A Bitter Wind
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
To solve a murder at an English airbase, US Army Captain Billy Boyle must immerse himself in the fascinating and secretive world of WWII radio espionage.
Christmas Day 1944: After his last mission put him in the tailspin of the Battle of the Bulge, Captain Billy Boyle travels to southeast England to visit his girlfriend, Diana Seaton, for a brief holiday respite. Diana is engaged in classified work at RAF Hawkinge, including Operation Corona, which recruits German-speaking Women’s Auxiliary Air Force members—many of them Jewish refugees from the Kindertransport rescue—to countermand German orders and direct night fighters away from Allied bombers.
It’s fascinating and critical espionage work, but it’s laced with peril, as Billy finds out. On a scenic Christmas walk along the White Cliffs of Dover, Billy and Diana stumble upon the dead body of a US Air Force officer. In the dead man’s pocket are papers with highly confidential information. Information worth killing over? Billy’s investigation brings him from the fascinating world of airbase codebreakers to war-torn Yugoslavia, where he must rescue an escaped POW who may be the only person who knows the truth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Espionage and tensions among allies animate Benn's outstanding latest Billy Boyle mystery (after The Phantom Patrol). On Christmas Day, 1944, U.S. Army investigator Boyle and his girlfriend, Capt. Diana Seaton of the British SOE, discover the bludgeoned body of U.S. Air Force Maj. Frederick Brockman on the White Cliffs of Dover. Classified papers in Brockman's pockets allude to his involvement with a top-secret radio jamming operation. Officer Jean Conan Doyle, head of the RAF's Y Service and daughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, ropes Boyle and Diana into the ensuing investigation, revealing antisemitism as a potential motive after she describes a disturbing string of similar attacks against Jewish airmen. The case takes Boyle to war-torn Yugoslavia, where a rogue American killer and shifting allegiances among Allied forces complicate his mission to rescue a missing British radar specialist. Alongside the familiar faces of Kaz and Big Mike—plus a surprise cameo from George McGovern—Boyle faces fierce combat, betrayals from longtime friends, and the ever-present threat of German assault as he tries to crack the case. Benn seamlessly weaves real history with vividly imagined clandestine operations. Newcomers and dedicated series fans alike will relish this exceptional military adventure.
