{"id":6447,"date":"2025-06-17T07:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=6447"},"modified":"2025-06-17T07:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:03:14","slug":"david-lewis-a-beacon-in-the-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/david-lewis-a-beacon-in-the-night\/","title":{"rendered":"David Lewis: A Beacon in the Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Secret Churchill Files #2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>London, 1941. As the Blitz winds down the Nazis begin a series of terror-bombings focused on British churches, stately homes, hospitals, and other emotional landmarks in an attempt to destroy cultural heritage and demoralize the British. Can Caitrin Colline, agent of the all-female 512 counterespionage unit track down the source of the beacons that lead the planes to the bomb sites?<\/p>\n

Despite Caitrin\u2019s success in saving the Crown Jewels almost single-handedly in the first book in the series, Churchill is threatening to improve his budget by absorbing the 512 into the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Head of the 512, Bethany Goodman, is determined to prove her unit\u2019s usefulness by sending Caitrin to track down the source of the homing beacons.<\/p>\n

Caitrin is intelligent, determined, and well-educated but does not hide her working-class resentment of the aristocracy, even though she is attracted to her fellow counterespionage agent Lord Marlton, Hector Neville-Percy (aka \u201cHecky\u201d). Hecky embodies all that is good about British aristocracy. He\u2019s clever, handsome, willing to do what it takes to get the job done, and, most importantly (and unlike most the other men in the book), sees women as his equals. Although they are from different social classes, Caitrin and Hecky\u2019s interactions show they are intellectual equals with a mutual attraction expressed in verbal jibes backed up by a deep trust in one another.<\/p>\n

In contrast to Hecky is Daniel \u201cTeddy\u201d Baer, a Jewish Whitechapel crook who aspires to become part of the British aristocracy regardless of the cost. Caitrin needs Teddy\u2019s help to solve a personal crime that leads her to suspect his criminal network spreads beyond Whitechapel to something even more nefarious. Is Teddy somehow related to the beacons that are being set on British landmarks? As Teddy evolves from a slum crime lord to potential aristocrat, his contrast to Hecky becomes clearer. While Teddy acquires the veneer of aristocracy, Hecky is the real thing. Teddy\u2019s lack of scruples to get what he wants destroys any charm he had when Caitrin first met him.<\/p>\n

The somewhat tongue-in-cheek tone of the series sets it apart from other WWII mysteries. Despite her loyalty to Britain, Caitrin makes her views on Socialism clear as well as her resentment of the aristocracy and men who are too blind to see the value of women as espionage agents. Some of her one-liners are laugh-out-loud funny, as is her meeting with Commander Ian Fleming. Yes, THAT Ian Fleming. Caitrin\u2019s realistic contradictions, such as her attraction to Hecky despite her belief in Socialism, make her a complex, believable protagonist.<\/p>\n

Before reading this book, I had never heard of the Nazis using homing beacons on British landmarks. To me, this is even more terrifying that the Blitz. In London, there was plenty of warning, shelter in the Underground, barrage balloons, and ant-aircraft guns. Yes, it was awful but at least countermeasures were taken. In the country, there was no warning, no place to hide, and little anti-aircraft protection. One minute you might wonder if you heard a plane, the next minute your stately home cum hospital had been bombed. (Imagine Downton Abbey being bombed!)<\/p>\n

I really enjoyed Caitrin\u2019s confidence and independence, the contrast of Hecky and Teddy, and the supporting characters. Although I haven\u2019t yet read A Jewel in the Crown<\/em> (the first book in this series), I agree with the publisher\u2019s statement that fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Susan Elia MacNeal will probably like this series.\u00a0\u00a0— Cathy Akers-Jordan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Secret Churchill Files #2 London, 1941. As the Blitz winds down the Nazis begin a series of terror-bombings focused on British churches, stately homes, hospitals, and other emotional landmarks in an attempt to destroy cultural heritage and demoralize the British. Can Caitrin Colline, agent of the all-female 512 counterespionage unit track down the source of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2127,78,1746,542,2128,1748,149],"class_list":["post-6447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-a-beacon-in-the-night","tag-cathy-akers-jordan","tag-david-lewis","tag-england","tag-ian-fleming","tag-john-scognamiglio","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6449,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447\/revisions\/6449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}