July 20, 2015
Set in 1943, Benn’s intriguing 10th Billy Boyle whodunit (after 2014’s The Rest Is Silence) takes the former Boston cop, now serving as a special investigator on General Eisenhower’s staff, from Morocco to the Pacific, to handle a highly sensitive inquiry involving Jack Kennedy, a U.S. Navy lieutenant who recently survived the sinking of his PT boat. Jack is under suspicion for murder after finding the body of Daniel Tamana, a Guadalcanal native who served as a scout, with his head bashed in on Tulagi, another island in the Solomons. Since Billy has an unpleasant history with the Kennedy family, he has to be extremely careful in assessing the evidence. If Billy incriminates Jack, some people will think he’s taking personal revenge. Tamana proves to be just the killer’s first victim, but the motive for the crimes remains elusive. Benn does a good job of capturing life under the constant threat of Japanese attack—and depicting the Kennedys as flawed human beings.
