Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery (Billy Boyle World War II, #1)

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Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery (Billy Boyle World War II #1)

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 852 ratings · 179 reviews

Billy Boyle, a young Irish-American, cop from Boston has just made detective - with a little help from his cop relatives and friends - when World War II breaks out.

His rabidly anti-English family calls on his mother's distant cousin, Mamie, married to a general, to wangle a staff job for him far from the fighting. But instead of a "safe, cushy" stateside assignment, he is...more

Hardcover, 294 pages

Published September 1st 2006 by Soho Press

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Jun 01, 2012 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a joy to read. My parents and our family lived through WWII in London and some of the descriptions of the conditions, albeit most in the rural areas, brought back a lot of conversations that happened over the years. The story is also captivating - I can understand the frustration of being convinced that even your family are not telling you everything. I look forward to reading the other books.

Update - sadly my bookstore of choice stocks very few of Mr.Benn's works on their shelves...more

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Apr 13, 2013 LJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: england, historical, male_author, military, mystery, norway, ww2_1939-45

First Sentence: I typed the date under my name: Lieutenant William Boyle, August 6, 1942.

Former Boston Irish Cop, from a family of Boston Irish Cops, Billy Boyle was a newly-made detective and is now a Lieutenant in the US Army. In spite of thinking he wouldn’t be assigned to Europe, his distant cousin manages to get him a staff job—in England assigned to the staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower as his personal investigator. His first assignment is to catch a spy who may have been planted at Be...more First Sentence: I typed the date under my name: Lieutenant William Boyle, August 6, 1942.

Former Boston Irish Cop, from a family of Boston Irish Cops, Billy Boyle was a newly-made detective and is now a Lieutenant in the US Army. In spite of thinking he wouldn’t be assigned to Europe, his distant cousin manages to get him a staff job—in England assigned to the staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower as his personal investigator. His first assignment is to catch a spy who may have been planted at Beardsley Hall, English home for the exiled Norwegian government.

The book has an excellent opening with a style that addresses the reader in a let-me-tell-you-a-story style. His voice is engaging and humor, natural. There is also an honesty in the way he writes emotion.

Benn establishes a solid sense of place. Admittedly, the descriptions of London and Boston may have resonated more strongly with me than they may for others as I know both places. However, even when he moved the story away from those locations, there was always a clear feeling for the location.

The characters are fully drawn. Billy is the focus and the voice, but even with Kas, the Polish baron, and Daphne, proper English daughter of a knight, you know their backgrounds and who they are.

One of the most interesting aspects is Billy’s perspective on the war, as an American amongst the English and Norwegians. I particularly appreciated the way in which Benn intertwined the events of Billy’s present with memories from his past, as well as his understanding of people and level of caring.

There is a lot of fascinating historical detail embedded within the plot, much of which I had never known. Still, it is a mystery and I enjoyed Billy taking control of his first crime scene which also provided interesting information on forensics.

“Billy Boyle” was an absolutely treat to read for men and women. Although I wonder why I hadn’t discovered him sooner, I’m delighted to know there is a whole series ahead of me.

BILLY BOYLE (Hist Mys-Lt. Billy Boyle-England-WWII/1942) – VG+
Benn, James R – 1st in series
Soho, 2006
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Feb 22, 2013 Lizabeth S. Tucker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-adventure

Subtitled "A World War II Mystery", this is a book for people with some patience. It takes a long time for the mystery to begin, but the trip is worth the wait.

The book begins slowly, taking the time to introduce our characters, starting with the main character and hero William Boyle. He's an South Boston Irish cop from a family of cops, his father and uncle, who enlisted in the Army shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It wasn't from patriotism, it was more to prevent being drafted and pu...more

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Sep 16, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

WOW!

This was a GREAT historical mystery novel. Okay, it has a really lame title (and it appears to be the first of a series)..

Billy Boyle manages to get placed on Eisenhower's staff in England. He's a young Boston cop who had just made detective and is suddenly called upon to help ferret out a spy. Then there's a murder to solve and young Billy is tasked with finding the murderer, who may or may not be the spy.

What makes this a great read is that the author is able to mix a mystery with a bit o...more

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May 29, 2012 Tracey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Three stars--I give them grudgingly. This kickoff volume in a series starts with promise: A newly minted young detective from Boston gets recruited into the army during WWII, prompting his family to land him what he and they think is a cushy job helping Uncle Ike--that's Dwight Eisenhower to us--in London. Though Billy Boyle gets tossed right in to an investigation surrounding the British and Norwegian allies, the action has to shoulder past chunks of internal dialogue--as do the other character...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-historical

C2006: This was a GR recommendation which turned out to be very enjoyable. I tend to dislike novels set in or around World War II as it remains close to home (excuse the pun). I found the writing style to be fresh and, well, almost perky and the mystery was good enough to come to a satisfying confusion but needed, I felt, an additional twist. Be that as it may, the characters were well drawn but I felt that the near endless discussions between the three “musketeers” rendered me impatient about h...more

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Mar 12, 2011 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's 1942 and Lt. Billy Boyle is in London fresh from Officer's Candidate School. He left the Boston Police Department after Pearl Harbor to join the Army and his Irish-American family pulled strings to get him on the staff of his mother's distant relative, General Dwight Eisenhower. Really. Quite the set-up for the first book in a planned World War II mystery series. The information about England in the first months after Americans began to arrive in great numbers was very interesting. However,...more

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Jan 31, 2011 Jeannie Mancini rated it 5 of 5 stars

Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, young city cop Billy Boyle gets drafted to the war front in London. Fortunately for Billy, his uncle General Ike Eisenhower steers him away from the battlefields and requests that his favorite nephew become his own personal investigative detective. Using his Bostonian police experience, Billy is to begin his military tour of duty solving war crimes.

As an Irish New Englander born and bred, Billy is quite green around the gills when his shiny black po...more Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, young city cop Billy Boyle gets drafted to the war front in London. Fortunately for Billy, his uncle General Ike Eisenhower steers him away from the battlefields and requests that his favorite nephew become his own personal investigative detective. Using his Bostonian police experience, Billy is to begin his military tour of duty solving war crimes.

As an Irish New Englander born and bred, Billy is quite green around the gills when his shiny black polished combat boots arrive in foggy, wet London feeling naïve and foreign. As he settles in and is introduced to his superiors and peers, Uncle Ike tosses him his first mission. A man has been murdered. A Norwegian visitor who was involved in a plot of espionage and was part of a plan hatched by the American/British partnership to assist Norway in their fight against the Germans, has either committed suicide, or has been pushed out a four story window of the hotel they are all bunking in.

Billy doesn't want to admit he's not really qualified for this kind of detective work and finds him self taking on the case to make his uncle proud. Using the skills his father taught him about the art of detection and catching criminals, Lieutenant Billy Boyle soon finds himself digging up clues, and becoming a regular "Sam Spade" of World War II.

James Benn has created a sensational war hero that all readers will enjoy. The writing is superb, the characters are so real and wonderfully created, and the plot is a fun filled adventure mix of history, murder mystery, action, romance and delightful little dollops of dry humor to make you smile as you turn the pages. The book on the whole has a very nostalgic Noir feel to it. I truly felt I was there with Billy as the diving bomber pilots screamed from the sky, when bullets abound whizzed by his head, and as he nearly drowns in 40-waves when aboard a battleship being fired on from all sides. Steeped in the slang of the 1940s, memories of the music and fashion of the times, this first installment in the Billy Boyle series is really fun! 5 shining stars!
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Jul 22, 2010 ICPL Staff Picks added it

Shelves: staff-picks-blog, susan, mysteries, fiction

Cop from Boston, in 1942 London , is a very brief synopsis of an interesting period mystery, Billy Boyle by James R. Benn. Billy comes from a family of Irish-American cops in Boston. He is drafted and in an effort to keep him safe his mother uses her influence with her cousin by marriage, Uncle Ike (yes, as in General Eisenhower), to get her son assigned to army headquarters in London. Soon he is investigating the death of a top Norwegian official while worrying about a spy who is tampering with...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Tony rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-crime-detection

Benn, James R. BILLY BOYLE. (2006). **. This is the first novel in the series featuring Billy Boyle. The others, so far, include “The First Wave,” “Blood Alone,” and “Evil For Evil.” The author is a librarian for a school system in Hartford, and I first came across him at the recent Bouchercon convention. He was on a panel called “War Noir.” It is obvious that he is a WW II maven and that his facts surrounding his fiction are as true as he can make them. The hero, Billy Boyle, is a young detecti...more Benn, James R. BILLY BOYLE. (2006). **. This is the first novel in the series featuring Billy Boyle. The others, so far, include “The First Wave,” “Blood Alone,” and “Evil For Evil.” The author is a librarian for a school system in Hartford, and I first came across him at the recent Bouchercon convention. He was on a panel called “War Noir.” It is obvious that he is a WW II maven and that his facts surrounding his fiction are as true as he can make them. The hero, Billy Boyle, is a young detective policeman in South Boston. He has made detective in only three years, mostly because of the support of his father – also a cop – and the rest of the predominantly Irish force that existed at the time. After Pearl Harbor, he knew he was going to be drafted eventually, so he enlisted. With the help of his family, he got an assignment to be on the staff of his mother’s second cousin’s husband, Uncle Ike. Turns out that Uncle Ike was General Eisenhower, and Billy is shipped (flown) off to England to meet his new boss. Ike wants him to be his personal investigator, or, as in this novel, spy catcher. Boyle’s first assignment is to smoke out a suspected spy in the Norwegian headquarters of the government in exile. Off he goes to Beardsley Hall, along with an American major and a beautiful young WREN. He’s not there long when the first murder occurs. Using his scant experience as a policeman, Billy has to solve the murder and still come up with the spy in the ointment. The novel is well written, but I couldn’t come across any spark of suspense or tension in the narrative. Billy is also kind of a cultural dodo, having never been out of South Boston in his life. There’s lots of “Gees,” and “Gee Whizz,” kinds of expressions dropping out of his mouth. There are also a lot of then current slang expressions that he uses and has to continually explain to his Brit counterparts. Although written in an acceptable style, this novel never really caught my interest, and I found that reading on became more and more of a chore. I think I’ll skip the rest of this series. Sorry. It’s not my cup of tea – or coffee.(less)

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Aug 30, 2010 Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

I got this eBook for free.
Disclaimer: I'm a sucker for books about WWII and espionage novels.

This book is a historical fiction story about an enlisted Boston policeman in England during WWII. Billy Boyle, a young American solider, a policeman in a family of policeman finds himself embroiled in the dramatic events which overtook Europe in 1942. However, Boyle finds himself tangled up in mysteries of treason and murder.

The story centers on Operation Jupiter, the allies plan to free Norway from the...more I got this eBook for free.
Disclaimer: I'm a sucker for books about WWII and espionage novels.

This book is a historical fiction story about an enlisted Boston policeman in England during WWII. Billy Boyle, a young American solider, a policeman in a family of policeman finds himself embroiled in the dramatic events which overtook Europe in 1942. However, Boyle finds himself tangled up in mysteries of treason and murder.

The story centers on Operation Jupiter, the allies plan to free Norway from the Nazis. Only that Operation Jupiter, a real event, was a fake plan to draw Nazi forces away from the real fronts. Of course, Lt. Boyle does not know that. He is brought into General Eisenhower’s staff because of his experience as a police officer and being Ike’s relative doesn’t hurt either. As a former Boston cop, Boyle plays a fish-out-of-water in England. He is the butt of jokes for his Americanisms, but can also give as good as he takes (“we hadn’t had tea in Boston since we threw it all in the harbor”). Soon Boyle finds himself investigating a murder, as well as an act of treason which sends him all over England and Norway. Boyle conducts his investigations in a professional manner, while stepping on toes of higher officers as well as foreign dignitaries.

During the investigation we learn what makes Boyle tick during his recollections of his conversations with his father. What makes Boyle unique among the cliché of military sleuths is that not only he is Irish (some clues which involve his family in the IRA) but Boyle also doesn’t want to be in uniform. He grew up hearing stories about his father’s experience in WWI and living under the shadow of Uncle Frank – who didn’t make it back.

From my prior reading about the WWII generation and from talking to WWII veterans I know Boyle’s dilemma was not uncommon. A health male who was not in uniform was ashamed to walk down the street. A solution to the Boyle’s dilemma presented through political connections which got Billy Boyle into Office Candidate School and, as mentioned before, being a relative of Ike got him transferred away from the front and a policeman got him a cushy job at Ike’s headquarters.

Being unqualified to do anything which will contribute in any way, shape or form to the war effort Boyle can’t figure out what he should be doing. Before he knows it, he is being escorted around by of Second Officer Daphne Seaton of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and Lt Piotr Augustus Kazimierz of the Polish Free Corps, who goes by “Kaz”. After all the preliminary introductions to the main characters, the mystery gets underway as Boyle spearheads a multi-layered murder investigation of a high ranking Norwegian government official.

From my military experience I already realized that many decisions are made between the choices of “really bad” and “really really bad”, but the honesty of which the author writes about these might seem a brooding to many readers, yet the honesty of the high cost of war should be realized by all. There are several surprises in this book; I have to confess that I did not see the ending – which is always nice. People, main characters we care about, are wounded in this story, mentally and physically, the harshness of WWII, even when not facing the enemy or spending the night in a foxhole is seen even from London.

Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery is wonderful historical fiction, the history, as far as I could tell, is accurate, the plot is intriguing and the mystery is solid. While many of the characters are cliche, Boyle grows in front of our eyes and realizes that fighting Chinese gangs cannot be compared to the fields of battle. Something his father and uncle tried to impress upon him before he left. This is one of those books which do not require the reader to think too much, straight fun, a bit silly but a good and easy read overall.

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Dec 31, 2012 Susan Wilcox rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

I'm not really a mystery person, so for me to have it completely wrong is nothing new. Mostly I just go along for the ride. The ending would probably be obvious to anyone who reads mysteries as a regular thing, though, because I had all the right people pegged, just for the wrong things.

Having said that, I love books set during WWII. Not having had to live through it, I have the luxury of admiring the resilience of our predecessors from a couple of generations removed. So I enjoyed the time peri...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Shirley Wetzel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Billy Boyle came from a large family of Irish American Boston cops. When WWII came around and his number came up, they tried to find a place where he'd come to no harm. His uncle was killed in the Great War fighting for the English, and they didn't want to lose another family member to that cause. Luckily, there was a distant relative with a nice desk job in Washington, and Billy was assigned to his command. Unluckily, his relative was named Ike. Pretty soon, Billy was overseas and under fire.

Th...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks

This book took some time to get going, but once it started to turn from a somewhat boring story about a kid going off to war into a young American soldier trying to solve a murder mystery in England in the middle of World War II I was hooked.

I probably would have gone with three stars instead of four if it weren't for the historical aspects involved, but I'm a sucker for historical fiction, especially when it's history that I really care about. I really enjoyed the general but factual portrayal...more

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Oct 21, 2009 Zach rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-books, mystery-historic, wwii

For those who enjoyed this I recommend:

The Runner by Christopher Reich

An Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva

Pretty good as a first book, I am curious if the series improves in the later installments.

The main character is interesting and the first person narration is often witty and fun. The author also appears to be trying to make Billy a more three dimensional character by giving hints of a slight darker family background and his own possible slightly less than stellar moral code. However, other cha...more

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Sep 05, 2009 Diana Sandberg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Considerably better than I anticipated. The period isn’t one I normally take much interest in, but I found this quite well done. I liked the characters, and our Billy in particular is nicely drawn. As a young man newly arrived in an unknowable situation, his bravado and his sense of vulnerability are plain enough; it only gradually becomes apparent that his coping skills are greater than he fears they are. I liked the portrayal of the atmosphere of 1942 England, with America just beginning to be...more

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May 07, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-historical-military

Publishers Weekly and Booklist gave this book so so reviews. I thought it was great. A very different and original look at WWII. Billy Boyle is a rough Boston cop who will take whatever nepotism dishes out to him: a job as a cop in Boston, a promotion to detective, and later a plum posting to Uncle Ike's staff in London so he can hide out the war in a safe place. Initially he reminded me of George McDonald Fraser's Flashman character, but he's not such a cad and shirker. Billy is a tough charact...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: war, mystery, historical-fiction

I've never been a mystery reader, and only started exploring the genre this year, when I began working as a librarian and inherited the helm of a mystery book club. I decided to give this one a try, since I've always liked stories with WWII settings. I expected a somewhat pulpy noir book, considering the setting. That's largely what I got, but I ended up being surprised; I loved this book a lot more than I thought I would.

This book introduces Billy Boyle, a cop from South Boston that has heretof...more I've never been a mystery reader, and only started exploring the genre this year, when I began working as a librarian and inherited the helm of a mystery book club. I decided to give this one a try, since I've always liked stories with WWII settings. I expected a somewhat pulpy noir book, considering the setting. That's largely what I got, but I ended up being surprised; I loved this book a lot more than I thought I would.

This book introduces Billy Boyle, a cop from South Boston that has heretofore made do on the largess of his family and community connections. We learn early on that he is the nephew of a famous general, and thus he finds himself on his way to what he believes is a cushy desk job in the military. Instead, he is shipped off to England, and told that he is to put his detective skills to work under the personal supervision of the English and American military brass. A German spy threatens to reveal the secret plans being hatched to liberate Norway from the Nazis, and Boyle has been enlisted to ferret him out. As the investigation gets underway, though, a prominent Norwegian minister (and a possible suspect) commits suicide, and Boyle has reason to believe that foul play was involved. Along the way, Boyle unexpectedly earns two new companions who treat him like a bonafide detective instead of a jumped-up beat cop who knows the right people: an English Second Officer named Daphne Seaton, and Piotr Augustus Kazimierz, a mousy Polish baron that goes by "Kaz." As Boyle works to prove himself up to the task given to him, he realizes how entwined the various crosses and double-crosses really are, and how dangerous his new job really is, to both himself and to those involved with him.

The cover art and plot synopsis lead me to believe that I would find a lightweight, setting-focused read. I was fine with that, because that's exactly what I was in the mood for. Benn handles the premise just right; the first few pages transported me back to the 40s pretty effortlessly. The history is well-researched, but never dry or self-important, offering just the right balance of authenticity and readability. And the slang made me happy. I keep trying to bring back phrases like "say, Mac, what's the big idea" with varying levels of success, so I was wholeheartedly content with Boyle's "gee whiz" vernacular (although, the running joke of Kaz and Daphne trying to decode it got old pretty quickly).

So, I didn't expect the Great American Novel, and I didn't get it. But I finished this book a much bigger fan than I thought I'd be. The story's execution was somewhat predictable, and the pace gets muddied by various adventures that only serve to give Boyle cool, sexy stuff to do. But this book is just so damned readable. Boyle fits the archetype of the charming, serendipitous detective, but he is also full of self-doubt, and morally ambiguous enough to make him unpredictable. The supporting characters, while somewhat inconsistent in their development (for example, Kaz is layered and interesting, while Daphne is... not), are all uniformly likeable. Benn improbably creates an intimate "Scooby Gang," including the mucky-mucks at the top, in the middle of a vast and dehumanizing wartime setting.

The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because of the afore-mentioned Gumpish pace breaks. Also, the ending stretches credibility just a little bit more than the rest of the already improbable story, and I can't let go of the fact that Boyle solves the mystery based on a time-tested medical cliche that is flat-out incorrect. Honestly, though? I still liked the book.

I guess I am revealing myself to be a bit of a biased reviewer; I am willing to forgive a lot in books like this simply because I enjoyed reading them, whereas you get less leeway if I don't get my bread and circuses. There's a lot here at which to turn up your nose if you are a bonafide literati. And by that, I mean the smug, wispy buttholes in horn-rimmed glasses and ill-fitting sweaters, hanging around used bookstores in the hope of finding a Pynchon first edition. If you don't like WWII stories or light mysteries with plenty of noir homage, this one might not do it for you. However, I found this book to be a lot of fun. While it wasn't perfect, it has a lot of potential. I am definitely checking out the next in the series.(less)

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Mar 24, 2009 Eric_W rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries-and-thrillers

Billy is a Boston detective, enlisted in the army and stationed with his uncle "Ike," yes the Ike. Ike wants to use his abilities as a detective to investigate nefarious goings-on and to make sure that corruption is held to a minimum. Problem is that Billy's relatives, good Irish cops, pulled some strings to get him attached to Ike's entourage so as to avoid the front and Billy doesn't have much experience as a detective, having only been appointed to the detective squad. No matter, he gamely ta...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

In this book author James R. Benn writes about the exploits of LT. Billy Boyle in World War II England. After the entrance of the United States in to World War II Boyle, a Boston police officer, doesn't allow his influential family to keep him from serving his country in the Army, but he doesn't want too dangerous of a job so he goes to Officer Candidate School hoping to serve his time in the Army at a billet safely out of harm's way. Life for Boyle takes an unexpected turn early in the novel wh...more In this book author James R. Benn writes about the exploits of LT. Billy Boyle in World War II England. After the entrance of the United States in to World War II Boyle, a Boston police officer, doesn't allow his influential family to keep him from serving his country in the Army, but he doesn't want too dangerous of a job so he goes to Officer Candidate School hoping to serve his time in the Army at a billet safely out of harm's way. Life for Boyle takes an unexpected turn early in the novel when he's sent to serve at Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, which is commanded by his uncle, General Dwight Eisenhower. When he arrives, Ike gives Boyle the job of tracking down a German spy that's infiltrated Allied HQ before this spy has an opportunity to impact a planned allied invasion of Norway, or so he thinks.

With very limited experience as an investigator in Boston and no experience in counter-intelligence operations, Boyle's task is already daunting but he encounters murder and maddening reluctance and sometimes outright hindrance from American and British military figures as he attempts to complete his mission.

This novel is written entirely from a first person perspective. It's as if Boyle is telling his own story as it happens. That was a little off putting in the beginning but I eventually got used to it. Unfortunately, except for Boyle, Benn doesn't fully flesh out many of his characters. I never felt like the story was all that real or suspenseful. I was a little surprised at the ending but never felt a "Wow!" moment because Benn doesn't do all that great of a job building suspense, just confusion. By the end of the book I was more confused than Benn's main character Boyle. Perhaps he intended it that way.

I don't think this will be a problem for most readers, but it's really annoying to me when authors write that their story is fictional but some of the plot is based on real events, and then proceed to get basic details about those real events wrong. Benn throughout the book writes that the allied plan to invade Norway was called Operation Jupiter. Operation Jupiter was an attack launched by the British Second Army VIII Corps in July 1944 with the goal of capturing several French towns and a location known as Hill 112 in order to give breathing room for the allied beach head at Normandy. Making this error even worse Benn writes in his Author's Note at the end of the book that Operation Jupiter was an allied deception plan to make the Germans believe Norway was an invasion target, thereby tying up valuable German assets that could have been used against allied forces landing at Normandy or against Soviet forces on the Eastern front. It's a pity that Benn couldn't do a small amount of research and find that the real name of this deception plan was Operation Fortitude North. This error does not detract from the plot, but to me it's a sign of sloppiness on the part of the author. If an author can't be bothered to find a basic fact that takes less than five minutes to sufficiently locate and verify online, why should I believe he'll take the time necessary to write a tight narrative with fully fleshed out characters?

Lastly, for Kindle owners this book is well formatted in most places but does have one annoying issue. The first half line or full line of each chapter is written in capital letters and often the words are not properly spaced. It would have been nice for the publisher to take the time to fix this minor annoyance in the Kindle edition.(less)

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Sep 22, 2012 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: murder-mystery

Billy Boyle is a young Irish-American cop in Boston in 1942. With the war gearing up for the Americans, Billy's family turns to their aunt Mamie (as in "Mamie Doud Eisenhower") to help Billy find a nice stateside staff assignment. Instead, Billy ends up reporting directly to Uncle Ike in England, assigned to identify a German spy known to be undercover within the expat Norwegians in Britain who are awaiting a chance to invade and re-occupy their country. The author does a great job sketching the...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Billy Boyle is Boston-Irish, and like his father and uncle a cop. Just as his family had gone to fight in the First World War, Billy finds himself eligible to fight in the up-coming troubles in Europe. Thanks to connections Billy is able to enter as an officer and quickly finds himself attached to the staff of his Uncle Ike. It just happens that his uncle is named Eisenhower, and he is in need of someone with the talents of a homicide detective, just like Billy.

Writer James R. Benn has created a...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Gerry rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Operation Jupiter, the impending invasion of Norway is the background to this World War Two thriller and Irish-American Billy Boyle is landed right in the middle of the plans by being assigned to General Eisenhower's task force in England.

But things don't go as planned; there is seemingly a spy in the camp and then comes a murder. But by whom? And are the two incidents connected?

Boyle, an ex-Boston cop, has the task of getting to the bottom of it all and with a little investigation on his own be...more

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Mar 04, 2011 Deb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical, world, war, ii

Billy Boyle is a Boston policemen--from a family of Boston policemen. So he is the ultimate "fish out of water" when the World War brings him to London, England, to work with his "Uncle Ike". Boyle is assigned to look into any michief that occurs, and it doesn't take long he first investigates a spy infiltrating invasion plans. Then a Norwegian official is murdered and Boyle is called upon to investigate the case. This takes him chasing across England and Norway, and of course the truth is event...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting enough read. Started slow, lots of boring stuff about how Billy shouldn't really be in London because his parents contacted his "Uncle Ike" for a desk job, he's a Boston cop, he should be walking his beat, etc. Slow going. When he meets the Norwegian government in exile and starts investigating a murder, things start to get interesting. Without quite realizing it, I got so engrossed I didn't realize how quickly the book ended. Definitely not the worst book I have read, but not someth...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads, nook

I received this on my Nook as a free book from Barnes and Noble. It's something I probably would have passed on if I saw it in a bookstore and that would have been a shame. Billy Boyle is a Boston cop who is about to be drafted during WWII. His family pulls strings with relatives and he is assigned to his Uncle Ike in England. Billy methodically and cleverly gathers clues to discover who committed a murder. Although it is fiction, the book is based upon an actual event in Norway during WWII. The...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a free ebook that I got from Barnes and Noble, so I wasn't sure I would like it. Obviously, I was surprised by this one! I enjoy historical fiction and I love mysteries, and this book combined both. The mystery wasn't too hard to figure out, but I enjoyed getting to know the characters and learning a bit more about World War II. I always learn much more history reading historical fiction than just reading straight history (think Richard Sharpe, Aubrey and Maturin). I think it's because...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Brian Maicke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: britain, historical, mystery

Another fine historical mystery, this one focusing on a young policeman who finds himself attached to Eisenhower during WWII. Though set in Britain, the story does not have the same feel of the traditional historical mystery. There is a brashness and humor to the main character that gives it a decidedly U.S. feel. Some of the situations, especially near the end, are more reminiscent of a Robert Crais style, with the protagonist doing some almost superhuman tasks as he throws himself into danger...more

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Nov 24, 2010 RuthG rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries, wartime

I had a hard time deciding how to rate this one. The mystery turns out to be more complex than it seems at first and it definitely has a lot of details about WWII that are interesting. I wasn't caught up in it right away and, overall, I think I would rate it 3.5. Billy's connection to Dwight Eisenhower is a little too pat to seem possible. The reason I liked it more near the end isn't only because the mystery became more interesting. It's also because some of the moral issues of war were explore...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Cate rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of mystery novels, and am fond of the WWII era, but had never seen the two blended into one book before. I happened upon this book while glancing at a sale on books, and am very happy that I did.

The main character, Billy Boyle, is a very likeable and easy to relate to. He has a sense of humor and is uncomfortable in more stern, British society. The mystery itself is a very complex one, and the journey to catch the perp is anxiety-filled and exciting. I also greatly appreciated tha...more

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About James R. Benn

James R. Benn is the author of Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery, selected by Book Sense as one of the top five mysteries of 2006 and nominated for a Dilys Award. The First Wave was a Book Sense Notable title.
Benn is a librarian and lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut.

More about James R. Benn...

Books by James R. Benn

The First Wave (Billy Boyle World War II, #2)

Blood Alone (Billy Boyle World War II, #3)

Evil for Evil (Billy Boyle World War II, #4)

Rag and Bone (Billy Boyle World War II, #5)

A Mortal Terror (Billy Boyle World War II, #6)

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“There it was, a sign above a shop that said 221B BAKER STREET. My mouth hung open. I looked around at the ordinary street and the white-painted buildings, looking clean in the morning rain. Where were the fog, the streetlights, the gray atmosphere? The horses pulling carriages, bringing troubled clients to Watson and Holmes? I had to admit I had been impressed with Big Ben and all, but for a kid who had devoured the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, this was really something. I was on Baker Street, driving by the rooms of Holmes and Watson! I sort of wished it were all in black and white and gray, like in the movies.” — 6 people liked it

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Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery (Billy Boyle World War II #1)

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