After two rather lackluster reads, and the need to have something to sink my teeth into, I went back to continue reading the Billy Boyle series by James Benn. I'm reading them in order since my first time through was a bit hit and miss. Also it's nice to have a lot to read instead of having to wait a year for the next book and forgetting enough of the last one... this read was Blue Madonna and was certainly the strongest of the series so far. Billy has undergone some changes since he was first sent over-seas to be Ike's 'cop'. Wars change people and his changes give reality to this great series. Benn does a huge amount of research for these books, and the great way he weaves the truth into his stories is matchless. People so often want a comparison...if you liked such-and-such you'll probably like this... I'd say, if you enjoyed watching Foyles War, this is the equivalent.

Blue Madonna takes place a short time before D-Day. Billy and his friend, Kaz, are in France. ( )

Billy Boyle begins this mystery being court martialed on trumped up charges that even he doesn't understand. All become clears when Colonel Harding makes an appearance and the investigation into black market goods, gangs and the military begins. Boyle, his friend Kaz and a radio operator are dropped into France shortly before what will become DDay. Hiding out at a chateau with missing airmen, members of the French resistance and a lot of art work makes this story encompass a lot of what you hear about WWII in one book. They just keep getting better and better and I wonder what Benn will do when he runs out of war. ( )

Benn takes a mundane WW2 military theft investigation into the war itself as Billy goes into occupied France to retrieve a witness, a US aircrewman. That it is on the eve of D-Day adds a sense of urgency as well as opportunities to show the Nazis at their worst and the Resistance at their best. An interesting locale and a well-engineered rail bridge destruction add a level of genuine authenticity. With Billy still in France as the story end; one hopes the series continues. ( )

When I first picked up this book about a secret mission, by an ex-Boston policeman turned military investigator, named Billy Boyle (who names their tough guy hero Billy?), into France during World War II, I expected another run of the mill adventure yarn loosely based on the war in Europe. After a few chapters setting up the premise and introducing the characters, I came to find a good story laced with accuracy and plenty of action and suspense. The telling is in the details. This fast paced tale of theft of military property and black marketeers highlights a problem that was rampant in England during the Allied occupation in preparation for the D-Day invasion of Europe. The problems of theft and desertion from the Allied armies eventually spilled over onto the continent. As the story evolves, it presents a good portrait of the operations in France of a small group of brave men and women who operated behind the lines as undercover agents in France risking certain death or worse if they were caught. As the Allies pushed through France and on into Germany, thousands of tons of supplies were stolen by deserters who allied themselves with black marketeers trying to make fortunes off of supplies desperately needed for the Allied fighting men. This is an interesting tale of a part of the war that is often overlooked. Book provided for review by Amazon Vine. ( )