Escape
By Hannah Howe
()
About this ebook
About the Series
The Ann's War Mystery Series is a series of five novellas set in 1944-5. Each story contains approximately 15,000 words and a complete mystery. The stories are: BETRAYAL, INVASION, BLACKMAIL, ESCAPE and VICTORY. Kindly note that each mystery is resolved within one story, and that Ann's story arc will be resolved over the five books.
About ESCAPE
March 1945. After six bloody, tear-stained years, the war was nearly over. However, for the German prisoners of war incarcerated in Island Farm Camp 198 the end could not arrive soon enough – so they decided to escape.
As the German prisoners fled to all points of the compass, one of their number, Kurt Schneider, was left with blood on his fingers and a gun in his hand. Furthermore, a dead woman lay at his feet. Accused of murder, he seemed set to hang. However, Ann Morgan had encountered Kurt Schneider during his supervised labouring stints on the local farms. She had grown to like the young man and did not believe him capable of murder. Could Ann save Kurt and bring the true murderer to justice?
Meanwhile, with her husband Emrys still missing in action, Ann found herself drawn to handsome widower Detective Inspector Max Deveraux. In the heat of the moment, could Ann hold her emotions in check, or would she cross a line into remorse and regret?
Hannah Howe
Hannah Howe is the bestselling author of the Sam Smith Mystery Series (Sam's Song, book one in the series, has reached number one on the amazon.com private detective chart on seven separate occasions and the number one position in Australia). Hannah lives in the picturesque county of Glamorgan with her partner and their two children. She has a university degree and a background in psychology, which she uses as a basis for her novels.Hannah began her writing career at school when her teacher asked her to write the school play. She has been writing ever since. When not writing or researching Hannah enjoys reading, genealogy, music, chess and classic black and white movies. She has a deep knowledge of nineteenth and twentieth century popular culture and is a keen student of the private detective novel and its history.Hannah's books are available in print, as audio books and eBooks from all major retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Kobo, iBooks, etc. For more details please visit https://hannah-howe.comThe Sam Smith Mystery Series in book order:Sam's SongLove and BulletsThe Big ChillRipperThe Hermit of HisaryaSecrets and LiesFamily HonourSins of the FatherSmoke and MirrorsStardustMind GamesDigging in the DirtA Parcel of RoguesBostonThe Devil and Ms DevlinSnow in AugustLooking for Rosanna MeeStormy WeatherDamagedEve’s War: Heroines of SOEOperation ZigzagOperation LocksmithOperation BroadswordOperation TreasureOperation SherlockOperation CameoOperation RoseOperation WatchmakerOperation OverlordOperation Jedburgh (to follow)Operation Butterfly (to follow)Operation Liberty (to follow)The Golden Age of HollywoodTula: A 1920s Novel (to follow)The Olive Tree: A Spanish Civil War SagaRootsBranchesLeavesFruitFlowersThe Ann's War Mystery Series in book order:BetrayalInvasionBlackmailEscapeVictoryStandalone NovelsSaving Grace: A Victorian MysteryColette: A Schoolteacher’s War (to follow)What readers have been saying about the Sam Smith Mystery Series and Hannah Howe..."Hannah Howe is a very talented writer.""A gem of a read.""Sam Smith is the most interesting female sleuth in detective fiction. She leaves all the others standing.""Hannah Howe's writing style reminds you of the Grandmasters of private detective fiction - Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker.""Sam is an endearing character. Her assessments of some of the people she encounters will make you laugh at her wicked mind. At other times, you'll cry at the pain she's suffered.""Sam is the kind of non-assuming heroine that I couldn't help but love.""Sam's Song was a wonderful find and a thoroughly engaging read. The first book in the Sam Smith mystery series, this book starts off as a winner!""Sam is an interesting and very believable character.""Gripping and believable at the same time, very well written.""Sam is a great heroine who challenges stereotypes.""Hannah Howe is a fabulous writer.""I can't wait to read the next in the series!""The Big Chill is light reading, but packs powerful messages.""This series just gets better and better.""What makes this book stand well above the rest of detective thrillers is the attention to the little details that makes everything so real.""Sam is a rounded and very real character.""Howe is an author to watch, able to change the tone from light hearted to more thoughtful, making this an easy and yet very rewarding read. Cracking!""Fabulous book by a fabulous author-I highly recommended this series!""Howe writes her characters with depth and makes them very engaging.""I loved the easy conversational style the author used throughout. Some of the colourful ways that the main character expressed herself actually made me laugh!""I loved Hannah Howe's writing style -- poignant one moment, terrifying the next, funny the next moment. I would be on the edge of my seat praying Sam wouldn't get hurt, and then she'd say a one-liner or think something funny, and I'd chuckle and catch my breath. Love it!""Sam's Song is no lightweight suspense book. Howe deals with drugs, spousal abuse, child abuse, and more. While the topics she writes about are heavy, Howe does a fantastic job of giving the reader the brutal truth while showing us there is still good in life and hope for better days to come."
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Escape - Hannah Howe
ANN’S WAR
ESCAPE
ANN’S WAR
ESCAPE
Hannah Howe
Goylake Publishing
Copyright © 2018 Hannah Howe
All rights reserved.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Goylake Publishing, Iscoed, 16A Meadow Street, North Cornelly, Bridgend, Glamorgan. CF33 4LL
Print ISBN: 978-1-9996017-9-9
eBook ISBN: 978-1-9993709-0-9
Printed and bound in Britain by Imprint Digital, Exeter, EX5 5HY
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is purely coincidental.
Ann’s War by Hannah Howe,
available in print, as eBooks and audio books
Betrayal
Invasion
Blackmail
Escape
Victory
The Sam Smith Mystery Series by Hannah Howe, available in print, as eBooks and audio books
Sam’s Song
Love and Bullets
The Big Chill
Ripper
The Hermit of Hisarya
Secrets and Lies
Family Honour
Sins of the Father
Smoke and Mirrors
Stardust
Mind Games
Digging in the Dirt
A Parcel of Rogues
Boston
Stand-alone Novel
Saving Grace
To my family, with love
Chapter One
Ann Morgan stood on top of a sand dune and smiled at Baskerville, her puppy. She had found him, abandoned on this very spot, just before Christmas. Now, with a cold March wind ruffling her honey-blonde hair, Ann reflected that Baskerville was coming along fine – inquisitive, mischievous and loving in equal measure.
Ann’s smile faded as she thought about her husband, Emrys. A year ago, almost to the day, he had flown to France on a secret mission to gather intelligence for the D-Day landings. On that wretched day, the Germans had shot down his aeroplane leaving Ann to worry about, and brood over, his fate.
At Christmas, Ann had received a letter from Emrys and since that moment, she had read the letter five times a day. Now, with winter struggling into spring, she had to confess that she had reduced her letter reading to once a day, then the highlights. She wondered if she was being disrespectful, disloyal even. She sighed. A letter can only warm you to a certain extent. Her house felt cold. She felt cold, abandoned.
Initially, Emrys’ words had eased her mind, but now they raised questions with little prospect of immediate answers. Ann missed Emrys; she missed everything about him – his intelligence, his smile, his loving touch. She was lonely, she had to confess. She missed the presence of a man about the house.
As Baskerville dug frantically in the sand, his tail swishing with excitement, Ann wondered about Emrys. She wondered if he was all right, where he was, what he was doing. The war was nearly over. Yet, it remained chaotic on the Continent.
With sand covering her shoes, courtesy of Baskerville, Ann reflected that at least she had established her detective agency. After initial reluctance, companies and individuals were starting to trust her and hire her. True, her workload was still light, but since the New Year a steady stream of clients suggested that business would pick up once the world declared peace and people returned to their civilian lives.
Ann placed Baskerville on his leash then mistress and puppy returned to their cottage, Homestead, which nestled beside Kenfig sand dunes.
At Homestead, Ann found Kurt Schneider working in her shed. He was repairing her generator. The generator was a handy backup, a safeguard against power cuts. Emrys had built and installed the generator, an example of his considerable intellectual and engineering skills. Under Emrys’ care the generator had ticked over like a smooth Swiss watch. In his absence, Ann had applied her delicate fingers to the task. However, she had to confess that she was not mechanically minded and that she lacked the necessary talented touch.
While Baskerville wandered around the allotment, Ann admired Kurt Schneider at work. Twenty-one years old with a tall, lean frame, sandy hair and a boyish expression, Kurt was an engineer, then a soldier in the German Seventh Army and now a prisoner of war, captured in a wood south of Amiens on 1st September 1944. The authorities regarded Kurt as a low-risk prisoner; therefore, they allowed him to assist with domestic duties on the local farms. He was such a pleasant young man, Ann considered, polite