Council's Best Mystery of 2019. Under her real name, she has written more mystery novels and a damn good werewolf book, as well as short stories in many genres in magazines and anthologies. She is also an award-winning librettist and lyricist with several musicals to her credit that have been performed or workshopped across the USA. She currently lives in New York City where she also practiced as a criminal defense attorney.
Montclair applied the Page 69 Test to her latest novel, Fire Must Burn, and reported the following:
Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau have agreed to help British Intelligence vet Tony Danforth, a member of the Foreign Office suspected of Communist ties, by setting him up with Evelyn Lowle, an operative who will pose as another client seeking a husband. On page 69, Lowle has come to learn more about their interview with him so she can fashion her new persona accordingly:Visit Alan Gordon's website.‘So he took the bait?’ Lowle asked.Page 69 turns out to be an excellent microcosm of the book — at least before everything goes horribly wrong, as one would expect in a murder mystery. We see the plan continuing to develop, how the ladies of the Right Sort contribute their own instincts and insights into assessing Danforth, and how the young operative Lowle is going to put them into action.
‘He signed up for our services,’ said Sparks. ‘We normally send a letter to the gentleman with the lady’s telephone number. Do you want us to use your number at the ministry?’
‘Yes, that would be best,’ she said. ‘I don’t want my new landlady getting nosy about all this. How did Danforth seem to you about the idea?’
‘Interested,’ said Sparks.
‘Ironic,’ added Mrs Bainbridge.
‘What do you mean by that?’ asked Lowle.
‘He is amused by what we do,’ said Mrs Bainbridge. ‘On the one hand, he seems genuinely interested in finding a partner in life. But on the other, he thinks finding one through a professional agency is strange.’
‘Then I shall feel the same about it,’ said Lowle. ‘A mutual disdain for the norms, covering what? Some real loneliness underneath, right?’
‘Thats … that’s actually good,’ said Sparks, impressed in spite of herself.
‘What about the war?’ asked Lowle. ‘Is that something he likes to talk about?’
‘Not so far,’ said Sparks. ‘He didn’t want talk about Spain when he got back from that one, and he was fairly close-mouthed about China when I saw him the other night.’
Another facet revealed here is the continuing jealousy of Iris for Lowle. Iris had been an Intelligence operative during the war, leaving the section after a falling out with her superiors. While she believes in that choice, she misses those aspects of the job that drew on her intellect and sense of adventure. Now, confronted with what seems to be a younger and perhaps abler version of herself, Iris’s regrets and resentments continue to plague her, brought to the surface every time she encounters Lowle.
Finally, there is the ongoing and uncomfortable sense of betrayal Iris feels for setting up Danforth for this operation. They were, as we’ve learned by this point, close friends at Cambridge in the mid-Thirties.
So, page 69 encompasses most of the important aspects of the plot and relationships in this novel. The machine has been set in motion, the wheels are turning, the inexorable race towards tragedy and revelation is accelerating.
What happens next? Well, page 70, obviously. Enjoy!
The Page 69 Test: An Excellent Thing in a Woman.
Q&A with Allison Montclair.
My Book, The Movie: An Excellent Thing in a Woman.
--Marshal Zeringue
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