WWAR April 2023 Part 2

Dark and Stormy Book Club

PART 2 WWAR
:
Tracey reported on “Operation Blackbird: A Cold War Spy Novel” by Ellen Butler. Ellen appeared on
episode 19 in August of 2018 on her book “Isabella's Painting.”
October, 1952. The war is over, but for CIA officer Miriam Becker, memories of the horrors she witnessed
remain jagged in her mind. While vacationing in Argentina, recovering from a mission that nearly killed her,
she’s seeing more ghosts from the past than the sights.
When a longtime family friend and fellow operative, Jake Devlin, tracks her down, Miriam is forced to push
everything to the back of her mind for the next mission: help a highly prized and heavily guarded rocket
scientist defect from Soviet-controlled East Berlin—right out from under the KGB’s nose.
Well aware that one wrong move could spark World War III, Miriam, Jake, and the team plan their strategy to
the last detail. But when a betrayal brings everything crashing down, Jake’s quick thinking creates the
diversion to get Miriam out alive—but leaves him trapped behind the Iron Curtain.
Unsure of whom she can trust, Miriam must complete the mission by relying on contacts outside of the
agency, even though her heart longs to return to East Berlin to rescue the man who is the last link to her
troubled past ... before the KGB gets to him first.
Last but not least, Misty reported on Cathy Ace, one of our favorite authros, whose first appearance on the
podcast was on episode 27 for her book “The Corpse With The Silver Tongue.” She has appeared several
times since then.
Misty reported on “The Case of The Cursed Cottage: A WISE Enquiries Agent Mystery.” Henry
Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is convinced his mother is losing her marbles. The dowager claims
to have seen a corpse on the dining-room floor, but all she has to prove it is a bloodied bobble hat.
A BODY IN THE DINING ROOM. A BEAUTIFUL OLD MANSION. FOUR LADIES WHO WILL SOLVE THE
MYSTERY.
Henry hires the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. The duke wants the strange matter explained.
But the truth of what happened at the Chellingworth Estate, set in the rolling Welsh countryside near the
quaint village of Anwen by Wye, is more complex, dangerous, and deadly, than anyone could have foreseen .
. .
THE DETECTIVES
The WISE Enquiries Agency consists of Mavis, Annie, Carol and Christine. One is Welsh, one Irish, one
Scottish and one English, hence the name. Drawn together by chance – and a killer – the women of the WISE
Enquiries Agency turned their backs on their previous careers to work together to help others. Combining their
unique skills, and reveling in their differences, they’re doing their best to make the business succeed. But
being private investigators isn’t a bed of roses – there are bills to pay, clients to be managed, and dangers to
be faced. Can they manage to do it all, and survive?
We thank our listeners and especially our patrons who support what we do and look forward to five more
years of fun.
TRIVIA
Last week's question was:
P.D. James began her writing career while she worked where?
a. A school
b. a Law firm
c. a factory
d. a hospital
The answer is d. A hospital. She married Ernest Connor Bantry White (called "Connor"), an army doctor,
on 8 August 1941. They had two daughters, Clare and Jane. White returned from the Second World War
mentally ill and was institutionalised. With her daughters being mostly cared for by Connor's parents,James
studied hospital administration, and from 1949 to 1968 worked for a hospital board in London. She began
writing in the mid-1950s, using her maiden name ("My genes are James genes")
This week's question is:
What is author Laura Lippmans family connection to “The Wire?”
a. her brother
b. Her sister
c. Her cousin
Tune in next week for the answer.