow the news of the day (their assignments are to read every issue of the weekly Time magazine along with any other news sources). And they are talking about music and about war, specifically the Vietnam War.

Derrick Wright, the music and culture reporter for the student-led school newspaper, The Beacon, is responding to the narrator’s (Lena Rosen) outburst over the death marches and protests and the desire everyone has for peace. He says, “Mr. G. (the Current History teacher and Waverley band director), you’re a music devotee. It’s all in the music, man. Those songs tell our story. I mean, listen to this piece on Pete Seeger’s new album called ‘Bring Them Home.’ The words. They’re an explicit retort to this senseless war.”

Lena finds herself nodding in agreement with Derrick’s comment. It is all in the music, she thinks, as she recalls the refrain played on the soundtrack of all the television reports about the mass marches going on around the country. They are all repeating the refrain from John Lennon’s song, insisting that we give peace a chance.

While there are many more scenes and interactions as students navigate Waverley’s hallways where they deal with issues of race, politics, and belonging against a backdrop of key moments of American history, what you find on page 69 are young people trying to make sense of a world on fire.

Visit Linda Kass's website.

Writers Read: Linda Kass (June 2026).

Writers Read: Linda Kass (July 2026).

Writers Read: Linda Kass (August 2026).

My Book, The Movie: World News from Waverley High.

Q&A with Linda Kass.

Writers Read: Linda Kass.

--Marshal Zeringue

"‘Tis the Season to be Scary"

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, the Catskill Resort mysteries for Penguin Random House, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane.

Delany is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. She is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. Delany lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Delany applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Tis the Season to Be Scary: A Year-Round Christmas Mystery, and reported the following:

From page 69:

thoroughly loyal to me and my store, which is why I kept her on, despite some of her more rebellious inclinations.

“Nine thirty,” I said. “Time to open. If anyone buys Vicky’s book, tell them if they bring t to the library tonight, along with a receipt to show they bought it from a store in Rudolph, they can have it signed by the author.”

“Will do,” Jackie said.

For the first half hour of the day, we puttered about, arranging and rearranging stock. The initial customers started drifting in a little after ten. Not only customers, but Mary-Ellen who worked at Cranberry Coffee Bar popped in on her break. “I can’t believe that woman at the party last night died!” she said to Jackie.

“Just goes to show, doesn’t it?” Jackie said.

“Do you think it was something she ate?”

I abandoned the customer I was showing serving dishes, suitable for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, to and ran over. “Don’t talk about that in here.”

“Why not?” Mary-Ellen asked.

“Because Jackie’s working; I’m working. This is a place of business, not for town gossip.”

“Since when?” Jackie said.

“Since now.”

“Someone died?” My customer crossed herself. “Killed by something she ate? What? Where?”

“Nothing. Cause of death is still to be determined.” I threw Jackie what I hoped was a stern glare of reprimand, and jerked my thumb at Mary-Ellen, telling her to get lost.

“I’ll come by later,” Jackie said. “That’s if I’m allowed to take a break.”

‘Tis the Season to be Scary, is the nineth Year-Round Christmas book, and it lands firmly in the ‘neutral’ range in the Page 69 Test. We get a hint as to what has happened – someone died, possibly poisoned. We get a touch of the setting and the mood as townspeople rush to gossip about it, a touch of humor as Jackie asks since when did the not gossip. It also contains a hint at the larger plot – something to do with a book signing.

But it doesn’t reveal much, if anything, about anyone’s character, their reaction to the death, except asking people not to gossip about it. We get no insight into Merry Wilkinson, the protagonist and no clue as to how she is involved.

Perhaps most importantly of all, this book is set at Halloween. The character died at a Halloween gala where everyone was in masks and costumes. The series is called the Year-Round Christmas series because it’s set in a town where they celebrate the holidays, in one way or another, all year. But none of that atmosphere, either Christmas or Halloween, is revealed by the Page 69 Test.

Which is why I am giving it a five out of ten.

Visit Vicki Delany's website, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

The Page 69 Test: Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen.

The Page 69 Test: A Scandal in Scarlet.

The Page 69 Test: Murder in a Teacup.

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (September 2021).

The Page 69 Test: Deadly Summer Nights.

The Page 69 Test: The Game is a Footnote.

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (January 2023).

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (January 2024).

The Page 69 Test: The Sign of Four Spirits.

The Page 69 Test: A Slay Ride Together With You.

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (December 2024).

The Page 69 Test: The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime.

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (July 2025).

The Page 69 Test: Tea with Jam & Dread.

Writers Read: Vicki Delany (October 2025).

The Page 69 Test: O, Deadly Night.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Fighting Edge"

Margaret Mizushima writes the internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She served as a past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and was elected Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She is the recipient of a Colorado Authors League Award, a Benjamin Franklin Book Award, a CIBA CLUE Award, an IBPA Gold Award, and two Willa Literary Awards by Women Writing the West. Her books have been finalists for a SPUR Award by Western Writers of America, a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Colorado Book Award. She and her husband recently moved from Colorado, where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals, to a home in the Pacific Northwest.

Mizushima applied the Page 69 Test to her new Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, Fighting Edge, with the following results:

From page 69:

“I think it’s possible to focus on both conformation and temperament with one sire. Maybe even with Butch. You might suggest a lease option at your kennel for a couple months to see how you get along with him.”

Bret shrugged as he put his credit card back in his wallet, and Cole figured he was shrugging him off along with his advice. But then Bret surprised him. “Would you be willing to come out and see my operation? I have several litters that need six-week shots. Could you come out this afternoon or tomorrow to do that amount of work?”

Cole glanced at his schedule book, noticing that the cancellation after lunch created an opening in his ambulatory schedule. “I could do that. How about one thirty?”

Bret nodded. “Good. You have my address, right?”

“We do. I’ll see you then.”

After Bret left, Cole looked at Tess. “Can you go with me to help? And we can see what’s going on out there.”

Tess focused on the computer screen as she entered the exam report into a new record. “Sure, I’ll go. But I doubt if this is a place where I’ll find a new puppy.”

“Me too.” Cole didn’t have a great feeling about Bret’s program, but he hoped he’d find reason to change his mind once he saw the facility. But before he could say so, the door opened and his next client arrived. It was going to be a busy morning.

Page 69 is an example of one of the subplots in Fighting Edge. Veterinarian Cole Walker’s assistant, Tess Murphy, lost her husband to violence in Dying Cry, the previous episode in the Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series. She has decided to get a dog, partly as a companion for her children but partly for home protection. She and Cole have discussions throughout Fighting Edge about what type of dog might be best for her family. The chapter that this page ends introduces Bret Beatty, who becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation run by Deputy Mattie Walker and the rest of the Timber Creek investigative team. The missing element on this page is the police action and Mattie’s work as a K-9 handler, which represents the focus of this outdoor police procedural.

In Fighting Edge, a routine welfare check becomes a nightmare when Deputy Mattie Walker finds a young mother dead and a hysterical toddler, possibly the only witness to a brutal crime. Soon, Mattie discovers another criminal act in Timber Creek, revealing a dangerous mix of drugs and suspected human trafficking. Meanwhile, veterinarian Cole Walker notices shady activity during routine calls at dog kennels, leading them to suspect a chilling truth: organized crime has infiltrated their rural mountain community.

Page 69 gives a quick glimpse into both the main plot and a subplot of this new book, but other scenes focus more on the main plot and plenty of action in Colorado’s mountains and wilderness area. The Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries appeal to readers who like dogs, the great outdoors, and whodunits. Fighting Edge is book eleven in the series.

Visit Margaret Mizushima's website and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Mizushima & Hannah, Bertie, Lily and Tess.

Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Mizushima & Hannah.

My Book, The Movie: Burning Ridge.

The Page 69 Test: Burning Ridge.

The Page 69 Test: Tracking Game.

My Book, The Movie: Hanging Falls.

The Page 69 Test: Hanging Falls.

Q&A with Margaret Mizushima.

The Page 69 Test: Striking Range.

The Page 69 Test: Standing Dead.

The Page 69 Test: Gathering Mist.

Writers Read: Margaret Mizushima (October 2024).

The Page 69 Test: Dying Cry.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Midsummer Nights"

Lara Stokes grew up in Northern Ontario and now lives and writes in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. Her work has appeared in The Danforth Review, The Ottawa Arts Review, Burnt Toast (newsletter for The Writer’s Union of Canada) and has been shortlisted for the Toronto Fringe New Play Contest and Geist’s CanLit Short Fiction contest. In 2007 she completed an Honors BA in Theatre and Creative Writing at York University, where she was the recipient of the b.p. Nichol award and the Judith Eve Gewertz Award.

Stokes's debut novel is Midsummer Nights.

She applied the Page 69 Test to Midsummer Nights and shared the following:

From page 69:

A log splits in the fire, setting off a shower of sparks. Our eyes turn to the fire, then back to each other.

“Would you want to hang out sometime?” Will asks.

“We are hanging out,” I say.

“For real, I mean.” He looks at me, hope on his face. “I mean, no pressure, or whatever.” He takes a drink.

I have been a version of here before. I have been here too recently. I am still shaken from the aftermath of Nick. Will is nothing like him. I can see right away that we could go out, we could probably have a really lovely summer thing. I want to hang out with him. I want to very much.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say. To his credit, his expression doesn’t change. “I’d like to. I-I’d really like to. I just got out of something . . .” It sounds so lame. “I—I just think, maybe, with the show, and it’s my parents’ company . . . I feel like I shouldn’t do anything . . .”

“Hey, it’s cool.” He smiles kindly. “I hope you won’t feel uncomfortable or anything working together, knowing I . . .” He stops as Theo returns, plopping himself into one of the large chairs. I smile and shake my head, No, it’s all good, but the truth is, I am realizing in a rush, that it is going to be extremely uncomfortable working with someone whose smile, whose apple scent, makes my insides flip like this.

First, I will say that when I opened the book to conduct the test, I happened to open it to page 69. So, the book is on board!

Page 69 is the last page of a chapter where the protagonist, Miranda, has made amends with her estranged best friend and is hanging out at a local cidery owned by her love interest in the play they are in - A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This page is the first real hint at what is the central romance in the book is, and sets up Miranda’s reasons not to pursue it.

While this book is not strictly a romance, this page does speak to the journey Miranda takes over the course of the novel. Her past relationships will haunt her this summer in more ways than one, and she is finally rediscovering her love of theatre and her identity as an artist. This page does hint at the four players in the ‘love quadrangle’ and while it is a fairly offhand moment, in many ways, it is the exact isolated moment that turns things for her. This page accurately establishes the tone of the book, and while it does not take place in the theatre (where most of the book is set) it establishes enough dynamics to provide the reader with a good sense of the book.

I was doubtful, but I think Midsummer Nights successfully passes the Page 69 Test!

Visit Lara Stokes's website.

Writers Read: Lara Stokes.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies"

Kate Westbury grew up a voracious reader of detective fiction, and unraveling plot twists became her favorite pastime. She now puts her whodunnit obsession to good use writing historical mysteries. Beyond the page, Westbury teaches Latin and dreams of moving to an English village with crimes to solve.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies, and reported the following:

From page 69:

He and Ginevra Bishop were very different sorts of people, but both were broken, brittle creatures with shadows dusting their heels. She needed his help, and walking away from someone with a real need was impossible for him.

A maelstrom of defensive emotions swirled, but Sidney shunted them to the back of his mind. He knew he was more than capable of tracking down the informant, and the money would be useful, much as he was loath to admit it. A break from squeezing in odd jobs, from long nights studying to compensate. […] He would become the Rook’s ideal agent, compartmentalized and cold, and keep his contact with Ginevra Bishop professional and brief—which was best, as he didn’t have the time nor capacity to train her properly. Despite the Rook’s appreciation of her charm, Sidney still thought her dynamic personality would be hard to restrain when needed.

Though it’s a historical mystery, Oxford Guide is very much a character-driven story, too. My two protagonists, Sidney and Ginevra, are an ex-serviceman and a debutante-turned-scholar, and their clashing partnership while working for MI5 encapsulates the lingering class divide that was breaking down in 1950s England. This particular page falls at the very end of Act I and highlights both Sidney’s struggles with his personal ghosts and the pull toward Ginevra that he’s resisting. The only thing that page doesn’t include that colors a good bit of the story is humor, but I think it’s still an excellent representation of the rest of the novel and tells a reader if they would enjoy spending time with these characters.

Sidney’s brooding, however, is only half the picture. Ginevra is his opposite in upbringing, taste, and temperament, but money doesn’t buy happiness. Her mother died while she was away at finishing school, her father is emotionally distant, and she’s fighting for a fulfilling life in a world that expects her to marry well and become a domestic ornament. She is buoyed by an irrepressible optimism and curiosity that makes her an excellent recruit for the Security Service, and also a first-rate thorn in Sidney’s side trying to work with her. This kind of opposites-thrown-together pairing makes for all kinds of natural comedy, but I think the best part of their relationship is the slow turn toward mutual understanding and respect that starts to blossom into something more.

Visit Kate Westbury's website.

Q&A with Kate Westbury.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Ninth Circle"

James R. Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle World War II series, historical mysteries set within the Allied High Command during the Second World War. The series began with Billy Boyle, which takes place in England and Norway in 1942.

Benn applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, The Ninth Circle, the twenty-first installment of the Billy Boyle series, with the following results:

From page 69:

“What are you doing here?” I said to Cordano from the backseat. Max was up front clutching his wounded arm while Kaz and I bookended our semiconscious passenger.

“What’s he doing here?” Cordano said, crooking a thumb in our general direction. He drove slowly, his eyes straight ahead as two cop cars passed, sirens wailing. Cordano knew how not to look guilty behind the wheel.

“I wanted my chance at him before the cops hauled him off,” I said. “Max, how’re you doing?”

“A bullet went through my arm, courtesy of that bastard you brought along. How do you think I’m doing? I’m in pain and wish I had the strength to throttle him,” Max said. “Remember the list of contacts in Sinclair’s file?” I said. “Look.” I raised Rafael’s arm, hoping that Rafael was his name. An angry, thick, ropey scar ran from his elbow to his wrist. Max turned to look, wincing in pain.

“Lots of people have scars,” Max said. “Myself included, once this heals up.”

Chaos! Page 69, which kicks off Chapter Eleven, highlights the aftermath of an assassination attempt in Havana, Cuba, where Billy Boyle has been sent at the request of Commander Ian Fleming of Royal Navy Intelligence. A local spy, Max, who works for the British has been wounded and after the shooter has been taken down, he’s bundled into a car along with Max, who is not pleased.

The Ninth Circle tells a story of spies, hidden agendas, and betrayal. The Page 69 Test highlights the aftermath of sudden, unexpected violence, which mirrors the opening chapter of the book. There’s a touch of exasperated humor in Max’s sardonic last line, which reflects the confused situation Billy finds himself in. The browser test is vindicated!

Maxmillian ‘Max’ Fox is an important character, not only for the plot, but for what he represents. In May 1939, the German liner St. Louis sailed from Germany for Cuba. On board were over nine hundred Jews, mostly German, fleeing the Third Reich, armed with transit visas sold by the Cuban Director-General of Immigration. What they did not know was that Cuba now required a bond of five hundred dollars for visa holders to disembark. Only twenty-eight passengers—those holding valid entry documents—were allowed off the ship. One of them was Max. I’d always wondered how those twenty-eight people fared, and the character of Max, marooned in a strange land, served as a way to explore that notion and illuminate this sad story. The St. Louis had to return to Europe, and many of the passengers ultimately perished in the Holocaust.

Learn more about the Billy Boyle WWII Mystery Series at James R. Benn's website.

The Page 99 Test: The First Wave.

The Page 69 Test: Evil for Evil.

The Page 69 Test: Rag and Bone.

My Book, The Movie: Death's Door.

The Page 69 Test: The White Ghost.

The Page 69 Test: Blue Madonna.

Writers Read: James R. Benn (September 2016).

Q&A with James R. Benn.

The Page 69 Test: Proud Sorrows.

The Page 69 Test: The Phantom Patrol.

Writers Read: James R. Benn (September 2024).

The Page 69 Test: A Bitter Wind.

Writers Read: James R. Benn (September 2025).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Ravenous"

Sara Cooper is a novelist and an award-winning playwright-lyricist. She lives in New York with her husband John and their son Theo. Major awards include Richard Rodgers Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters (2022); ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award (2021); Grand Jury Prize, Barnstorm Media (2020); Jonathan Larson Grant, American Theatre Wing (2014).

Ravenous, her debut novel, was a Finalist for the 2025 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards.

Cooper applied the Page 69 Test to Ravenous and shared the following:

From page 69:

I’m claustrophobic. My ears are ringing. My belly button aches. Skin crawling, overstimulated, I drag my poor tender flesh shell into the hell dungeon of the kitchen before returning to the land of the living room with the stainless steel garbage can and my Messermeister Cheflamme Culinary Torch. I can smell my sweat, acrid and vile. I close my eyes and shake the contents of the dozen or so closest unpacked boxes into the bin and light them on fire.

The smoke detector begins to wail.

Daddy’s disembodied voice floats in from his office. “You okay?” it says.

“Shut the fuck up,” I say.

“What?” it says.

“Totally,” I shout, yanking the batteries free from the wretched smoke detector and yeeting my culinary torch out the window before it can start an uncontrollable chain reaction that burns down the whole neighborhood and blows up my spot.

I nurse the flame, keeping it alive but manageable, passing it from one moving box to the next with my Terrain Oaxacan Floral Taper Candle in Medium Pink. When I’ve destroyed enough that it looks like I’ve been massively productive, I drench the molten remains with the water from my S’Well and triple lock the lid.

Won’t Daddy notice you’re missing, like, half your worldly belongings?

No, Baby, no, no, no, child, no, this is why God created Amazon Prime. I can replace everything that’s missing before he even notices it’s gone and put it all away when it comes, one at a time, neatly, responsibly, without the heartache and difficulty of thought. Everything is interchangeable. There’s always more stuff.

This is a surprisingly good encapsulation of Ravenous. You get a real sense of the tone, which I would describe as fever pitch fever dream. We meet both Baby and Daddy, the two most important characters besides our narrator, Breigh. This page also hints at some of the major themes: capitalism, self-commodification, and over-consumption. I'm actually shocked at how well this test worked!

Visit Sara Cooper's website.

My Book, The Movie: Ravenous.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Mortal Enemy Murder Club"

Gloria Chao is a USA Today bestselling author and a screenwriter. Her novels include The Mortal Enemy Murder Club, The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club, Ex Marks the Spot, When You Wish Upon a Lantern, Rent a Boyfriend, Our Wayward Fate, and American Panda. She graduated from MIT and became a dentist before realizing she’d rather spend her days in fictional characters’ heads instead of real people’s mouths. When she’s not writing, you can find her on the curling ice, where she and her husband are world-ranked in mixed doubles.

Chao applied the Page 69 Test to The Mortal Enemy Murder Club and reported the following:

From page 69 of The Mortal Enemy Murder Club:

Reminding myself this could be life or death, I marched into the men’s bathroom as if I belonged there. And I nearly bumped into an almost naked guy at the sink washing vomit off his pants and shirt.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!”

He instinctively tried to cover himself with his clothes, only to flick the vomit onto his face. And from the extreme disgust that appeared on his now puke-speckled face, it didn’t seem to be his vomit.

“Sorry!” I had to make it up to him somehow. “Can I buy you a drink?” Then I realized that seemed like I was coming on to him. “Or dessert!” That made it worse. “I mean, I’m just sorry!” I pulled out a five-dollar bill and threw it at him. Now it seemed like I was paying him for the peep show. “Fuck!”

This was going well. So well. At least I hadn’t seen a ball of flames or Olivia’s ballet flats in there.

I exited and turned toward the family restroom at the end of the hallway. The last place to check, and also a great hiding spot for Mandy, Olivia, and me if it was empty.

The door was unlocked. Success. Everything was going according to plan.

I’d just have to text Olivia and tell her to find Mandy and come meet me here—I screamed. The second bloody-murder scream of my life.

Because there was a limp body on the floor. Sprawled. Unmoving.

Again, familiar.

Page 69 of The Mortal Enemy Murder Club is a fantastic representation of the whole work. It captures the humor and shenanigans of the entire Hu Done It series as well as the murder mystery that keeps the pages turning. The reason I love reading and now writing humorous murder mysteries is because laughter helps balance the inherent darkness of crime, and the passage here is a great example of this. When writing both The Mortal Enemy Murder Club and The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club, one of my favorite craft tricks was to ask at every turn, How can I make this as funny as possible? Which was what led to protagonist Kat discovering her boyfriend is cheating on her in the first book by walking in, half-naked, on him proposing to one of his other two girlfriends. It also led to this page 69 scene where Kat walks into the men’s bathroom in an attempt to stop a murder.

This scene also showcases Kat’s social awkwardness, which is a defining part of her character and the source of some of the humor throughout the series.

This short scene (made shorter because it’s the end of a chapter) captures almost all the most important parts of this series. The only element missing is the ride-or-die female friendship at the heart of these books, which is only alluded to here, mostly because Kat happens to be by herself, having been separated from the others by the chaos occurring in this scene.

Visit Gloria Chao's website.

The Page 69 Test: American Panda.

The Page 69 Test: When You Wish Upon a Lantern.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Postmistress of Puddlington"

Bestselling, award-winning author Laura Jensen Walker is the Agatha and Lefty-nominated author of more than 20 books including Murder Most Sweet, Hope, Faith & a Corpse, and Death of a Flying Nightingale.

A rabid Anglophile since being stationed at an RAF base with the USAF in her twenties, Walker lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband and two rescue terriers, where she drinks tea and dreams of England.

Walker applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Postmistress of Puddlington, with the following results:

In my historical novel, The Postmistress of Puddlington, set in a small English village during WWII, on page 69 best friends Violet and Nora are discussing the recent brutal beating of conscientious objector William Barclay by soldiers, wondering how people can be so cruel. William owns Barclay’s, the local draper’s shop, which he runs with his mother, Winnie.

[Note to readers: Since this book is set in England and peopled with British characters, the spelling and punctuation is English style, e.g., defence spelled with a c, rather than s, and single quotes for dialogue rather than double.]

‘With his refusal to fight and do his bit, folk think William’s not united with them. [Nora, a Wren in the Royal Navy, speaking]

‘Do you? [Vicar’s daughter Violet]

‘No, but I know plenty that do, especially those in His Majesty’s Armed Forces.’

‘William’s never been a fighter. Remember in school when the other lads would pick on him and tease him about being a mummy’s boy? He’d never fight back or defend himself.’

‘That’s because you and Ned were always quick to jump to his defence.’

‘We weren’t the only ones.’ Violet slid Nora a sideways glance, a smile curving her lips. ‘I seem to recall a certain member of the Clarke family punching Harold Hastings in the nose after he’d kicked William.’

‘I’ve never liked bullies, and I feel sorry for William. His mother is so helpless and dependent on him; I don’t see how he’s ever going to break away and have his own life.’

‘Oh, I’m sure he will.’ Violet gave Nora an arch look.

‘You look like the cat that got the cream. What do you know?’

Violet looked round to make sure no one could overhear. ‘Only that William has met someone in London and is planning to move there in the not-too-distant future. He’s working up his courage to tell his mum.’

‘Good for him. But what about Barclay’s?’

‘William told me, in confidence, he’ll likely sell it to the Trimble’s. Florrie’s been eyeing it for years, eager to expand her shopkeeping reach. Barclay’s has been losing money for some time now, and the war has made it clear to William that draper’s shops are on the way out. He’s ready for a fresh start.’

‘Would he take Winnie to London with him?’

‘Heavens, no! His mum has a widowed sister in Yorkshire who’s been asking Winnie to move in with her for year, but she always said she couldn’t leave Puddlington—she was tied to the shop. Now she won’t be.’

‘Do you think Winnie’s ready to let her only chick fly the nest?’

This page is a good representation of what readers will find in my book which revolves around the daily lives of women in a Dorset village during WWII doing their bit on the home front while the men are off fighting on the front lines. The featured women include Mary Robins, vicar’s wife and president of the local WI (Women’s Institute); Minerva Winterbottom, the bohemian lady of the manor who takes in a child evacuee from London; Violet Robins, the vicar’s daughter who becomes a Land Girl and catches the eye of a Yank G.I.; Nora Clarke, Violet’s best friend who enlists in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and Hester Smith, the spinster, bookish postmistress who acts as the unifying link delivering both good news and bad to the villagers.

Visit Laura Jensen Walker's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Alphabet Sleuths.

Q&A with Laura Jensen Walker.

The Page 69 Test: The Alphabet Sleuths.

Writers Read: Laura Jensen Walker (February 2026).

My Book, The Movie: The Postmistress of Puddlington.

--Marshal Zeringue

"My Best French Wedding"

Amanda Sellet (pronounced Sell-ay) is a former journalist who has written book reviews for The Washington Post, personal essays for NPR, and music and movie coverage for VH1. She has an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU. After a mostly coastal childhood, she now lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and cats.

Sellet applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, My Best French Wedding, and shared the following:

Page 69 of My Best French Wedding opens a new chapter, so we get important information even before the first line.

As the banner held aloft by a pair of doves informs us, this is a “Now” scene, narrated by Hildy, one of the dual (and dueling) POV characters. More specifically—since the book’s alternating timelines run in opposite directions, and there is a lot of jumping around—the action takes place one week before the epic destination wedding referenced in the title.

Finally, we see a newspaper-style dateline (TAMNIÈS, France—) as both a clue to the current location in the glorious French countryside and a nod to the fact that our main characters are rival journalists, since the story is a loose retelling of the classic screwball comedy His Girl Friday.

After the reader has (hopefully!) digested all that context, we dive straight into the scene, featuring Hildy and her wisecracking sidekick:

“Do you think I’m being punished?” Hildy asked Corinne. She’d already given a blow- by-blow account of her confrontation with Walter and his new girlfriend, during which Corinne had remained surprisingly calm. Hildy suspected it had something to do with the two-hour massage that had left the hotel room smelling like a field of lavender.

“Let’s not make it more than it is.” Corinne sipped her detoxifying lemon water. She’d turned down Hildy’s offer of wine on the grounds that she planned to drink her body weight in rosé tonight.

That was the theme of this evening’s welcome party: Roses and Rosé. Hildy had been planning to repaint her nails a delicate pink, but the bloody red she was currently rocking seemed more fitting under the circumstances. The goal was warrior queen, not bubblegum princess. Which Corinne would understand if she hadn’t had all the stress pounded out of her.

“Walter being here is not a small thing,” Hildy argued. “It’s an outrage. How dare he pull a stunt like that?”

Corinne rubbed more lotion into the back of her hand. “A wedding reporter chasing the biggest wedding of the year? Shocking.”

What does this scene tell us? Beyond the set dressing (luxury, French delicacies, and a wedding celebration stretching far beyond the standard ceremony and reception), we glimpse two key pieces of Hildy’s personality: she cares deeply about her image, and she’s always obsessing over Walter Burns, her alleged nemesis.

Corinne, by contrast, is deliberately blasé, and has been calling out Hildy’s exaggerations and histrionics since they met a decade ago. Her deadpan reactions are one of my favorite parts of the book, though it’s not until the next page that she gets in one of her best zingers, about “how hard it is for some people to tell the difference between destiny and dysfunction. They have so many of the same letters.”

So yes, this is a very representative sampling of the whole. The place, the premise, the people, and the eternal question of destiny vs. dysfunction are all there on page 69 of My Best French Wedding.

Visit Amanda Sellet's website.

Q&A with Amanda Sellet.

The Page 69 Test: By the Book.

Writers Read: Amanda Sellet (December 2022).

Writers Read: Amanda Sellet (August 2024).

The Page 69 Test: The Odds of Getting Even.

--Marshal Zeringue