The page 69 test and an extract from DI Andy Horton, SHROUD OF EVIL

Applying the Page 69 test to DI Andy Horton mystery Shroud of Evil



Shroud of Evil a DI Andy Horton Mystery by Pauline RowsonThe  first I heard of the page 69 test was when a member of the public approached me  in a bookshop where I was doing a book signing and said she always applied it  when deciding which crime novel to purchase. She didn’t buy one of my novels so  I’d obviously failed to reach her exacting standards, whatever they were.


I browsed the Internet to find out who was  responsible for this particular form of literary torture. The answer was the  writer Marshall McLuhan championed more recently by John  Sutherland in How to Read a Novel: A User’s Guide. Do we  really need instructions on how to read a novel?

I turned to Page 69 in Inspector Andy Horton Shroud of Evil and duly applied the test. This is the scene between DI Andy Horton, my rugged and flawed detective, and  the pathologist, the petite, auburn haired and feisty Dr Gaye Clayton when she  is informing Horton that the victim was killed with a ….. no, hang on, that  will spoil it for those who want to read the novel (if I’ve passed the test).

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