Triptych

Triptych

Margit Liesche

Margit Liesche

Triptych paints parallel portraits of two sets of mothers and daughters caught up in the brutalities of the Hungarian revolution. The story shifts from 1956 Budapest to 1986 Chicago and Budapest, illuminating courageous individuals who battled against tyranny, while also showing the dark side of insurgency, and the continuing ripples that haunt the next generation. Budapest, 1956. A national uprising against Soviet occupiers and their reign of terror is underway. Eleven-year-old Évike and her rebrand mother steal deep into battle zones in support of civilian freedom fighters armed only with primitive weapons and desperate courage against the heavy artillery of trained Russian troops. Taken in for interrogation by the secret police, Évike spins a story to deflect attention from her mother's revolutionary activities. This story will irrevocably alter lives and reach its tentacles, thirty years later, into the life of Ildikó Palmay. Chicago, 1986. Ildikó, 37, a librarian and...
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Lipstick and Lies

Lipstick and Lies

Margit Liesche

Margit Liesche

SUMMARY: Women Airforce Service Pilot and undercover agent, Pucci Lewis, did not want to go to jail. But how else could she unmask Grace Buchanan-Dineen, an imprisoned countess-counteragent suspected of triple dealing and possibly putting our country's future at risk? Dineen, a real-life figure, led a German spy ring that operated in Detroit during WWII. Confronted by the FBI, she agreed to act as a counteragent helping to nail the other ring members. Jailed along with her cohorts--"for her own protection"--her rancor ran deep. Enter Pucci, landing in a B-24 bomber at the Willow Run aircraft factory. Late for a meeting, she takes a shortcut and stumbles upon a corpse. Agent Dante appears and reveals the dead man to be a German spy. A fellow Willow Run employee, Otto Renner, has been under surveillance and the FBI suspects a link between Renner and the imprisoned countess. Dante convinces Pucci to become a sister inmate to see what she can learn. Pucci's undercover work quickly ratchets up. In addition to her jail assignment, she infiltrates a posh women's club where Dineen, billed as a "charm consultant," once lectured. Her mission: Are Dineen's former club contacts, the chic Barclay-Bly sisters and the club's beautician, Mrs. Otto Renner, moles? A romance brewing between Pucci and Dante is sidelined by professional demands when they partner up on a surreptitious break in. As the story unfolds, they not only expose the espionage ring but also confront an even greater threat to home land security.
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Hollywood Buzz

Hollywood Buzz

Margit Liesche

Margit Liesche

SUMMARY: Pucci Lewis was used to ferrying fighter planes and undercover work. But it's the dark hours of WWII, and Hollywood's biggest stars, studio moguls, and Washington bureaucrats are working hand-in-glove to merge entertainment and propaganda. Pucci has been dispatched to the First Motion Picture Unit, where a make-or-break documentary on the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) is underway. Pucci is stepping in for a sister-WASP, now hospitalized in critical condition after an all-too-deliberate plane crash. But who's the saboteur? Why the cover-up? Pucci is drawn into a high-profile homicide. A big-name director has been murdered, possibly by Nazi operatives. Military intelligence wants Pucci to learn what she can from her inside position. Bela Lugosi is a frequent visitor to the Beverly Hills mansion where Pucci is temporarily billeted. His "niece," a rising starlet and also the housekeeper, has a history with the Hungarian resistance. But Pucci doesn't trust the girl. Can Pucci steadfastly maneuver through movie land and its narcissistic denizens, finally unraveling the uncertainties to prove she has the right stuff?
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