Evil for Evil by James R. Benn
Ok. I don't read very many mysteries. I just have a hard time getting into them and I often don't care about the mystery and solving it. But I love James Benn's Billy Boyle series. Freaking love it.
The fifth book in the series, Rag and Bone, was recently released, but I had yet to read Evil for Evil, the fourth book in the series so I finally sat down and picked it up. It simply reinforced why I like this series so much. There's the history of World War II (which I find interesting but admittedly know very little about), there's the characters who are all well drawn and fleshed out, and the crimes that Billy solves to keep the Allied Forces together(think "Foyle's War" but for the entire Allied Forces, not just England).
In Evil for Evil, Billy finally has a chance to visit Ireland--a working visit, of course. 50 Browning Automatic Rifles have been stolen from a US base in Northern Ireland and the British command is concerned that the IRA has stolen the BARs. Billy's Irish-American Catholic family is heavy on the side of a united Ireland, so Billy resents--just a little--that the Brit who sends Billy to Ireland automatically assumes it was the IRA who stole them. The truth is in fact much more complicated that IRA vs the Red Hand. Which is something I love about these novels, the fact that the answer is not so easily cut and dried. I like reading Billy puzzle over putting the pieces together because you can be sure that I don't want to do it (I'm a lazy mystery reader). Two dead US servicemen, a crooked captain, a beautiful Irish woman working for the British, a surprise visitor from the US, and a wooden pig later, Billy's solved the crime. But he's also come to terms with Diana's desire to return to duty (not to mention his own), and how the question of Ireland is so much more complicated than it seems from Boston.
James Benn is fantastic. Billy's journey through the war it touching, exciting, and informative (and it makes me want to go look up articles about WWII). I can't wait to read Rag and Bone.
The fifth book in the series, Rag and Bone, was recently released, but I had yet to read Evil for Evil, the fourth book in the series so I finally sat down and picked it up. It simply reinforced why I like this series so much. There's the history of World War II (which I find interesting but admittedly know very little about), there's the characters who are all well drawn and fleshed out, and the crimes that Billy solves to keep the Allied Forces together(think "Foyle's War" but for the entire Allied Forces, not just England).
In Evil for Evil, Billy finally has a chance to visit Ireland--a working visit, of course. 50 Browning Automatic Rifles have been stolen from a US base in Northern Ireland and the British command is concerned that the IRA has stolen the BARs. Billy's Irish-American Catholic family is heavy on the side of a united Ireland, so Billy resents--just a little--that the Brit who sends Billy to Ireland automatically assumes it was the IRA who stole them. The truth is in fact much more complicated that IRA vs the Red Hand. Which is something I love about these novels, the fact that the answer is not so easily cut and dried. I like reading Billy puzzle over putting the pieces together because you can be sure that I don't want to do it (I'm a lazy mystery reader). Two dead US servicemen, a crooked captain, a beautiful Irish woman working for the British, a surprise visitor from the US, and a wooden pig later, Billy's solved the crime. But he's also come to terms with Diana's desire to return to duty (not to mention his own), and how the question of Ireland is so much more complicated than it seems from Boston.
James Benn is fantastic. Billy's journey through the war it touching, exciting, and informative (and it makes me want to go look up articles about WWII). I can't wait to read Rag and Bone.
Labels: historical fiction, mystery, world war ii
posted by austentatious at 12:16 PM
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