Olivia Redmond is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us about Deadly Broadcast, the latest novel in the Deadly mystery series.

Welcome, Olivia. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

I’m Olivia Redmond and I live inside Deadly Broadcast. It’s the eighth story in the Deadly series. When the series began, it was autumn 1937 and Britain was being threatened by war. With Deadly Broadcast, war was declared a few months ago and it is now the cold, dark winter of 1939/1940. I have returned to reporting for the London Daily Premier and been assigned to interview Janet Murrow, the wife of the famous American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow who was at that time living and broadcasting from London.

Murrow fires his engineer and a few minutes later, walking to Broadcasting House, Janet Murrow and I trip over the engineer’s body. The engineer had been working for the British spymaster Sir Malcolm, who calls me in to investigate the motive behind the murder. The more I investigate, the more motives, and murders, I uncover.

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

Kate Parker controls the story, because if I did, it would be quiet and my Army captain husband would be home more and there would be no more murders. I like a stress-free life.

How did you evolve as the main character?

In the first Deadly story, Deadly Scandal, I was a young widow, ripped out of my carefree life of lunches and teas and parties. I had to find employment that would replace my late husband’s salary and allow me to find out who murdered him. In the two-plus years since then, I’ve developed some skill as an investigator and reporter, remarried, and learned to stand up for myself and others.

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

I particularly enjoy sharing the story with my husband, Adam Redmond, whenever he gets leave from the army. Even though we’re currently in what is known as the Phony War, after war was declared but before Germany begins attacking the west, I don’t get to see him very often. I also enjoy sharing the story with Esther Powell, my best friend and mother of two infants, who convinced her father, the publisher of the Daily Premier, to hire me originally. Her father, Sir Henry Benton, is the best boss I could hope for.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

In this story, I’m in London with a blackout changing the face of the city I grew up in. Trenches turned into bomb shelters are in every park, sandbags surround the entrances to buildings, and not a hint of light escapes at night. Even auto headlights are shielded, making it dangerous to cross streets during the hours of the blackout.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

Come join me, Olivia Redmond, inside the world of Deadly Broadcast. Visit BBC Broadcasting House and find out what New Year’s Eve is like during a blackout. And meet real life broadcaster Edward R. Murrow when he was a young man and broadcasting from his first assignment.

Thank you for answering my questions, Olivia, and good luck to you and your author, Kate Parker, with Deadly Broadcast, the latest book in the Deadly mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Olivia and her author, Kate Parker by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook and Goodreads pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon – Apple – B&N – Kobo

About Kate Parker: Since she was unable to build a time machine in her backyard, Kate Parker immerses herself in research and then creates the world that lives inside each book that she writes. Her favorite place is London and her time travel destination is anywhere from the late Victorian era through World War II. Since she lives in the Carolinas with her daughter and a 95-pound puppy, the practical side of her is thankful for air conditioning and all the modern comforts of life. Comforts she will take with her if she ever figures out how to build her time machine.