Lie Detector

A mass gravesite unearthed on the Appalachian Trail puts FBI Agent Kelly Jones at the head of an investigation that crosses the line—from Massachusetts to Vermont, from wealthy vacationers to poor transients, from a serial killer to a copycat nemesis.

That's the teaser for Michelle Gagnon's latest novel, BONE YARD. Here at Lie Detector, we've put her up against her agent, Lukas Ortiz, to rate the sins of the novel.

Violence: 1 is no violence, 100 is… Wait, was there one scene without blood and gore in it?

The Book: THE COLD SPOT
Author: Tom Piccirilli
Interrogator: Sandra Ruttan


Violence
1 is no violence, 100 is… Wait, was there one scene without blood and gore in it?





Tom: 70- lots of violence, .22 slugs to the forebrain, but in a nice way
Sandra: To avoid a spoiler, I’ll call it the triple murder – that put it up to an 80 for me.


Swearing
1 means no penance, 100 means you’re putting truckers to shame.

Craig McDonald is an award-winning journalist, editor and fiction writer. His debut novel, HEAD GAMES, was nominated for a 2008 Edgar Award® for Best First Novel by an American Author. We decided to put Craig up against Brian Lindenmuth, reviewer for Mystery Bookspot to rate HEAD GAMES.


Violence
1 is no violence, 100 is… Wait, was there one scene without blood and gore in it?





Craig: A solid 100.

We put Steve Mosby, author of THE 50/50 KILLER up against his editor at Orion, Jon Wood, to rate the sins of THE 50/50 KILLER. To start, we asked Steve about the violence in the book:

Steve: It’s not as bad as it seems, I don’t think. A nasty atmosphere in places, maybe, but it has a relatively low body count for a serial killer novel, especially when it comes to women. In fact, it feels pretty tame to me…

What did Jon say?

Violence

Author: Declan Burke, author of THE BIG O, nominated for Spinetingler 2007 Best Novel: New Voice

Interrogator: Sandra Ruttan, reviewer and interviwer with Mystery Bookspot and Spinetingler Magazine, and author of WHAT BURNS WITHIN

Violence
1 is no violence, 100 is… Wait, was there one scene without blood and gore in it?





Swearing

Author: James Reasoner, Spinetingler 2007 Best Novel: Legend award-nominee for DUST DEVIL’S

Interrogator: Allan Guthrie, James’ editor at PointBlank Press

Violence
1 is no violence, 100 is… Wait, was there one scene without blood and gore in it?





Swearing
1 means no penance, 100 means you’re putting truckers to shame.





Sex

Author: Ray Banks, author of SATURDAY’S CHILD

Interrogator: Stacia Decker, Ray’s editor from Harcourt and winner of the 2007 Spinetingler for Best Editor

Violence
1 is no violence, 100 is… Wait, was there one scene without blood and gore in it?





Stacia: Eh, this is tough—there are stretches when no one is beaten to a pulp, but the air of menace is constant; I’ll say 65.

Swearing

Author: Allan Guthrie, whose novel HARD MAN won the 2007 Spinetingler for Best Novel: New Voice

Interrogator: Stacia Decker, Al’s editor from Harcourt and winner of the 2007 Spinetingler for Best Editor

Violence
1 is no violence, 100 is… Wait, was there one scene without blood and gore in it?





Stacia: I’ll say 70 - the torture could have been worse.


Swearing
1 means no penance, 100 means you’re putting truckers to shame.