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Don't be a Nordic: Why Embracing the Scandi Lifestyle Won't Change Your Life

Jo Hoare

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Set aside those think-pieces on how 24-hour access to Lego creates the happiest nation on earth and...

Armitage's Greatest Garden Plants

Lifestyle and Reference

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••• Plants that Can for those who think they Can't! ••• Gardening is not brain surgery,...

Sunwheels and Siegrunen: Wiking, Nordland, Nederland and the Germanic Waffen-SS in Photographs: Volume 1

Marc Rikmenspoel

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Western European collaboration with the Germans is still misunderstood, nearly 70 years after the...

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2204 KP) rated Billy Boyle in Books

Jun 19, 2020

Billy Boyle

James R. Benn | 2007 | Mystery

8.0

(1 Ratings)

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Search for the Spy

Summer of 1942 finds Billy Boyle traveling to England to begin working for his distant uncle, Dwight Eisenhower, as a investigator during World War II. Billy had just become a detective for the Boston PD before the war hit American shores, and Billy isn’t sure he is up to the task. However, he has to jump in immediate when he is asked to help find a spy that might impede Operation Jupiter, the plans to invade Norway and drive out the Germans. His investigation is only hampered when a Norwegian official dies under mysterious circumstances. Is Billy now looking for a killer and a spy?

I’ve heard about this series several times over the years, but it was a friend recommending it to me recently that pushed me to finally start the series. I’m glad I did. I’ve always loved World War II, and I already learned something I didn’t know about it thanks to this book. The author has obviously done his research; unfortunately, sometimes that slows down the story. I’m torn on that because I did love the characters, and I loved seeing how everything from this time was impacting them. Most of the characters are fictional, but they feel like they could be real. Billy was especially wonderful, and I hope we see more of several of the characters as the series progresses. While not a cozy, the book does keep the language and violence to a minimum, which I appreciated. I also loved Billy’s restraint with the women he met – I found that very refreshing. The tone mixes some humor with more serious themes for a richer book. Now that I’ve met Billy, I have a long way to go to catch up, and I’m looking forward to the journey.