Betty Ahern sits down for a Q&A with dru’s book musings responding to twenty or more questions so that we can learn more about her. Are you ready? Let’s get to know Betty.

What is your full name?
Elizabeth Anne Ahern, but people call me Betty.

How old are you?
19 – I’ll be 20 this April.

What is your profession?
I work at Bell Airplane, making the P39 Airacobra planes.

Do you have a significant other?
You bet I do.

What is their name and profession?
My fiancé, Tom, is overseas with the 1st Armored Division. Last I heard he was in North Africa, but you know how it is with a war on. He could be somewhere else by now.

Do you have any children?
Oh gosh no! I s’pose I will someday, if we’re lucky.

Do you have any siblings?
I come from a big Irish Catholic family. My older brother, Sean, is on the USS Washington out in the Pacific. Then there’s me, my sister Mary Kate (she’s three years younger than me and the homemaker of the bunch), and my brothers Michael, 12, and Jimmy, 11.

Are your parents nearby?
They’re in the next room. I still live at home.

Who is your best friend?
I’ve got two of ’em, really. Dot Kilbride works with me at Bell. I’ve known her since grade school. And my oldest friend, Lee Tillotson, well, we’ve known each other since we were real little. We all live within walking distance of each other.

Do you have any pets?
Not by my choice, but I was adopted by a stray cat, who I call Cat. I know, not real original. Mary Kate already told me.

What town do you live in?
I live in Buffalo, NY. A First Ward girl and proud of it.

Do you live in a small town or a big city?
Oh, Buffalo is a big deal, ’specially with all the war production at Bethlehem Steel, General Motors, Ford, Bell, and the rest. And lots of shipping on Lake Erie.

Type of dwelling and do you own or rent?
Like I said, I live in my parents’ house.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
Usually my house is noisy, what with all the people. I like being in my room, just me, where I can get some peace and quiet.

Favorite meal and dessert?
Wow, now you’re getting tough with these questions. With all the rationing going on, we eat what we can get. But before the war, I loved our Sunday roast chicken that my mom made. Dessert? Mom made an apple cake with custard sauce that was delicious. Again, that was before the war. We can’t get the ingredients right now. Just thinkin’ about it makes me hungry.

Do you have any hobbies?
I don’t have time for hobbies. Girl’s gotta work you know.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Vacation? Closest I get to that is goin’ down to the beach and lookin’ at the lake in the evening. Like I said, girl’s gotta work.

What music do you listen to?
I like all the popular bands. Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. I only get to hear the big names on the radio, but I love dancing to those songs.

Do you have a favorite book?
I’m not really a book kinda person. Give me a good movie any day, preferably one with Bogie in it.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
I like to get dolled up, then Dot and I go to the neighborhood dances. It would be better if there were more guys. Lee doesn’t really dance ’cause he has a bad leg. Maybe after the war. I can’t wait to go dancing with Tom when he gets home.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Now you want me to write a book? Call me when Cecil DeMille wants to make a movie of my life. I have no idea what I’d call it. It’s gotta have a title worthy of Sam Spade, though.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I’m an amateur, but I’m working on being a private detective, like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. Dot and Lee help me out a lot when I’m workin’ a case. Oh, and sometimes I talk to Detective Sam MacKinnon. He works homicide with the Buffalo Police Department and sometimes we help each other out.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I work six days a week, so they’re pretty much the same. Get up, get on the bus to Wheatfield with Dot, work the day shift at Bell, go home, eat dinner. Every other Saturday, I’m off and I’ll go to the pictures. In between all that, I’ll work a case, if I have one. I’d like to tell you stayin’ busy keeps me outta trouble, but Dot, Lee, and Detective MacKinnon would probably disagree with that.

The Stories We Tell, Homefront Mystery #2
Genre: Historical
Release: February 2021
Purchase Link

It’s December 1942 and Betty Ahern is enjoying her fledgling career as a private detective, investigating everything from missing jewelry to wandering boyfriends. But when Bell Airplane co-worker Emilia Brewka, whose grandmother recently died, wants Betty to prove the death was murder and not natural causes, Betty thinks Emilia’s grief has her seeing things that aren’t there.

After a member of the visiting Polish government in exile is murdered, she learns the grandmother may have contacted him about a secret involving a wealthy Buffalo family – a secret that goes all the way back to the Old Country and the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian war. Suddenly, murder looks more than possible.

Betty and her friends travel between Buffalo’s working-class neighborhoods and the city’s high society, determined to unearth the secret and find justice for Emmie’s grandmother. But mixing with the upper class quickly becomes dangerous and potentially deadly—both for Betty’s career as a detective and herself.

About the author
Liz Milliron is the author of The Laurel Highlands Mysteries series, set in the scenic Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and The Homefront Mysteries, set in Buffalo, NY during the early years of World War II. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Pennwriters, and International Thriller Writers. A recent empty-nester, Liz lives outside Pittsburgh with her husband and a retired-racer greyhound.

All comments are welcomed.