General Wilhelm Bernhard, from Deadly Ruse, A Deadly mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to introduce himself and the situation he finds himself in.
Welcome, General Bernhard. I’ll turn the floor over to you –
Hello, I’m General Wilhelm Bernhard, a character in Deadly Ruse, and I could teach you a great deal about how to lose a war. Despite how some of my fellow detainees see me, I am not the cause of Germany’s loss during World War II. That would be Hitler. That man should have listened to his generals. We all told him invading Russia was a stupid idea. That was how we ended up in a two-front war, bogged down in the sands of North Africa, without enough fuel or ammunition.
Despite being in military intelligence, hunting out our adversaries’ weaknesses, they put me in charge of a Panzer division. I used my skills in espionage to fight until out of fuel and supplies, we surrendered. And that led me to being a prisoner of war in Trent Park House, or “guest” as our British captors call us. What nonsense.
There are two groups of prisoners in Trent Park House, pro-Nazi and anti-Nazi. I don’t think of myself as either. I’m a soldier who fought for my country, not some political party. I think everyone else puts me in the anti-Nazi group, using the idea that if you aren’t one of them, you are against them. All I want to do, as soon as this war is over, is to go home and work on my sister’s farm and hug my children. I never want to lead anything ever again.
That is how I ended up involved in the events of Deadly Ruse and meeting up with Olivia Redmond again. In my espionage days before the war, I met Olivia in several locations while she was helping Jews escape the Nazis. She wasn’t trying to hurt Germany. She was trying to help people who didn’t want to be there to get out. Nothing wrong with that. So, when she needed a little help, I helped her. I like her. She has spirit. And she reminds me a little of my wife who died as a young woman so many years ago.
Somehow, I ended up calling Olivia “Frau” and she calls me “Oberst,” my rank when we first met. Even though I am now a general, she still calls me Oberst, which annoys some of my more rigid fellow prisoners. Another thing I secretly enjoy.
I find Olivia brightens up the dull military prisoner of war camp I find myself in. She teaches drawing to a bunch of bored prisoners, a few of whom enjoy drawing and the rest who are just looking for a diversion. I don’t blame them. I find Olivia diverting, so I watch her classes and talk to her afterward. She doesn’t have a military mind, which is a relief after dealing with men whose brain matter is khaki colored.
And when things start to go wrong at Trent Park House and danger begins to stalk the hallways in Deadly Ruse, I am glad to have Olivia there to talk things through with her. Together I hope we can find the source of the danger in this prisoner of war camp before anyone else gets killed.
Thank you for sharing this with us, General Bernhard, and good luck to you and your author, Kate Parker, with Deadly Ruse, the latest book in the Deadly mystery series. I’ve just read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Readers can learn more about General Bernhard and his author, Kate Parker by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook page.
The book is available online at the following retailers:
About Kate Parker: Kate Parker has long wanted to build a time travel machine. However, after several false starts, she gave up and created time travel by going back in time inside her books. Since she’s fond of murder mysteries, it is probably best that all of her travel is inside books or police from various ages would be hunting her. When not recreating old time buildings and fashions, she can be found with a modern computer and modern air conditioning in North Carolina with her daughter and a 115 lb. puppy who could just crash through any time barrier.
dianneascroft.com 