James R. Benn

The second in the Billy Boyle series. Billy handles everything required of him but there is no doubt he would prefer to be back in his job as a Boston cop, patrolling the beat while twirling his baton. He was elevated to detective with family assistance and then made army lieutenant because of his distant family connection to the Eisenhowers. The story in Algeria involves the illegal activity surrounding the brand new, highly-prized penicillin. There are serious issues here including murder, rape and torture that came across as incongruous with light-hearted Billy, a character that would fit well at the “cozy” end of the mystery genre.… (mere)