The Page 69 Test: "The Stranger in the Library"

Eva Gates, also known as 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-five 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 Catskill Summer Resort mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, 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. Delany is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

The latest Lighthouse Library mystery is The Stranger in the Library, the eleventh title in the series.

Delany applied the Page 69 Test to The Stranger in the Library and reported the following:

From page 69:
“He likes the work,” I said. “And he believes deeply in the importance of democracy and having properly elected officials making the important decisions, particularly at the local level. But he doesn’t care for the campaigning and the dark side of that, plus he genuinely misses full-time practice.” Connor was a dentist; he kept an office in Nags Head at which he worked on a part-time and pro-bono basis during his terms as mayor.

Josie dried her hands on a tea towel and then headed for the door at the back of the kitchen. “Have you been here before?” she asked me.

“Here? You mean in this building? Never.”

“I’ve catered events here quite a few times. It’s nothing special inside, but the gardens are really nice, so people have anniversary parties and small simple weddings and the like here. This property’s the only place in all of the Outer Banks high enough and rocky enough to have cliffs.”

We walked slowly through the gardens. Flagstone paths were laid between neat rows of boxwood and beautifully maintained flowerbeds. The scent of the flowers had been released by the rain, and fresh drops still clung to leaves and petals, glowing in the soft light from the fairy lights strung between the trees. In the distance we could hear the sound of the surf crashing against the shore as the tide came in. The storm clouds had moved on, and high above us the sky was a blanket of stars.

It truly was a beautiful night.

“Let’s go see the fish,” Josie said. “Then I need to get back.”

“Fish?”

“A small koi pond.”

“Do fish sleep?” I asked. “You know, I’ve never thought about that before. Louise Jane, do fish sleep?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because you’re normally a font of knowledge.”
I fear the page failed the test. Page 69 is rather mundane. The characters are attending a party marking the opening of an art exhibition, and at the end of the evening have gathered in the kitchen. It’s a beautiful night and they decide to go for a walk to see the fish pond. By this time, it’s been established that one of the organizers of the art show has failed to show up.

No prizes for guessing what will be found in the fish pond. The only thing of significance that happens here is the mention that “This property’s the only place in all of the Outer Banks high enough and rocky enough to have cliffs.” That cliffside location is extremely important when it comes to the climax of the book.

However, as this is a cozy mystery page 69 does reflect some of the mood of the book. A nice evening, good friends, the seaside setting. Even a little joke that says something about the relationship between the main characters in the series.

Otherwise, page 69 has little to offer in the way of insights into the book. In each of the Lighthouse Library books, the novel the Bodie Island Classic Novel Reading Club is reading is reflected (very loosely) in my book. In The Stranger in the Library, that book is Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith. I have attempted to recreate Tom Ripley as a cozy character. That he doesn’t appear at all, or is even mentioned, in page 69 means that to me the book fails the test.