Books
Dive into the daring world of Catherine DeWitt, where survival and espionage take flight in the turbulent skies of history.
In 1936, amidst the wreckage of her fallen flying circus in French Algeria, Catherine DeWitt, an audacious aerobatic pilot turned chanteuse, faces destitution. Disowned and desperate, she survives on her wits, singing for sustenance and dabbling in thievery. Her fortunes take a dramatic turn when she steals the blueprints of a groundbreaking German warplane. Seeing a chance to escape her troubles, Kate approaches the British government, only to be drawn into the shadowy realm of espionage as the Secret Intelligence Service enlists her to spy on the Nazi Condor Legion as it tests Hitler’s newest weapons in the brutal Spanish Civil War.
Sent undercover to fascist-held Seville, Kate must reconnect with Fernando Alcala, the charismatic colonel in Francisco Franco’s air force whom she deceived for the plans. Amidst the city’s perilous landscape, she grapples with her growing attraction to the dashing colonel while evading the secret police converging on her from both sides of the conflict. As Kate uncovers critical intelligence that could shape Britain’s readiness for the impending global war, she faces a stark challenge: staying alive long enough to report what she’s found.
Bluejay Rises is winging its way to agents. Stay tuned.
Read the first seven chapters of Bluejay Rises. (3/29/24)*
* Note: this is still a work in progress. The preview will change over time. The date is when the available version was uploaded.
Aviatrix Catherine DeWitt longs to tear down the legal wall that separates her from her young son. But that requires resources she doesn’t have. Then opportunity knocks: the British Security Service recruits her to help destroy a plot to fly German arms to the Real Irish Volunteers, a radical IRA splinter group that may be planning to undermine Northern Ireland in the summer of 1937.
Kate goes undercover as a fascist sympathizer to infiltrate the cell of British Nazi acolytes brokering the weapons transfers. A spectacular betrayal leaves Kate stuck in Ireland in the service of the RIV’s volatile leader. As she learns more about the group’s intentions, she realizes Britain’s security services have it all wrong: the RIV plans to remake Ireland by treachery and violence, threatening the lives of thousands and the fate of the Irish nation.
With the clock ticking down to a critical Irish election, Kate must use all her skills and courage to expose the truth, navigate the proliferating deceits, evade a sadistic killer, and discover the fate of the man who gave her wings. Her only path to survival is to fly straight through the turbulent clouds of war gathering over her home, her nation, and Europe.
The Bluejay of Mullingar is targeted for completion in Summer 2024.
Read the first eight chapters of The Bluejay of Mullingar. (11/26/23)*
* Note: this is still a work in progress. The preview will change over time. The date is when the available version was uploaded.
