The Page 69 Test: "The Faces of the Dead"

Chris Nickson is the author of eleven Tom Harper mysteries, eight highly acclaimed novels in the Richard Nottingham series, and seven Simon Westow mysteries. He is also a well-known music journalist. He lives in his beloved Leeds.

Nickson's new novel, The Faces Of The Dead, is the second title in his WWII historical thriller series featuring Sergeant Cathy Marsden – a female police officer working for the Special Investigation Branch – who investigates the death of a local gangster in WWII Leeds.

Nickson applied the Page 69 Test to The Faces Of The Dead and shared the following:

Page 69 of The Faces of The Dead sees Cathy Marsden finally catch up to the woman who's been following her, a servicewoman named Alexandra Cordell, the sister of Nina Cordell. She'd died in a car crash that set off the investigation - and the scramble for power between gangleaders. Does it give any insight into the book? On its own, no. But it does show a few things, that Cordell has training in tailing people, that's there's more to her than meets the eye, and that plenty of people in Leeds know Cathy - who also has ability at flushing a tail. It's one small strand, nothing more.
‘I didn’t understand why the Special Investigation Branch would be looking into my sister. That made me cautious. I wanted to know more before I approached you.’

‘It didn’t take you long to discover who I am and which unit I’m with.’

Cordell shrugged. ‘You’re better known around here than you realise, Sergeant. And you twigged I was there quickly enough.’

Cathy offered an ambiguous smile. ‘You’re not the only one with training.’

Cordell hadn’t given a good answer to her question, but she’d let that go for now. ‘For the record, SIB isn’t interested in her. The curiosity was mine; it seemed like it might be a way into everything.’

She cocked her head. ‘Was it?’

‘Not really. It looks as if she was an innocent victim, nothing more. Plenty of things have happened since then, none of them to do with your sister.’
But this is a tale where the small strands build one upon another until the special Investigation Branch know exactly who's behind the killings and the thefts. After that, they have the job of finding him and catching him, something that's going to end in a real showdown. But there's plenty of slogging before that, using Cathy's knowledge of Leeds, along with her other skills. Alexandra Cordell is part of it, but only a small one.

After hunting escaped spies in No Precious Truth, I wanted Cathy and the SIB squad to have a story that was more local and criminal, but still very fraught and worth the title of a thriller, with plenty of heart-stopping moments. Did I succeed? You'll have to be the judge of that.

Monday, April 13, 2026

"The Faces of the Dead"