Lipstick and Lies: A Pucci Lewis Mystery

by Margit Liesche

Book Overview

"A sharply written adventure/mystery debut." --Kirkus ReviewsWomen Air Force Service Pilot and undercover agent Pucci Lewis did not want to go to jail. But how else could she unmask Grace... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590583205
• ISBN13: 9781590583203
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

A different perspective on WWII, from the home front

Readers who enjoy strong female characters and mysteries with a historical setting will find LIPSTICK AND LIES a welcome addition to their library. Pucci Lewis is a gutsy young woman in an unusual position, making the most of her opportunities. It is 1943, and there's a war on. Pucci Lewis is one of the elite Women Air Force Service (WASP) pilots, usually found ferrying supplies to wherever they are needed. She's been tapped by the FBI to be an undercover agent, an unusual selection because she doesn't speak any foreign languages. This fact is offset by her ability to go just about anywhere as a WASP. Right now she's in Detroit, at the Willow Run aircraft factory; there's been some evidence of German spying going on. The first thing the FBI does is send Pucci to jail; she's supposed to worm her way into the good graces of Grace Buchanan-Dineen, a countess-counteragent suspected of being a triple agent. The FBI agent in charge of this case is Dante Cavaradossi, a very attractive single man who may or may not be putting the moves on Pucci. When the jail plan doesn't work out, he moves Pucci to the prestigious Cosmos Club where she can mingle with the upper crust women who flocked to hear Buchanan-Dineen speak. Pucci is quite startled to run into one of her cohorts from espionage training. It would seem that the right hand of the FBI doesn't know everything that the left hand of the Army is doing. By the end of LIPSTICK AND LIES, we know who the bad guys are and what their motivations are. We also have a nice portrayal of a part of the war that few think of, and of the role that women played in that war. Liesche gives Pucci quite a lot to do, especially considering she's a woman. Pucci is ambitious and more than willing to take on any task she's set, particularly if someone seems to think it's beyond her abilities. Not an unlikely characteristic for a woman pilot in the early 40's. Sometimes Pucci is just a little too trusting, which makes for great plotting. It will be interesting to see where Liesche takes Pucci in future books.

Lipstick and Lies

Lipstick and Lies, as the title suggests, encompasses women's sometimes unusual roles during World War II. Pucci Lewis, a WASP pilot also becomes a sleuth undercover for the FBI as a journalist who gets dangerously involved in a German spy ring. The wonderfully fresh mystery line is intriguing. The background meshing history with fiction is superb. The descriptions of characters, cars, society clubs, 78 record players, fashion, office equipment, aircraft, sights and sounds of Detroit during 1943 send the reader back 50 years. However such insights as government agency's turf wars could be current. Hope there will be a sequel.

A great mystery and full of true facts

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (1/07) "Lipstick and Lies" is a 1940's WWII mystery full of murder, espionage and quirky characters. The story is fictional, but a few of the characters are not. I was amazed to read at the end of the story how Margit Liesche came up with the idea. She based it on some of the most uncelebrated war heroes of WWII, women. The author explains in the afterward "A thirst to learn more about these women drove me to one of my favorite places, the library. And when I raised the subject with others, I found the WASP to be a well-kept secret. Fine, I thought, I'll write about these women and their heroics. I'll spread the word about them. My story's protagonist would be a composite of members of the WASP." And that's exactly what she does in this well-written novel. The author also has a grasp on the life, style and language of the 1940's and does a very good job incorporating it into her novel. The main character of the story, Pucci Lewis is a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) and an undercover agent. When Pucci gets assigned to meet the FBI at Willow Run, she immediately runs into a dead body and the plot thickens from there. After meeting her boss, real life WASP leader and test pilot, Jackie Cochran, she is placed on the case. Her first case assignment to break the spy ring that is threatening the US takes her into jail as an inmate to get information from real life Countess Buchanan-Dineen, a German spy and FBI counteragent. This leads Pucci into the world of the elite at a posh woman's club. She quickly runs into more than she bargained for. This fast paced mystery novel will be enjoyed by those who love mystery and period pieces. I not only walked away with an appreciation for the story in "Lipstick and Lies," but a completely new perspective on what women did to help their country during WWII. I hope to see more work on this by Margit Liesche through fiction, but would also enjoy a nonfiction book to learn more about these war heroes.

fabulous WWII espionage action adventure

In 1943 Women Air Forces Service Pilot (WASP) Pucci Lewis flies planes around the country as needed by the military. Pucci also works for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) as a counter spy insuring no axis rings operate within the United States. She flies a B-24 to Willow Run aircraft factory near Detroit. There Pucci stumbles on the corpse of a worker when FBI Agent Dante finds her and informs her that the deceased was a Nazi spy. He further explains they are shadowing another factory employee Otto Renner suspected of giving the Germans aircraft information. Finally he drafts Pucci to go undercover as a caught jewel thief sent to prison. Her assignment behind bars is to determine whether exposed double agent Countess Grace Buchanan-Dineen is working for or crossing the Bureau as she is supposed to obtain evidence against her cohorts. The interrelated cases seem simple enough until Pucci ends up at the Cosmos Club, where she wonders if this spy and counter spy scenario consists of no Nazi sympathizers as the adversaries seem to belong to either the FBI or the OSS. LIPSTICKS AND LIES is a fabulous WWII espionage action adventure that gives the audience a taste of the era from a rarely seen focus; that of a WASP. Besides a fabulous spy thriller and a vivid look at Detroit in 1943, the tale also provides a fascinating undercurrent as the two federal agencies compete rather than cooperate as it is heresy to collaborate; apparently based on the 9/11 Commission that rivalry had not changed as of September 2001 except the OSS morphed into the CIA. Margit Liesche provides a soaring historical thriller that takes off at the onset and never lands until the final quite interesting especially because of who's who confrontation. Harriet Klausner