The Phantom Patrol

July 15, 2024
Looted Nazi artwork and the buildup to the Battle of the Bulge provide the backbone for Benn’s richly detailed latest action thriller featuring U.S. Army investigator Billy Boyle (after Proud Sorrows). On special assignment in Paris in the winter of 1944, Boyle stumbles across a Gustav Klimt drawing that’s been making its way through the underground art market. He quickly ties it to the Syndicat du Renard, a group of Nazi sympathizers seeking to capitalize on the spoils of war. At the direction of his uncle, Dwight Eisenhower, Billy ventures to Belgium in search of clues about the syndicate. There, he runs into Nazi troops on the verge of launching an offensive. The action moves briskly as the determined Boyle, aided by fellow Army investigators (and series regulars) Kaz and Big Mike, gradually uncovers a Nazi plot with the potential to determine the outcome of the war. As always, Benn peppers the action with real history, ranging from the harrowing (the Malmedy Massacre) to the quirky (soldiers J.D. Salinger and David Niven make cameos). At times, the search for the art thieves falls by the wayside as Boyle dodges more immediate perils, but loyal readers are likely accustomed to Benn’s meandering narratives. This will satisfy series fans. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary.

August 1, 2024
World War II is finally ending. Or is it? Paris. December 1944. U.S. Army captain Billy Boyle and his stalwart sidekick, Kaz--Lieutenant Piotr Augustus Kazimierz--are patrolling the P�re Lachaise cemetery along with a group of Counter Intelligence Corps agents. Ever since France was liberated following the D-Day invasion that summer, there's been a rash of vandalism and looting and, most seriously, the theft of priceless art. Explosions disrupt this evening's vigil and turn the cemetery into a crime scene. The search for the art thieves sets Benn's plot in motion: Are these random miscreants or members of a nefarious Nazi Syndicat? The complex investigation provides a solid pretext for visits to notable French locations like Versailles and a spirited recounting of deeply researched aspects of the war effort, a compelling hallmark of this long-running series. A brutal multiple murder adds heat and urgency to the search. Billy Boyle fans will appreciate cameos by series regulars Big Mike Miecznikowski, who like Billy was a cop before the war, and Diana Seaton, Billy's love interest, as well as actor David Niven, who served in the unit on whose exploits the novel is partially based. Although Boyle's 19th adventure eventually takes the reader to the bloody Battle of the Bulge, with scenes of gritty action, weaponry, and satisfying historical detail, it's often a sobering reflection on the devastating consequences of war. Benn's absorbing series continues at a high level.

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Starred review from August 1, 2024
The ninteenth book in the Billy Boyle WWII Mystery series finds Captain Boyle, formerly a Boston cop and now a newly minted detective, in the thick of trying to solve a string of murders and return looted artworks, all while surviving the Battle of the Bulge. The time frame is concentrated in December 1944, several months after the Liberation of Paris. Captain Boyle, working with a team of Counter Intelligence Corps officers, investigates the murders and plundering committed by a gang known as the Syndicat du Renard, a loose union of French criminals, corrupt cops, and Nazi sympathizers working to sell recovered artworks stolen by the Nazis on the black market. Author Benn has a gift for rendering complex military history understandable and exciting. Here, he includes fascinating details about life after the Paris liberation and intriguing cameos of real people of the time: Hemingway is covering the war for Collier's; Rose Valland (of Monuments Men fame) advises Boyle and his crew on stolen artworks; and British actor and Major David Niven, of the "Phantom" special reconnaissance regiment, takes Boyle on a wild, witty ride in his M3A1 scout car, outfitted with a mounted machine gun and brandy. An absorbing and entertaining military-history mystery.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.