The Ninth Circle (Billy Boyle WWII Mystery)

The Ninth Circle (Billy Boyle WWII Mystery)

$35.94

Biographical Note: James R. Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries. The debut, Billy Boyle, was selected as a Top Five Book of the Year by Book Sense and was...

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Description

Biographical Note:
James R. Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries. The debut, Billy Boyle, was selected as a Top Five Book of the Year by Book Sense and was a Dilys Award nominee, A Blind Goddess was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, The Rest Is Silence was a Barry Award nominee, and The Devouring was a Macavity Award nominee. Benn, a former librarian, lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida with his wife, Deborah Mandel.

Review Quotes:
Praise for The Ninth Circle

"Capt. Billy Boyle's latest World War II mystery begins with a literal bang . . . in an explosive foreshadowing of the crazy caper to come . . . A colorful history lesson embedded in a brisk action tale."
--Kirkus Reviews

"James Benn's latest is a scintillating mystery set against the passion
and intrigue of World War II. Full of excitement and poignancy, a great
read!"
--S.A. Cosby, author of King of Ashes

Praise for James R. Benn

"Spirited wartime storytelling."
--The New York Times Book Review

"A fast-paced saga set in a period when the fate of civilization still hangs in the balance."
--The Wall Street Journal

"A meaty, old-fashioned, and thoroughly enjoyable tale of WWII-era murder and espionage."
--The Seattle Times

"This book has got it all--an instant classic."
--Lee Child

Publisher Marketing:
To solve a double murder in Cuba, US Army Captain Billy Boyle will need to build unlikely alliances with Havana's underworld and British intelligence, including Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming, whose naval wartime service would later inspire the James Bond novels.

This installment of James R. Benn's fan-favorite, critically-acclaimed WWII mystery series marks 20 years of Billy Boyle, an Irish American cop from Boston thrust onto the staff of his "uncle" Ike Eisenhower for sensitive overseas military investigations.

January, 1945: If US Army Captain Billy Boyle thinks a summons to Havana will give him a chance to sip a cold Hatuey under the Caribbean sun, the fantasy is dead on arrival. Within hours of landing, Billy and his partner-in-crime-solving, Lieutenant Piotr Kazimierz, are assigned to investigate the murder of a Navy intelligence officer. But as the men wait for an informant at a beachside bar, a bomb goes off, and they narrowly escape with their lives. Then the informant--a Cuban taxi driver named Hector Díaz--is found dead outside his apartment. What did Hector know? And who was so desperate to silence him?

Thrust into a double-murder investigation, Billy and Kaz team up with the brass at the British Legation in Havana, including none other than Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming, to gather intel from sources inside Havana's criminal underworld. Their search takes them from Havana's Chinatown to the Gran Casino Nacional, where notorious gangster Meyer Lansky offers his services if it means defeating the suspected common enemy--the Sicherheitsdienst, the intelligence wing of the Nazi military--and finding out what sort of intelligence they are so hell-bent on keeping top-secret at this late stage in the war.

Review Citations:

  • Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2026 (EAN 9781641297486, Hardcover)