"The Last Note of Warning"

Katharine Schellman is a former actor and one-time political consultant. When not writing about mystery, history, and other improbable things, she can be found in her garden or finding new ways to skip steps while baking. She currently lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her family and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering. Her books include Last Call at the Nightingale and The Last Drop of Hemlock.

Schellman applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Last Note of Warning, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Bea’s hands tightened around the slim cover of the book. “You gonna tell me what’s going on?”

“Yeah,” Vivian said, staring down at her lap. “It ain’t good.” Taking a deep breath, not meeting Bea’s eyes, she told her what had happened at the Buchanan mansion. Her words stumbled over each other more than once, as she hurried past what she had found in Buchanan’s study and tried to explain what the police had said and thought. She kept her voice quiet, not wanting to risk the neighbors overhearing. But she still felt exposed, as though at any moment someone would swoop in and haul her away.

When she got to the commissioner’s surprise visit, Bea sucked in a sharp breath. “God almighty,” she breathed. “Girl, you are in so much trouble.”

I can’t quite decide whether the Page 99 Test does or doesn’t work for The Last Note of Warning!

On the one hand, the setting is more generic here than it is in most of the book. It's set in New York City during the Jazz Age and centers around a speakeasy known as the Nightingale, which is critical to both the plot and the feel of the book. Most of the characters are working class, and the Nightingale provides them a glamorous escape and a place where they can be themselves in a demanding and unequal world. But it also brings danger into their lives, given the criminal underworld in which it exists thanks to Prohibition.

On the other hand, Vivian and Bea are two central characters, and their friendship and support of each other is a key part of both this book and the series as a whole. It also gives readers a hint of what the main character, Vivian, is up against. There’s a murder charge and a ticking clock, and she’s going to need her friends’ help if she wants to beat it.

So, while a scene in the Nightingale would probably give readers a stronger sense of the book as a whole, I think this one isn’t too bad! Hopefully, it would persuade a reader or two to pick up the book and see what else is going to happen.

Visit Katharine Schellman's website.

--Marshal Zeringue