Rag and Bone

Starred review from July 19, 2010
"Uncle Ike" (aka General Eisenhower) personally pins silver first lieutenant bars on Billy Boyle in Benn's stellar fifth WWII mystery (after 2009's Evil for Evil). In December 1943, Billy's leave with his British girlfriend in Italy is cut short. Orders send him to London to look into a Soviet officer's shooting murder, which may be retaliation for the execution of thousands of Polish officers in the Katyn Forest that's been blamed on the Germans but probably was committed by Russians. Since the Soviets are allies, the investigation requires the utmost sensitivity. Billy's loyalties are tested because his friend who works for the Polish government in exile, Lieutenant Kazimierz, is a prime suspect. Benn excels at depicting the impact of war on London—the bricks from bombed buildings piled neatly on the streets, families living in Tube stations, "the odor of the Blitz." Destruction aside, Billy never forgets that "Even in the midst of war, murder is unacceptable."

August 1, 2010

The fifth book (after Evil for Evil) in Benn's well-received historical series finds military investigator Billy Boyle in London in 1943. A Soviet NKVD (secret police) official has been found murdered in a style eerily reminiscent of the 1940 Katyn Forest massacre of captive Polish Army officers, and the crime threatens to disrupt diplomatic relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. General Eisenhower has ordered Boyle, his nephew and a former Boston police detective now assigned to his staff, to solve it. Who's to blame? A vengeful Polish officer in exile? London's criminal underworld, still thriving despite the war? Or agents of more sinister forces? Both allies and enemies have secrets to protect, and Boyle, scion of a proud family of Irish cops, finds the convolutions of wartime murder and morality as challenging as anything his father encountered on the streets of Southie. VERDICT Mystery fans will enjoy Boyle's investigative adventures, and readers of World War II historical fiction will savor the gritty glimpse of life in battered wartime London. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 4/1/10.]--Bradley A. Scott, Texas A&M Univ., Corpus Christi

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2010
Billy Boyle, special investigator with General Eisenhowers staff, is not nearly as naive as he was at the beginning of World War II. So when hes assigned to find the murderer of a Russian security officer in London during the buildup to D-Day, he recognizes that the stability of the Allied operation could hinge on this politically charged case. The Polish contingent, including Billys chum, Lieutenant Kaz Kazmierz, is incensed over evidence that implicates the Russians in the murder of hundreds of Polish prisoners in the so-called Katyn Massacre, while the Alliesneeding to keep the goodwill of the Sovietsare content with blaming the Nazis for the killings. Could Kaz have killed the Russian as partial payback? The British investigators think so, but Billy doesnt buy it. Benn shrewdly combines the political cat-and-mouse game with the murder investigation, offering a fascinating glimpse of the wartime intelligence world (Allies spying on Allies) and how it laid the groundwork for the Cold War. In addition, his portrayals of the invdividual lives affected by the global machinations reflect an almost Graham Greenelike feel for nuance. Definitely one of the best in a steadily improving series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)