"Lie to Me"

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eighteen critically acclaimed novels, including the newly released Lie to Me.

She applied the Page 69 Test to Lie to Me and reported the following:

From page 69:

Sutton loved Dashiell. Carried him with her everywhere. He’d outgrown the withy basket she kept by her desk and spent his out-of-arms time in a car seat stationed within five feet of her at all times.

Ethan had finally won the battle to let the tyke sleep in his crib in his nursery instead of in their bed a month earlier. It had been hard for Sutton, even harder for him. It was impossible to sleep well knowing Sutton was getting up to check on the baby every hour.

He’d told her because he knew she’d gotten used to it. To being a mother. To having a child. To being a family.

He knew she loved Dashiell.

But when he admitted what he’d done, it was like something inside her snapped.

Page 69 of Lie to Me is the very end of a hugely pivotal chapter in the novel. The basic premise of the book is the perfect family loses their baby to SIDS and their world goes off the rails. They blame each other for his death – but remember, this is a mystery novel at heart. So, without any more clues…

This chapter is a flashback to the evening Ethan and Sutton find their son dead in his crib. It’s powerful and heartbreaking and inserts doubt as to the situation they find themselves in. But you can hear Ethan’s unspoken thoughts loud and clear – and also realize Ethan has done something to Sutton that makes him think she’s capable of killing their child.

And important chapter, and an important page. It establishes the basic question of this entire book: What is really going on here?

Visit J.T. Ellison's website, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

--Marshal Zeringue