Category Archives: Mystery

You’ve Got Five Pages, #TheGoldenSpoon by #JessaMaxwell, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Eclectic baking contestants in a mysterious manor? No, I’m not reading a Scooby-Doo movie premise.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

So I was initially bummed when I saw The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell had not one prologue, but TWO. I also glanced ahead and saw that frequent head-hopping is in a reader’s future, for the story follows the many perspectives of baking contestants on a cooking show at a hoity-toity New England estate. So if you’re not a fan of constantly changing POVs, this may not be the book for you.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

That said, the first prologue does a wonderful job of balancing a little backstory with current action. Since we are with Betsy, the estate’s owner and creator of this baking competition, we are quickly learning her desperation to keep the show and estate afloat while begrudgingly taking on some “grunt work” of checking camera equipment on a dark and stormy night. Her thoughts allude to some previous debacle, of conflict with the cohost, of possible problems with the contestants–everything seems to be going wrong this season, and the dark’n’bloody discovery she makes in the camera tent–well, it’s the icing on the cake, isn’t it?

The *second* prologue is a news release from *two weeks earlier.* So yes, we already have a flashback and we’re not even in the proper novel yet. Still, I appreciate Maxwell’s move to utilize a news release for providing quick breakdowns of the cast–that is, the baking contestants. It’s an eclectic mix of people with their own voices and skills, all of which sound like they could potentially get applied in a murderous situation. As a writer, I can also see how such a breakdown could help with easy refreshes of a character’s voice and perspective so that one doesn’t mess up these character traits and languages. As Janet Evanovich highlights in her blurb, this book has strong Clue vibes, and I am ALWAYS up for a good game of Clue. 🙂

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #VeraWongsUnsolicitedAdviceforMurderers by #JesseQSutanto, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Oh, this is a fun one, my fellow creatives.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

 Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto 

Seriously, this first chapter was a delight to read. I mean, with an opener like this, how could it not be?

Vera Wong Zhuzhu, age sixty, is a pig, but she really should have been born a rooster. We are, of course, referring to Chinese horoscopes. Vera Wong is a human woman, thank you very much, but roosters have nothing on her.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

Even though this chapter is exposition, we as readers can still see the unfussable Vera Wong launch herself into her morning routine. While this may not sound very interesting for a hook, the narrator’s lighthearted, playful tone mixed with Vera’s eccentric personality hook readers into loving this old lady very quickly. Plus, using the exposition helps us realize that this morning routine isn’t unique or special to the narrative–rather, this is how she always is, from texting her son at 4:31am to tell him he should be awake, to counting every one of her 3,112 steps on her morning walk.

Yet even this first chapter is not without its emotional weight, for that same morning walk takes her by the tai chi group her husband, long passed, used to attend. In fact, the chapter ends with Vera, while resolute and determined to continue her day as normal, cannot completely silence her sadness over the dwindling relationship with her son since her husband passed. It’s an artfully done first chapter, full of humor and uniqueness with an emotional tug at the end…all disguised in an elderly lady’s morning routine.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #BirnamWood by #EleanorCatton, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Welp, we had a good run, folks.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

For the first time, I have to say that this novel may very well need an engaging prologue to hook readers.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

Granted, at the outset, Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood isn’t bad. The prose is dense but vivid, its opening paragraphs dedicated to establishing the setting of a landslide in New Zealand and the aftermath of a small town in isolation. We meet Mira in the third paragraph: she is described to us as well as how she is willfully using an alias and misleading real estate agents of that isolated small town because…we don’t know.

So, we as readers have a compelling reason to read on. We want to know why our main character is not being honest about her identity and motivations.

Yet the more I read the first chapter, the more exposition I got. Paragraph after paragraph details what Mira reads in her research of one person in that town. That’s it. The curiosity I had for Mira’s motivations dwindled with every paragraph of exposition. Perhaps I was spoiled by Janice Hallet’s The Appeal, which also gave us such research, but in its original format of emails and newspaper clippings vs. an omniscient narrator telling us the protagonist is reading these things. The middle man, in a sense, was cut out in The Appeal; plus, reading the original messages from characters gave us a sense of different characters and their voices. Five pages into Birnam Wood, I only know that “Mira read on.” Now, chances are this story is a slow burn with the action coming later on, and that’s fine for those content to wait. For the picky, impatient reader such as myself, however, I think I’ll go back to the New Release Shelf.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #TheWritingRetreat by #JuliaBartz, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Do urban adults often use similes such as “like a shipman searching the horizon”? Methinks not.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Well, what do you know? Here the author from last week’s episode left a positive blurb on the book for this week–⁠The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz⁠.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

The opening pages introduce us to Alex, a woman who is hung up on a broken friendship with Wren while attending a book release party for a mutual friend. At times the voice really shines in this prose–a bit immature, a bit creative, but overall unique. Other times the word choices do not jive with that personality–who on earth says “unselfconsciously affable”?

But it was the last paragraph I read that promised redeeming qualities to the voice, for that last paragraph gave us a very clear, colorful picture of just how badly Alex latched herself to Wren. Alex describes all sorts of glittery, beautiful dreams of a friendship with Wren mere moments after meeting her at a job. This not only explains why Alex keeps lamenting the loss of Wren and why she can’t stop thinking about her; it makes us wonder what Wren really thinks of Alex. We could very well be dealing with one character obsessing over another, fantasizing about the scale of that relationship while the truth is quite different. If so, then this suspenseful read just got more…suspensefuler.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #TheAppeal by #JaniceHallett, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Unconventional narrative, unconventional fun!

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

This review, I’m afraid, is going to be rather short, as this novel is not quite like other novels.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

Rather than a traditional narrative and/or paragraph structure, Janice Hallett’s The Appeal is created with emails, text messages, and other media snippets compiled for two lawyers to study in preparation for tackling a murder case. On the one hand, this means we’re not getting any details regarding setting or character appearance. On the other hand, we’re getting a wealth of first-person perspectives over a period of time that *should* guide us readers to the ultimate solution of the mystery.

As a reader, I’m definitely intrigued. As a writer, I admire Hallett taking on this risk. It’s a dangerous thing to essentially tell readers, “You don’t have all the materials. Hopefully, it’s in the right order. Good luck!” It’d be all too easy to just withhold all sorts of things so you can just dump it all in the resolution later. Hopefully, Hallett does not do this. The extra challenge is also to make sure the writing voices for all these characters is consistently different. So far, I couldn’t help but chuckle that one character only writes in two-word responses compared to the gushing emails from another character. It’s an interesting dynamic, and I’ve got to continue at least a bit more into the tale to see where these emails take me.

~*~*~

I just have to add that I actually completed this novel in less than 24 hours. It’s a highly enjoyable read where EVERYONE is an unreliable narrator. You’re trying to piece everything together alongside two young lawyers who are trying to connect details, commissions, and timelines shared within this peculiar little theater group. If you’re keen for a different take on a cozy, then I highly recommend this book.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #Homecoming by #KateMorton, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Well, we had a good run. The prologue has returned, and a rambling prologue, at that.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

Homecoming by Kate Morton

Kate Morton’s Homecoming opens with a woman named Isabel. Isabel is pondering various things while hanging up some bunting for a New Year’s Day family celebration.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

The prose itself is well-crafted, and there are certainly some interesting lines that help us feel the weight of natural Australian dangers on Isabel as she’s out and alone. Actually, Morton’s quite good at dropping hints of danger and trouble within Isabel without Isabel actually saying these are troubles–moments relating to her depression, her marriage problems, her desire to do away with her own kids, her “guilty conscience” and her determination to “make things right”–it’s all quite good foreshadowing for SOMEthing to happen. And the prologue does end with the promise of something bad about to happen. The downside, at least to me, comes with how long it takes to reach that moment. We spend the entire prologue with Isabel thinking. That’s it. Now a few pages of thoughts can be well done, for as I mentioned, Morton’s cleverly hiding hints of danger within Isabel’s psyche. But it’s a slow, slow process through all of Isabel’s thoughts, and by prologue’s end I’m saying, “Thank goodness THAT’S over.” That’s not what a writer wants a reader to feel. As writers, we’ve got to make every line count. We shouldn’t need to hide a hint of foreshadowing beneath a mountain of exposition. A little goes a long way, whether one’s writing a short story, a novel, or anything in between.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #AMansionforMurder by #FrancesBrody, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Another happy surprise!

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

A Mansion for Murder by Frances Brody

When I saw ⁠Frances Brody’s A Mansion for Murder⁠ had a prologue, I immediately rolled my eyes. Yet that little prologue provided a lovely scene with just enough ominous foreshadowing. Does the prologue create a “bait and switch” for a boring first chapter?

Nope! Chapter One gives a few brief paragraphs about the protagonist and why she’s an investigator, then dives right into the letter she receives summoning her to her latest case. Considering this is the thirteenth (!!!) book of the series, I did not feel lost or behind. Brody’s introduction of the character is a fine piece of succinct exposition, giving readers just enough to go on regarding the protagonist and her career. Plus, by using first-person prose, Brody can have Shackleton essentially “introduce herself” so readers can understand Shackleton’s frank and fearless personality. It’s a smart strategy for a writer. The cadence of the prose, too, is well formulated, the movement of consonants and vowels making it pleasant to read aloud. For those searching for a cozy mystery, this may be just the literary escape you’ve been looking for.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #KillersofaCertainAge by #DeannaRaybourn, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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The first page had me laughing out loud, folks. We’ve got a promising one here!

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

jEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Deanna Raybourn’s Killers of a Certain Age certainly needs no prologue to hook readers.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

Instead, her opening chapter starts with the protagonists preparing for their first mission–not only as stewardesses, but as assassins, too. I mean, when the third and fourth sentences of the novel are “It’s not murder,” Helen corrects. “It’s an assassination, and you can make an effort to look nice.”, you as a reader know you’re in for a fun time.

The opening scene introduces us to a group of women new to this “life of lies” as they prepare for their first mission under their supervisors posing as airline pilots. The dialogue drags a smidge on the fourth page, but there’s enough personality in the exchange that we as readers are okay with the slow preparation, as we are learning to differentiate the character traits of the team. Plus, a brief reflection by one of the women helps remind readers just how much is at stake: not just the mission, but the lives of everyone on the mission, too. The use of movie lines during the exchange also helps emphasize the timeframe we are dealing with, as this first chapter is, essentially, a flashback to the protagonists’ first mission in 1979. The majority of the story is to take place in the present day when all these female assassins are older. For one who loved the movies Red, Harry Brown, Sea Wolves, and yes, Arsenic and Old Lace, I’m really excited to see what time does to these ladies–and what happens to those foolish enough to underestimate them.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Another thriller, another prologue.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

Seriously, is this a thing? Are thrillers required to have prologues in order to achieve publication these days?

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

Not that I’m complaining with this particular prologue. Clare Mackintosh’s The Last Party contains beautiful setting details that could easily be the stuff of prose poetry. The third-person omniscient narrator allows for easy movement through the occasional mutterings of different village characters before the main event: the annual New Year’s Day dive into a lake along the Welsh/English border. Only this year, these villagers are joined by a dead body.

The prologue is long enough that it took me to the end of the episode, and yes, I admit to being a bit silly this time with my movie trailer voice. 🙂 The premise here just reminded me of too many trope movies–the “cop who doesn’t play by the rules,” the “outsider who must become a hero,” and so on. This time, we have “the victim who wanted everyone dead and everyone is a suspect.” Goodness, the dust jacket itself says, “With a lie uncovered at every turn” and “In a village with this many secrets…” It feels a touch absurd with such descriptions, but you know what? Action schlock with those anti-rule cop buddies are still fun. Fantasies that always count on that reluctant hero are still fun. So I bet this mystery with a town full of Edward Gorey-esque suspicious people will be fun, too.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #LittleRedHouse by #LivAndersson, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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We take a darker turn today, fellow creatives.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

Little Red House by Liv Andersson

Liv Andersson’s thriller Little Red House gave me a delightful surprise. Not through it’s subject matter, for the record–it’s a dark thriller that starts with the perspective of a rape and torture victim held captive in a man’s basement. If you do not want to read about rape, just avoid this book. I’m sure Andersson will understand.

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

No, the surprise for me came as a writer. Andersson avoids prologues, yet her first chapter reads like a prologue we so often see here: it’s short, first-person, and a vivid telling of a dangerous scene. Listening to the victim describe what she hears when her tormentor approaches, hearing her focus on details of her environment for she’s determined not only to escape but kill her tormentor in the process–it is, in short, a compelling opener. I feared that Andersson had given us a stark first chapter to offset what we often see in this podcast: a really slow “second” opener to the book.

Yet that is not the case here! While Chapter 2 does “start over” with another character in first person, we see that this new character is related to the first, which immediately gets us wondering how well the two may know or know of each other. The voice of the new character is similar, but not to the point where I have to check what their names are to keep them straight. Her chapter is also pure active movement with just the teensiest bits of background, so the momentum started with Chapter 1 continues onward. Even though we’ve left one protagonist in a prison, this new character also seems to be in a prison of her own making. Even though she has a key to escape (metaphorically speaking), she refuses to use it. Why?

Again, for those who do not wish to read of sexual trauma, please wait for next week’s installment. But for those who read thrillers into the darker turns of human nature, you’ll not be disappointed with Andersson’s protagonists here. As a writer, too, I find her balance between present action, voice, and “telling between the lines” to be most instructive.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!