First Sentence: The first dead body I saw in Normandy was a cow, tangled in the branches of a shattered tree at a crossroads by the edge of a field, a good thirty feet off the ground.

D-Day has passed but France is still a very dangerous place to be as the war goes on. A man wearing the uniform of an American Army Officer is found murdered in a manor house. Captain Billy Boyle, Staff Sergeant Mike "Big Mike" Miecznikowski go to view the body and ultimately request that Lt. Piotr "Kaz" Kazimierz join them. With spies and informants everywhere, the team must act carefully not to expose the nearby 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, aka, the Ghost Army as doing so could mean disaster for the Allies.

It's an effective opening that reminds one that the cost of war can be more than human lives. However, it does get confusing as there are a lot of characters with different ranks from different areas of responsibility who come and go without our knowing quite how they fit within the plot. Such, one supposes, is the confusion of war.

Madam Janvier, the owner of the manor, presents a small picture of life during the Occupation and a realistic view—"The Germans killed many. Took the Jews and Communists off to God knows where. So many of the old people died last winter, with not enough to eat or fuel to stay warm. Forgive me if I make light of your American chocolate and coffee. Otherwise, I should only weep." Benn is very good at conveying both the realities of war—"Liberation wasn't always about the liberators. Today, it had been about power." At the same time, he is about to balance that with a touch of humor—"GIs worked at unloading a truck, carrying cases of grenades and Spam, each deadly enough in their own way."

One of the many things so interesting about reading Been is learning facts about the war few knew. Here, we learn about the 603 Camouflage Engineers and the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. It is fascinating—"It's like Broadway invades Europe."—but this is no Bob Hope show for the troops. This was about saving the Allied troops while defeating the Germans, and the Black Legion in Detroit.

Benn has created a wonderful, and interesting, set of characters. For those new to the series, take heart. About one-quarter of the way into the story, one does learn of Billy's background and his relationship with Kaz, an extremely wealthy Polish baron from a country to which he couldn't return. Kaz has known devastating personal loss yet chooses to work with Allies. For those who've read previous books, it is nice to have Diana Seaton, Billy's love, back on the scene, especially with the revelation which follows. It is also nice the Benn recounts an accurate, non-Disney, account of "Sleeping Beauty.

In this time of division over immigration, it makes one wonder how many may be descended from the German and Italian POW soldiers who were sent to the U.S. to work the farms. It's an interesting thought. At the same time, there's nothing like a small truth to make one stop and consider—"'What was it you realized?" "That hatred is incompatible with hope.'" Big Mike, a former cop, knows how to get things done and how to put help others put things into perspective

"Solemn Graves" is really well done for both mystery and history fans alike. It has plenty of action, as well as suspense related to the murder. The motive is very well done and is as old as time. Do be certain to read the Author's Note at the end.

SOLEMN GRAVES (HistMys-Billy Boyle-France-1944) – VG+
Benn, James R.
Soho Crime – Sept 2018

Billy Boyle is called in to solve a mystery in France, shortly after D-Day. I didn't find the mystery as engaging as some of the others in the series (I figured out the murderer long before the end, although it did take me most of the book to figure out motive), but as always, the setting and the characters were amazing. Definitely recommended for series fans. If you haven't read a Billy Boyle book before, start with book #1.

I admit to not having in-depth knowledge of WWII, but based on the additional (nonfiction) reading this series has spurred me to, I believe the series to be pretty historically accurate. Through the course of the series, we've seen many different facets of primarily the European theater and watched Billy and his friends develop as investigators as well as soldiers. In this Solemn Graves, Billy, Kaz and Big Mike are assigned to investigate the murder of an American officer in the home of a woman orchard owner and calvados maker. In the course of the investigation, Billy becomes entangled with both the "Ghost Army" (23rd Headquarters Special Troops) and the Resistance. In many ways, Billy has become hardened to the atrocities surrounding him, but is still able to the shocked by the treatment by the Resistance of women suspected of being collaborators. War is definitely not glorified in the pages of this series. The characters are weary and somewhat jaded by this point in the war, and the reader sees the randomness of death on or near the battlefield. I would like to have read more about the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, but again, good historical fiction encourages the reader to search further to learn more!

Much gratitude to NetGalley and Soho Press, who provided an electronic advance reading copy in return for my honest opinion.

I have read the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries since the beginning. In this 13th entry, the dreariness and horror of the war is even more apparent than usual. This could be read as a standalone, but the reading of the earlier series books really would make the book more easily understood and enjoyed.

Billy Boyle is a young Boston cop, from an Irish family that already reluctantly shed blood for European wars. But Billy is also fictionally Dwight Eisenhower's nephew, and enlists hoping to be assigned less dangerous investigative work.

He is called on to look into the murder of an American officer at a French manor occupied by a widow in Calvados country. There are a lot of characters, and conflicting Resistance groups, and sometimes motives and explanations are a tad confused. I thought this just added to the general mood of pandemonium and disarray in the midst of conflict.

Billy gets a bit philosophical in this one, as do some of the other characters. The author does a great job of peeling away some superficialities to talk about battle, justice, death and loyalty. A mood of fatigue and weariness permeates the book.

These books are interesting and instructive, and in my opinion have gotten stronger as the series has progressed. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

This is such an amazing series. Set in WWII, they feature Billy Boyle, army detective, and his colleagues, as they solve various crimes. Solemn Graves begins shortly after the D-Day invasion, when an army officer is found murdered in a French chateau that is serving as headquarters for an army unit. The writing is impeccable, the story, characters and dialogue are perfect, and the insights of Boyle are incredibly perceptive. I particularly enjoyed the little details that make each scene and action authentic and vivid, and the nuggets of little-known historical facts that are spread throughout the story. This was my introduction to Benn's Billy Boyle, and now I feel compelled to go back and read them all. Many thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for the e-arc. Excellent! Strong 4.5 stars!

Celebrations start when readers spy a new book in James Benn's sterling Billy Boyle WWII series! Benn provides authentic, deeply researched backgrounds that often reveal little known aspects of World War II in a variety of geographic areas. In this story, we have Boyle and colleagues in Normandy, soon after D-Day, when the fighting is intense and the many French partisan and collaborative groups are as much of a problem as retreating German troops. The mysterious Ghost Army is interwoven into the story, as Benn fleshes out information that was just recently declassified and absolutely fascinating. Benn excels at background but also character development. Readers have followed both Billy and his closest friend Kaz through many tough, horrific situations, and the subsequent effects are not minimized. This fact is one of many to recommend this series.
Readers and fans will find much to enjoy and savor in this new series. Benn again provides top notch entertainment with plenty of action, an easy writing style with wonderful phrasing that cause reflection, and vivid characters that live long after the final page is read.