Daughter of Deceit (34 page)

Thanks to…

Obviously this is a work of fiction, so Winston Holcomb and his military record are entirely fictitious. However, while I never assigned Winnie to any specific heavy-bomber group, I based his military history largely on records from the 376
^th
and the 461
^st
Heavy Bombers Groups of the Fifteenth Air Force. The Fifteenth did bomb the South Synthetic Oil Refinery, Blechhammer, Germany, on November 20, 1944, they did meet heavy flak, and two crews did bail out over Yugoslavia. As I have learned about the bravery of those crews during World War II—the missions they flew, the medals they earned—I have come to greatly admire them. So much so that for our anniversary, my husband gave me
Bomber Missions: Aviation Art of World War II
by G.E. Patrick Murray, the same coffee table book Tom Murray had in his library.

I am grateful to those who created and continue to maintain web sites for the heavy-bomber groups, and I owe special thanks to Hughes Glantzbert, historian of the 461
^st
Heavy Bombers Group, for steering me toward other information and web sites I needed.

Thanks, too, to Bruce Gamble, formerly of the U.S. Navy and currently a military historian, and to Mary K. Howle, attorney and former Air Force Captain, for pointing me to other web sites and sources for military research; to Winter Benedict of Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, for researching current prices for Monet paintings; and to Patricia Browning, long-time resident of Buckhead, who read the manuscript to be sure I fairly represented her neighborhood. The accuracy of the book is due to them. Any inaccuracies are my own.

Making books is a cooperative effort, so once again I have to thank my agent, Nancy Yost; my editor, Sarah Durand; and my publicist, Danielle Bartlett. They are the invisible faces behind these pages. Finally, as always, I thank my patient husband, Bob, who recognizes that writing is not a profession, it is an obsession.

PATRICIA SPRINKLE
grew up in North Carolina and Florida, graduated from Vassar College, and afterwards spent a year writing in the Scottish Highlands. She has been writing mysteries full time since 1988, and currently lives in Smyrna, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. She and her husband have two grown sons. When she is not writing, Patricia is active in advocacy for abused, neglected, and deprived children. You can visit her website at
www.patriciasprinkle.com.

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AUGHTER OF
D
ECEIT

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INS OF THE
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ATHERS

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EATH ON THE
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AMILY
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REE

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W
HAT
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RE
Y
OU
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EARING TO
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IE
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UESS
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HO’S
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OMING TO
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IE
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D
ID
Y
OU
D
ECLARE THE
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ORPSE
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W
HO
K
ILLED THE
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UEEN OF
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LUBS?

W
HEN
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ILL THE
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EAD
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ADY
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ING
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W
HO
L
ET
T
HAT
K
ILLER IN THE
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OUSE
?

W
HO
L
EFT
T
HAT
B
ODY IN THE
R
AIN
?

W
HO
I
NVITED THE
D
EAD
M
AN
?

B
UT
W
HY
S
HOOT THE
M
AGISTRATE
?

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HEN
D
ID
W
E
L
OSE
H
ARRIET
?

Shelia Travis Mystery Series

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EADLY
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ECRETS ON THE
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T
. J
OHNS

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YSTERY
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RED IN
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UCKHEAD

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EATH OF A
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UNWOODY
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ATRON

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URDER IN THE
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ANNER

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URDER IN
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ARKHAM

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ONG

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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DAUGHTER OF DECEIT
. Copyright © 2008 by Patricia Sprinkle. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader August 2008 ISBN 978-0-06-170798-8

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