Proud Sorrows

Starred review from July 10, 2023
Murderous tensions rock a quiet corner of the English countryside in Benn’s masterful 18th Billy Boyle mystery (following 2022’s From the Shadows). In 1944, Boston cop turned U.S. Army captain Boyle is en route to Norfolk, England, for a vacation at the country home of his girlfriend, Diana, and her father, Sir Richard Seaton. When he arrives, the locals put him on edge, acting secretive and uneasy in ways he can’t quite place. After a storm, a crashed German bomber with the corpse of a long-missing local Englishman in the pilot’s seat washes ashore, causing pandemonium heightened by the fact that the area is home to one of the royal family’s country estates. Ordered to investigate by the commander of a nearby POW facility, Boyle clashes with a British chief inspector who despises “Yanks” and with Norfolk residents who don’t take kindly to questions about their private lives. Benn combines the best elements of traditional small-town mysteries and WWII thrillers, developing a firm sense of place and never letting the suspense flag. This long-running series shows no signs of fatigue. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary.

July 15, 2023
During World War II, deadly secrets surround the wreckage of a German aircraft discovered in the North Sea. In a short opening chapter, dated May 1942, a handful of Norfolk villagers witnesses the crash of a Heinkel He 111 bomber. Two and a half years later, a houseful of guests at nearby Seaton Manor attends Angelika Kazimierz of the Polish resistance, recently rescued from a Nazi concentration camp and about to undergo surgery to repair an injured leg. Sir Richard Seaton hosts the group, which, in addition to a handful of local characters, includes his daughter, Diana; her lover, U.S. Army captain Billy Boyle; and Piotr "Kaz" Kazimierz--Polish baron, Billy's closest friend, and Angelika's brother. Billy's buoyant first-person narration peppers details of the backstories of this heroic trio throughout. A pall is cast over the celebratory air when guest Charlotte Mothersole shares the story of her brother Stephen Elliot's mysterious disappearance two years ago and of German soldiers reportedly seen in the area. The plot thickens when the notorious bomber is washed ashore with Elliot in the pilot's seat--a discovery that answers some questions but raises others. Seaton falls under a temporary cloud of suspicion by British military stationed in the area. David Archer, a local who witnessed the original crash, is found dead shortly after freaking out about the bomber's reemergence. Fortunately, Billy's on hand to investigate. Benn skillfully advances the stories of the characters he's developed over several previous novels while strategically revealing pieces of the complex murder puzzle. This long-running series grows in breadth and depth with every installment.

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