The Page 69 Test: "Best Be Prepared"

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

"Best Be Prepared"

Gwen Florio grew up in a farmhouse filled with books and a ban on television. After studying English at the University of Delaware, she began a

decades-long career in journalism that has taken her around the country and to more than a dozen other countries, including several conflict zones. Her first novel in the Lola Wicks mystery series, Montana, won the Pinckley Prize for Crime Fiction and the High Plains Book Award, and was a finalist for the Shamus Award, an International Thriller Award and a Silver Falchion Award. She has since released four other books in the Lola Wicks series and three standalone novels.

Florio applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Best Be Prepared, the fourth book in the Nora Best series, and reported the following:

From page 69:
Nora put her foot down the next night when Luke asked if he could join her and Sheila at Betty’s.

She was still unnerved by his sudden swerve toward domesticity, even though she had to admit to herself that looked at one way, the house purchase made sense. But she didn’t like the way he’d surprised her and couldn’t help but wonder what other surprises might be in store as their relationship progressed. What if he was one of those guys who thought a traditional living arrangement meant traditional gender roles, too?
Page 69 introduces a growing dilemma for my protagonist, Nora Best. Her boyfriend of less than a year has shut down her discussion about the death of a local environmental activist with the news that he’s found a house – for both of them.

She’s torn between wanting to commit to a promising relationship but knocked off balance by such a big move without any prior discussion. Her best friend Sheila – the fellow teacher she’s meeting that night at Betty’s Bakery Café – dismisses her doubts, saying Nora has hit the boyfriend jackpot in Luke.

Although page 69 references a subplot, the test works well for Best Be Prepared.

The title refers to the book’s setting in a Pacific Northwest beach community highly vulnerable to a tsunami.

Ideally, the community – any community – would do whatever it takes to prepare for the worst possible scenario. But preparations are costly and would stand in the way of lucrative development, a scenario seen all too often in this time of climate change and destructive weather.

Throughout the book, Nora struggles with the seductive lure of the status quo, both in her personal life and within the larger community where she hopes to make a permanent home.

Her curiosity is squelched at every turn. Luke is oblivious to her concern about their relationship. Community leaders dismiss her doubts about the activist’s death.

The two situations mirror one another. In each case, Nora has to learn to trust her own inner voice and find the strength to ignore the considerable pressure – both at home and in the community – to look the other way.

This being a mystery, the consequences of course are deadly.