First Lines: September 2021

This month, we’ve got a plaid couch, a phantom clock, and much more. To submit a first line email booklifeeditor@booklife.com.

Add Cyanide to Taste

Karmen Spiljak

“You don’t expect someone to die at lunch, especially not when you’re there for your first meeting with a big client.”

Breathe Deep & Swim 

Jenna Marcus

“It felt like a phantom clock was striking midnight.”

The Burden of Truth

Valerie R. Drees

“I haven’t flossed.”

Crown of Crowns (Crown of Crowns #1)

Clara Loveman

“Will they punish me for being here?”

Dark and Light Verse

Allen Lee Ireland

“I saw you in the children’s stacks tonight:/ A boy in glasses, with that look of light.”

Death of a Coast Watcher 

Anthony English

“Half an hour after sunrise, a blend of sweat and gore had already pasted the prisoner’s shirt and shorts to his skin.”

Impressions: Short Letters

Ameya Pandit

“Babbles—those first words—are one of a kind. They delight the ear of a parent, are versatile in their form, impress the mind with their range and dimension.”

Incorrigible

Ron and Diana Enfield

The Monks Hood Murders: A 1920s Murder Mystery with Heathcliff Lennox 

Karen Baugh Menuhin

“ ‘I must inform you, sir, there is a ghost in the garden.’ ”

Till Daph Do Us Part:​ Weddings. Funerals. Sleuthing. (Daphne Jones Mysteries)

Phillipa Nefri Clark

“The township of Little Bridges was pretty any time of the year with century old oak trees lining the main street and shopfronts colorfully painted to give a sense of olde-worlde charm.”

Travels Through Aqua, Green, and Blue

Mary E. Gregory

“I came into this world half baked.”

Michelle Picard

“The first moments of an Earth dive kicked ass compared to any rodeo bull ride.”