The Page 69 Test: "Shot Through the Book"

Thursday, May 15, 2025

"Shot Through the Book"

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 Shot Through the Book, the twelfth title in the series.

Delany applied the Page 69 Test to Shot Through the Book and reported the following:

Sadly, page 69 of Shot Through the Book, the twelfth Lighthouse Library mystery, written by me under the pen name of Eva Gates and published by Crooked Lane Books, fails the Page 69 Test completely.
“No.” Watson said. “I am not going to do that. Lucy, please continue.”

Louise Jane fell back in her seat with a puff of air and a disapproving pout.

“Far from hoping to commune with his spirit,” I said, “she wanted to take photographs of herself at the site of the incident.” I went on to relate what happened in as much detail as I could without overdramatizing (enough of that, thank you, Louise Jane) including the presence of not only her personal assistant but a photographer.

“That is interesting,” Watson said when I finished. “She didn’t tell me about the visit, and I’ve no reason to believe, at this time, it’s directly connected to any motives behind Harrison’s death. But, I do have to wonder why she didn’t mention it to me. Judging by the timing, she would have come directly to the station after leaving your place. She did not have a photographer or anyone else with her, although she might have left them outside.”

“What line of work is she in that she has a PA following her around?" Ronald asked.

“You told me she was an unemployed journalist,” I said to Watson. “It’s possible she’s mentoring an unpaid intern. The woman was young enough to be a college student or an intern. She didn’t look at all comfortable in her job.”

“Why did you make a point of asking Louise Jane and me to be here now?” Ronald asked. “Be quiet, Louise Jane and let Lucy answer.” Louise Jane continued to pout, but she said nothing.

“Because Heather made an accusation to me about another person, and I believe she said the same to Detective Watson. Before this goes any further, I thought we should talk, in front
It is, truth be told, a pretty dull page. People are exchanging information, and although this information is important to the story, it doesn’t say enough to reveal anything about who the characters are (other than their names), the setting, or even the mood of the book. “Harrison’s death” is mentioned, so we can assume this is a murder case, but little else.

Four people are talking, and although they are all named, we don’t learn anything about any of them, or what their relationship is, or what role they play in the book. A small clue might be that the only character referred to by his surname, is in fact, the police detective, although that is not confirmed until the second last line on the page.

On this page the characters have gathered in an unnamed place, not a hint of setting, location, atmosphere is given. It isn’t even clear that this is intended to be a cozy mystery, and the characters have gathered in the library.

I hope despite this (admittedly) dull page, the reader will be interested enough to want to know what these people are talking about. Which is, why was a bestselling YA author shot by an arrow standing on the deck of Lucy McNeil’s beach house, one pleasant summer’s evening in the Outer Banks, while she was inside getting the lemonade.