Blue Madonna (Billy Boyle World War II Mystery #11)

by James R. Benn

Overview

Billy Boyle, World War II US Army detective and ex-Boston cop, faces his toughest investigation yet: infiltrating enemy lines in France as the Allies invade Normandy.

May 1944: Captain Billy Boyle is convicted on spurious charges of black market dealings stripped of his officer’s rank, reduced to private, and sentenced to three months’ hard labor. But Billy is given an opportunity: if he takes on the incredibly dangerous mission of investigating a set of murders at the Allies’ safe house in the French town of Chaumont, he can avoid his punishment. Parachuted in as part of a three-man team the night before the Normandy invasion, he has very little time to find the killer’s identity and lead a group escape back to England, with a whole army of foes nipping at his heels.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616958343
Publisher:	Soho Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/08/2017
Series:	Billy Boyle World War II Mystery Series , #11
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	347,368
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

James R. Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries. The debut, Billy Boyle, was named one of five top mysteries of 2006 by Book Sense and was a Dilys Award nominee. A Blind Goddess was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and The Rest Is Silence was a Barry Award nominee. Benn, a former librarian, splits his time between the Gulf Coast of Florida and Connecticut with his wife, Deborah Mandel.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Blue Madonna"
by .
Copyright © 2017 James R. Benn.
Excerpted by permission of Soho Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Praise for Blue Madonna

"A non-stop action story that adds in the golden nugget of a really cool history lesson."
—Suspense Magazine

"Benn's 11th Billy Boyle mystery has snappy dialogue, satisfying action scenes, and much interesting history about D-Day." 
—Kirkus Reviews

"This is a thoroughly entertaining, well-told war adventure, and since the book ends on June 5, 1944, we know there's much more to come."
—Booklist

"The suspenseful story line, set on the eve of the Normandy invasion in 1944, will keep readers turning the pages... Benn movingly depicts Nazi cruelties that Boyle and his comrades witness."
—Publishers Weekly

Praise for the Billy Boyle series

“Terrific . . . Razor sharp.”
—Joseph Finder

“Full of action, humor and heart.”
—Louise Penny

“Billy Boyle gets better and better. This is a must-read series.”
—Lee Child

“Spirited wartime storytelling.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A fast-paced saga set in a period when the fate of civilization still hangs in the balance.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“A complex tale that maps the human cost of warfare in the South Pacific—and delivers a deft portrait of a young Jack Kennedy struggling to recover from the losses of PT-109. Poignant and riveting.”
—Francine Mathews, author of JACK1939

"Cleverly told . . . the book weaves fascinating military facts with obscure historical details about the islands and native life."
—The Arizona Republic

"One of Mr. Benn's best books of the series . . . A pleasure to read."
—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"[An] excellent eighth Billy Boyle whodunit . . . The superior plot and thoughtful presentation of institutional racism directed against American soldiers about to risk their lives for their country make this one of Benn’s best."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“A smart, fast-paced, action-packed historical mystery series replete with liberal dashes of humor and romance providing broad appeal to readers of military history, thrillers and mysteries. He deftly combines a mélange of edge-of-your seat suspenseful situations with historical accuracy and engaging literary references.”
—BookTrib

“The series as a whole is the best set of wartime novels since those of the legendary Nevil Shute.”
—BookPage

From the Publisher

07/11/2016
Mystery fans may be disappointed that Benn’s 11th Billy Boyle novel (after 2015’s The White Ghost) is more a thriller than a whodunit, though the suspenseful story line, set on the eve of the Normandy invasion in 1944, will keep readers turning the pages. Boyle, a former Boston cop turned U.S. Army investigator who has been stationed in England for most of the war, is caught by surprise when MPs arrest him and he’s charged with selling military property for a profit. Facing a court-martial, he has only an inexperienced young attorney to defend him. To avoid punishment, Boyle, who’s demoted from captain to private, agrees to undertake a hazardous mission in France, whose success is threatened by a murderer. Only late in the action does he have a homicide to solve. The prose sometimes verges on the overwrought (“A tear made a tiny drop on the blank paper. The fibers soaked it up and it vanished, like a false identity long forgotten”), but Benn movingly depicts Nazi cruelties that Boyle and his comrades witness. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2016-06-22
The Normandy invasion serves as backdrop for an army detective's toughest assignment yet: proving he's innocent of a trumped-up charge while rescuing a brave group of Resistance fighters.May 30, 1944. Despite being in handcuffs, series hero and first-person narrator Billy Boyle (The White Ghost, 2015, etc.) cheerfully welcomes the reader into his yarn, though he has no idea why he's being taken to the office of unimpressive Col. Sam Harding. Capt. Boyle, it seems, is charged with five counts relating to alleged black-market operations. In short order, Billy is busted to private and sent to the slammer, but there's a twist: an officer is on the way to the jailhouse to ask for volunteers for a dangerous mission. Billy doesn't have to be asked twice, although uncertainty about the assignment makes him nervous. A shootout proves to be Billy's intro to his comrades in the mission: Blake, the aptly named Big Mike, and Kaz, his sidekick on all his previous military probes. Their destination is London, and the ultimate mission is the safe passage of a group of Resistance fighters out of danger. It certainly doesn't hurt morale that many of these are beautiful young women. Meanwhile, what we will later know as D-Day looms. In the mix, but also on the back burner, is catching a black market ring, the Morgan Gang, which might be responsible for Billy's false arrest. Benn's 11th Billy Boyle mystery has snappy dialogue, satisfying action scenes, and much interesting history about D-Day.

Kirkus Reviews