When I set out to write a thriller in which my protagonist was in mortal peril no later than the end of the first paragraph, I knew I wanted to include something about the Enigma machine, the encoding device used by the Axis during World War II, and about the successful British effort to break the supposedly unbreakable Enigma code which took place at Bletchley Park. Like most people, I didn't know much about Bletchley or Enigma twenty-five years ago when I became friends with a British woman named Mavis Batey. We bonded over our mutual interest in Lewis Carroll and met at several conferences. Then I discovered Mavis had been at Bletchley-not as a secretary or a transcriber but as a mathematician and code breaker. Not until after her death did I learn just how important her work at Bletchley had been. This sweet old English woman with whom I had enjoyed cups of tea and walks through London was one of the key figures at Bletchley and a true hero of the war.
Making World War II Relevant in a Contemporary Thriller ‹ CrimeReads
19 September 2022
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