First Sentences 2015

[First Sentences of books read in 2015]

On the morning of Lord and Lady Montforts' annual summer ball, their housekeeper, Edith Jackson, was up, washed, and almost dressed by six o' clock. ~ Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen


It was just before nine a.m. when the toddler's mother saw his little hands and cheeks covered in a sticky substance mixed with crumbly white particles. ~ Windy City Blues by Marc Krulewitch


I don't recognize her at first ~ Joy Street by Laura Foley (first line of poem, "What Wild Women Do")


Ove is fifty-nine. ~ A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman


The dead sitting on his desk could wait. ~ Last Words by Rich Zahradnik


She sat at the piano, fingers still poised over the now-silent keys. ~ Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall


In years to come, Flora would remember this as the day of Before and After. ~ Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes


"As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today." ~ Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson


Paisley Munro tried not to gawk at the two broad-shouldered men in kilts as she hefted her suitcase off the luggage carousel in the Inverness Airport, located northeast of the city referred to as the capital of the Scottish Highlands. ~ A Highlander's Obsession by Vonnie Davis


Kenzie Denune pedaled the bicycle harder, her thighs burning from the exertion. ~ A Highlander's Passion by Vonnie Davis


"You just got out of jail?" ~ Shady Cross by James Hankins


With one last twist of a filament of earth magic, I fused together the delicate seams of the quartz tube. ~ Magic of the Gargoyles by Rebecca Chastain


Half blinded by the storm, she stumbled into the opening between two buildings. ~ Written in Red by Anne Bishop


Nudged awake by his bedmate's restless movements, Simon Wolfgard yawned, rolled over on his belly, and studied Meg Corbyn. ~ Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Meg Corbyn entered the bathroom in the Human Liaison's Office and laid out the items she'd labeled the tools of prophecy: antiseptic ointment, bandages, and the silver folding razor decorated with pretty leaves and flowers on one side of the handle. ~ Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop


With one last twist of a filament of earth magic, I fused together the delicate seams of the quartz tube. ~ Magic of the Gargoyles by Rebecca Chastain


To being with, nothing was certain except her own terror. ~ Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes

Inside the car, it smells like hibiscus. It was his mother's idea; something subtle, she told him, but fresh. Something alive. ~ Diamond Head by Cecily Wong


From my first breath in this world, all I wanted was a good set of lungs and the air to fill them with--given circumstances, you might presume, for an American baby of the twentieth century. ~ Peace is Like a River by Leif Enger


There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. ~ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte


It was far from silent in the dark wood. ~ The Garden Child by Catriona McPherson


I stand at the edge of the crowded square, watching the executioners light the pyres. ~ The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker


He'd stopped trying to bring her back. ~ Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell


The city teems. ~ Huntress Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff


Daniell Bretancourt von Hoffman braced herself against the mahogany-paneled stateroom wall, striving for balance as she flung open the porthole, seeking a moment of respite she knew would never be. ~ Scent of Triumph by Jan Moran


London, the year I turned twenty. ~ A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison



The old house on Apple Hill Lane shuddered against the weighty snow that burdened its pitch. 
~ The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy


The dark concrete corridor stretched out before him, smelling of blood and semen and terror. ~ Blood Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff


"Have ye e'er seen such a lovely set 'o bosoms?" ~ My Highland Bride by Maeve Greyson


Lara Mayhew held her cell phone to her ear, trying to reach her friend Meg as she hurried along the length of the National Mall. ~ The Silenced by Heather Graham


We are sitting at a table in a restaurant. ~ The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons by Heather A. Slomski

The moon is high, spilling icy light through the pine branches. ~ Cold Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff


Clare: It's hard being left behind. ~ The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger


The first Callanish knew of the Circus Excalibur was the striped silk of their sails against the gray sky.  ~ The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan


Thirty-two hours of my life are missing. ~ Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin


Our troubles began in the summer of 1914, the year I turned thirty-five. ~ Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart

The great headlines of other newspapers were always to be despised.  ~ Drop Dead Punk by Rich Zahradnik


The parcel was wrapped in brown paper and tied with an unblemished silk ribbon. ~ Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey


Widowhood is trapping me unwillingly. ~ Wet Silence by Sveta Srivastava


There is a pile of clothing on the side of the train tracks. ~ Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The two weeks leading up to finals were the perfect time to do research at Gilman Library--if you needed to be surrounded by people. ~ The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts by K.C. Tansley

It was, as Rowan's best friend Hilary often said, a day of small mishaps turning into complete disasters. ~ The Society by Lilith Saintcrow

She ended up knee-deep in slick rotting garbage with one hell of a shiner and a stitch gripping her side, holding a glowing blue knife while something with tentacles thrashed toward her in the foul stinking water. ~ The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow


Every seven-year-old deserves a superhero. ~ My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

"Can we go look, can we go look, can we go look?" Eight-year-old Amelie tugged at Rachel's hand, pulling her toward the stairs. ~ The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig

To Ronan Matheson, this was home. ~ Bearing It All by Vonnie Davis


I hadn't been thinking about killing Delwood. ~ On the Road with Del and Louise: A Novel in Short Stories by Art Taylor


A puddle of inky atrum pooled in front of a storage closet beside the hotel elevators. ~ A Fistful of Fire by Rebecca Chastain



When I got home I could smell the trash cans on the cold air, a faint bad smell that made me wrinkle my nose. ~ Opening of Human Remains by Elizabeth Haynes


I admit, I had seen a ghost or two. ~ Opening of The Uninvited by Cat Winters


On the ferry from Hyannis to Alice Island, Amelia Loman paints her nails yellow, and, while waiting for them to dry, skims her predecessor's notes. ~ The Storied Life of A.J. Friky by Gabrielle Zevin


Later today, Bob Oakland would wish he'd been killed in a manner that was quick and painless and nothing like how he imagined it would feel to have the blade of a penknife saw through his gullet. ~ The Spy Trade by Matthew Dunn


Kick. ~ Hunter, Healer by Lilith Saintcrow


I went missing fifteen years ago. ~ Hidden by Karen E. Olson


Smoke. ~ Smoke by Catherine McKenzie

Standing on top of his favorite cliff, Tydrin leaned forward to peer over the edge. ~ Fury of a Highland Dragon by Coreene Callahan


As the machine spat out the last drops of coffee that Monday morning, a tiny whiff of hairspray wafted down the hallway from Mel's bathroom and mingled with the aroma of freshly ground beans and the distinctive fragrance of Hoppe's #9 gun-cleaning solvent. ~ Stand Down by J.A. Jance


Even the kindness of the half-light could not hide his disfigurement. ~ A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton


That morning, the excitement coursing throughout the complex known as the Castle was infectious. ~ The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan


If she didn't have thirty children showing up in the next half hour, Celeste Nichols would have been tempted to climb into her little SUV, pull out of the Pine Gulch Library parking lot and just keep in driving. ~ A Cold Creek Christmas Story by RaeAnne Thayne


Only the most jaded of critics would deny that the Winter Holiday Concert had been an artistic triumph, and as far as Sophia could tell as the audience filed from the auditorium to meet the young performers in the cafeteria for juice and cookies, no one fitting that description had attended. ~ Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini


Nothing says Merry Christmas like your mother pimping you out at your brother's engagement party. ~ One Christmas Wish by Sara Richardson


"If you value your reputation, you'll get moving." ~ Twelve Nights by Sharon Struth


How quickly fortunes reversed. ~ The Santa Claus Man by Alex Palmer


It was two weeks before Christmas, but in the desert kingdom, it still felt like a hot, scorching summer afternoon as the young teacher finished yet another day at school. ~ Christmas in Vermont by Bryan Mooney



Connor James Silver, better known as CJ, couldn't believe it had been a whole year since he and his brothers rejoined their cousin Darien Silver's wolf pack. ~ A Silver Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear


Twenty-six--that was the number of windows across the front of this house. ~ Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses by Jenny Hale


My father is gone. ~ The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat



She supposed that particular state of affairs wasn't necessarily a bad thing in her current role as substitute attending physician at the Lake Haven Hospital emergency department. ~ Evergreen Springs by RaeAnne Thayne



Charlotte Bronte dipped her pen into the inkwell and dabbed in on a blotter. ~ Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley


HARTFORD, Sept. 5, 1878--The dead body of Mary E. Stannard, 22 years old, was found at Durham, hear the border of Madison, on Tuesday night. ~ The Evening Spider by Emily Arsenault


Dusk mud flats mottled silver, mauve, five
shades of taupe. ~ Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust

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