Tasha Alexander's "Secrets of the Nile"

Tasha Alexander is the author of the New York Times bestselling Lady Emily mystery series.

The daughter of two philosophy professors, she studied English Literature and Medieval History at the University of Notre Dame. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, live on a ranch in southeastern Wyoming.

Here Alexander dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Secrets of the Nile, the 16th Lady Emily mystery:

When I’m writing—or reading, for that matter—I rarely picture actors as characters in the book. I suppose it’s because I’m more verbal than visual, which isn’t to say that I don’t have images of them in my head. It’s just that they’re truly imagined rather than based on actual people, and I often leave the descriptions of them vague, so that readers can come up with their own ideas of what they look like.

Even so, it’s deliciously fun to think about casting actors as my characters. If Secrets of the Nile became a movie, Jennifer Lawrence would make a fantastic Emily. Readers have told me for years they’d love to see Henry Cavill play Colin. Kenneth Branagh would be the perfect Lord Deeley and Thomasin McKenzie a great Kat. For Colin’s mother, I picture Judi Dench.

Visit Tasha Alexander's website.

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The Page 69 Test: Secrets of the Nile.

--Marshal Zeringue