First Line Friday & My First KVZ

FIRST LINE FRIDAY...First lines have always intrigued me since I heard an author say that writing the first sentence is, by far, the most difficult part of writing a novel. The reasoning was that a first sentence can make the reader continue reading or cause the book to be tossed aside. So, go to your To Be Read Pile, choose as many books as you want and share the first line. Be sure to include the title and author so that if your reader also finds it intriguing, they can find the book. Also, share your thoughts about the first line. Does it draw you in? Is it...exciting...thought provoking...scary...funny?


"She had never killed so many people in so many ways."
Posed for Murder
Meredith Cole

That is a fantastic first line. It has completely drawn me in. Even though I know the premise... from the Macmillan website..."Lydia McKenzie is an artist whose medium is the camera. She’s having her first one-woman show. It is a series that ties to actual murders committed in the city’s past. Her method is to find a model—someone who can match in a general way the actual female victim—and pose her in the clothes and position in which the actual victim was found. The night of her showing, however, is disappointing; the owner of the gallery makes her pay for the invitations down to the stamps, hang the whole show herself, and rush for the usual wine and snacks. But what happens next is much worse: two plainclothes policemen shut down the event and take Lydia in for questioning. A young woman whom she knew well, and who was the model in one of her photographs, has been murdered. Worried that the police aren’t doing what they should, Lydia and another friend set out to find the killer."... I definitely want to know who "she" is. I hope this mystery is as good as the first line. I haven't read a lot of contemporary mysteries lately and this one looks like it will be engrossing. Most of the contemporary mysteries that I have seen lately are "niche"...you know...knitting, scrapbook and the like. The other side of that coin are the more suspenseful, lone male rogue agent looking for revenge, absolution, etc, kind of suspense mystery. Not that either are bad, I read all kinds of mysteries, it's just I've been looking for something like this. It won The Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel competition. There is also a very positive blurb from Julia Spencer-Fleming. She won six awards for her first mystery, In The Bleak Midwinter so she knows of which she speaks..
I carried a purple Kathy Van Zeeland today. It was the first one I ever bought. I had never even heard of her...I know, I can't believe it either! We were in Kansas City visiting my BFF and her family. M and I went shopping and as we were cruising handbag department as we always do, when M said that there was a purple purse with my name and pictures of purses (her logo) on it. It was handbag karma :o) and the start of my Kathy Van Zeeland collection.