(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

1943: In the midst of the brutal, hard-fought Solomon Islands campaign between the Allies and the Japanese forces, Lieutenant Billy Boyle receives an odd assignment: he's sent by the powerful Kennedy family to investigate a murder in which PT skipper (and future president) Jack Kennedy has been implicated. The victim is a native coastwatcher, an allied intelligence operative, whom Kennedy discovered on the island of Tulagi with his head bashed in. That's Kennedy's story, anyhow.
Kennedy was recovering in the Navy hospital on the island after the sinking of his PT-109 motor torpedo boat. The military hasn't decided yet whether to make him a hero for surviving the attack, or have him court-martialed for losing the boat, and the last thing the Kennedy clan wants is a murder charge hanging over his head. Billy knows firsthand that he shouldn't trust Jack: the man is a charmer, a womanizer, and, when it suits his needs, a liar. But would he kill someone in cold blood? And if so, why? The first murder is followed by two more, and to find the killer, Billy must sort through a tangled, shifting web of motives and identities, even as combat rages all around him.

This is the 10th novel in the Billy Boyle series - but only the first one I have read.

I can only review this book based on what I have read - however, I do feel like some previous knowledge of the characters and their motivations would have certainly helped my understanding of what was going on. The author does give some background to the characters so the reader can get a feel of the story, which is helpful.

The story itself? Twas a bit of a cracker! A fabulous mix of wartime action and cruelty, a clever mystery, the appearance of JFK, and some examples of well-researched historical details as Billy finds his way around the South Pacific.

Can I recommend it? Well, certainly - but would suggest reading at least a few of the earlier novels to have a full grasp of who's who in this series...


Paul
ARH