Starred review from July 5, 2021
The exhilarating opening of Benn’s outstanding 16th WWII mystery featuring U.S. Army investigator Billy Boyle (after 2020’s The Red Horse) finds Boyle aboard one of 75 Allied bombers under intense anti-aircraft fire as they approach their target, the oil refineries in Chemnitz, Germany, in September 1944. Shortly before the surviving bombers reach Poltava, a Soviet airbase in Ukraine, an attack by German fighters forces Boyle’s sergeant and fellow investigator, Mike Miecznikowski, to parachute from his damaged plane. At Poltava, Boyle is partnered with a Soviet secret police agent in a joint operation between the OSS and the NKVD to discover who murdered the unpopular NKVD agent lieutenant Ivan Kopelev and the good-natured American sergeant Boris Morris. Duplicity and mistrust make the assignment more demanding, requiring Boyle to carefully navigate personal hostilities and ideological beliefs in pursuit of the culprit. The hunt for Miecznikowski raises the tension. Bolstered by vivid, scintillating descriptions of air strikes and dogfights involving the legendary all-female Soviet air force unit known as the Night Witches, Benn’s high-intensity storytelling shines. This entry will leave fans eager for the next installment. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Services.
July 1, 2021
A World War II supersleuth, deprived of his usual backup, unravels a tangled web of criminality in Russia. September 1944 finds Capt. Billy Boyle enjoying a short respite with his closest pals, Lt. Piotr "Kaz" Kazimierz and Big Mike Miecznikowski, between cracking tough cases. The plan is to visit Billy's love interest, Diana Seaton, a British agent recuperating in the nearby countryside after having been held by the Gestapo. But Col. Bull Dawson, who has different ideas, summons Billy to an air base in Russia to solve a baffling crime: two murdered soldiers, one American, one Russian. Billy brings Big Mike but lets Kaz sit this assignment out. The flight east is an adventure in itself: Aboard the Banshee Bandit, Billy has a front row seat for an air battle with the Luftwaffe, and he sees Sweet Lorraine, the plane carrying Big Mike, go down. A handful of colleagues greet him in Russia, where he learns that Big Mike has survived and been taken to the hospital. Billy faces numerous obstacles in his probe. The bodies of Lt. Ivan Kopelev and Sgt. Jack Morris have already been taken away. Both men were wearing their guns when they were killed, and neither seems to have any enemies. Without his wingman, Billy must decide on his own whom he can trust. His Russian counterpart, Sidorov, warns him against his translator, Maiya Akilina, and there's an additional layer of odd Russian characters, led by Tatyana, the "Night Witch." In a welcome change of pace, Billy's 16th adventure has more action and history than his previous cases. Sturdy Kaz enters the story at a crucial moment to help capture the guilty. Benn's well-crafted series deepens with every installment.
COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from August 1, 2021
Through the first 15 installments in his always-engaging Billy Boyle series, Benn has taken his hero, a special investigator attached to Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower's staff, through most of WWII's theaters of war, from Italy and France to the South Pacific. It's September 1944, and Boyle, now an army captain, has a new assignment in a new place: Russia. The U.S. is about to begin bombing raids on Germany using three airfields in the Ukraine as launch points, but the campaign might well implode before it begins. Two intelligence agents, one American, one Russian, have been murdered at a key airbase in Poltava, and Billy, along with his usual crew, including former Detroit cop Big Mike and Polish lieutenant Kaz, must find the killer if tensions between U.S. forces and the Red Army are to be defused. As always, Benn constructs a compelling mystery around a little-known aspect of WWII history, adding delicious detail in the process. This time it's the story of the Night Witches, the only all-female unit in the Red Air Force, who fly wood-and-canvas biplanes in the dark, cutting their engines and gliding in to drop their bombs at low altitudes. Benn's ability to sustain his terrific premise while adding depth to his characters makes this long-running series a must for those who love WWII crime fiction.
COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
August 1, 2021
Through the first 15 installments in his always-engaging Billy Boyle series, Benn has taken his hero, a special investigator attached to Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower's staff, through most of WWII's theaters of war, from Italy and France to the South Pacific. It's September 1944, and Boyle, now an army captain, has a new assignment in a new place: Russia. The U.S. is about to begin bombing raids on Germany using three airfields in the Ukraine as launch points, but the campaign might well implode before it begins. Two intelligence agents, one American, one Russian, have been murdered at a key airbase in Poltava, and Billy, along with his usual crew, including former Detroit cop Big Mike and Polish lieutenant Kaz, must find the killer if tensions between U.S. forces and the Red Army are to be defused. As always, Benn constructs a compelling mystery around a little-known aspect of WWII history, adding delicious detail in the process. This time it's the story of the Night Witches, the only all-female unit in the Red Air Force, who fly wood-and-canvas biplanes in the dark, cutting their engines and gliding in to drop their bombs at low altitudes. Benn's ability to sustain his terrific premise while adding depth to his characters makes this long-running series a must for those who love WWII crime fiction.
COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.