Billy Boyle

Warning: this review contains spoilers

****

Billy Boyle is a cop from Boston. When the U.S. finally enters the Second World War, his family doesn't want him going overseas to be killed. So they pull a few strings, and his mum's second cousin (of sorts) gives him a job. The cousin? Dwight Eisenhower. The job? Working on Eisenhower's staff as an unofficial investigator. This first book in the series sees Billy investigating a murder at Beardsley Hall, where the Norwegian government is operating in exile.

Because this is a first book in series, there's a lot of groundwork to be done to establish the characters and introduce Billy's personality. Overall, he comes across as likeable, although it did get tiresome when Kaz, the Polish aristocrat show more who ends up helping with the investigation, keeps taking Billy's American slang literally, with allegedly humourous results. And Daphne, the English WREN who makes up the third of their three musketeers, feels ridiculous when she attempts to deduce the meaning of Billy's slang.

I also found it perhaps a touch "convenient" that Daphne got killed off in this book; a way to give Billy some trauma to carry through later books in the series, perhaps? Or perhaps I was dismayed because there weren't that many female characters to begin with and losing one of the few there were felt unfair.

Nevertheless, I would likely read at least one more book in the series, mainly for the setting, although I do also like the comic-book- or vintage-war-poster-style covers that Soho Press publishes them with. show less

Really wanted to like this, but it's just not working for me. Problem 1) I'm not a fan of the main character, who has no experience but, remarkably enough, ends up heading a critical investigation during WWII. 2) I tired quickly of the unending cutesy scenes whenever a non-American tried to understand the protagonist's slang. 3) This feels very unoriginal to me, like we've already seen the story in a movie and we already know this character all too well. (Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, we miss you!)

Some readers say the series gets better, but I don't have the patience to find out. Based on that beautiful cover I was hoping for a book that was sharp and fresh and surprising, but instead I found myself skipping passages and not show more caring enough to even finish the story. show less

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 show more 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! show less

Billy Boyle's father is a pretty good police detective in Boston, and through his dad's influence Billy gets on the force and becomes a fledgling detective himself. Then the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, and Billy finds himself in the Army. Again thanks to family influence, he gains a quick appointment to lieutenant and a supposedly cushy and safe post under his Uncle Ike, none other than Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, in London. Then Billy learns Uncle Ike, seemingly under the impression the young man has more police experience than he actually does, appoints him his investigator. His first mission: find a spy among the Norwegian officers planning an invasion to retake their country from the Nazis.

So begins “Billy Boyle” (2006), the first show more book in James R. Benn's series of World War II mysteries and a book that will make you want to seek out the others in the series.

The best thing about “Billy Boyle” is Billy Boyle, an intriguing and likable character who is unsure he actually possesses any of his father's investigative skills and who, expecting to sit out the war in relative safety, finds himself in an extremely dangerous situation, leading to his own personal invasion of Norway. If you were making a movie of this story 50 years ago, you would have wanted James Garner in the starring role.

Other characters in the novel, including British naval officer Daphne Seaton and Polish officer Piotr Kazimierz, prove interesting, as well. Both Daphne and Kaz are assigned to assist Billy in his investigation and prove invaluable, often doing better detective work than Billy himself.

The light tone with which Benn opens the novel soon turns dark, as both the war and the espionage plot (and later a murder) become deadly serious. Billy proves up to the task, although his abilities as a detective remain somewhat in doubt even as the story ends. The happy ending proves to be due as much luck as skill. So Billy still has something to prove, and to learn, in the other books in the series. These include “A Blind Goddess” and “Blue Madonna.“ show less

A good premise and interesting story. However, even though it is in first person, the story is driven too much by Billy Boyle's narrative. A little more action and dialog would have made it a stronger book. Still, a good debut.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel set during WWII. Billy Boyle, a young Boston cop with a tenuous connection with General Eisenhower, found himself sent to England to help his uncle Ike. The book was serious, based on fact, but still remained entertaining. The twist at the end explained many of the questions I had while I was reading. Now looking forward to reading more in the series.

London, WWII

Billy is a Boston cop, from a family of cops. Then the war picks up, and he's at the top of the draft list. His mother calls up her cousin who's married to some army guy, name of Ike? Billy heads to Officer Training School and then is looking forward to a cushy desk job stateside. Instead, he's sent to the US headquarters in London, right in the middle of the Blitz. And he gets handed an investigation into espionage and murder.

Really liked this one. Billy is an unusual protagonist, with a working class Irish perspective, but thrust into a totally unfamiliar environment. It made for a good story.