"Dead Is Beautiful"

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 new novel, Dead is Beautiful, and reported the following:

Dead Is Beautiful is the fourth in my mystery series about a murdered man and the dead dog he names Rose. In each book my ghosts return to the living world to fight for the meek and the exploited. Along the way, Charlie confronts his failures in life and gets to know his wise, benevolent and often cryptic canine companion. Most of the books take place in or around Los Angeles, from Skid Row to Beverly Hills.

In Dead Is Beautiful, Charlie and Rose are called back to the living world when a protected tree harboring an endangered bird is illegally cut down and he realizes that the one person living or dead he would prefer to avoid, lives next door. On Page 69 the ghosts encounter a homeless woman in the Hollywood neighborhood where Charlie once lived. The neighborhood has been so thoroughly gentrified that Charlie doesn't recognize it. At Rose's urging they follow the woman to a construction site along the Hollywood Freeway where she settles in for a night that will involve her in a horrific crime later connected to a dangerous scheme that will endanger Charle's charm-free brother, and threatens his beloved Rose.

Visit Jo Perry's website.

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

--Marshal Zeringue