Review: Death's Door by James R. Benn

A Mysterious Review of …

Death's Door by James R. Benn. A Billy Boyle, World War II Mystery.

Review summary: This latest entry in the series is every bit as good the previous ones. The characters are well-developed and the real people from history — and there are a few — are seamlessly integrated into the nicely crafted murder mystery storyline. The books in this series are among the most consistently well written and researched crime novels published today, and are highly recommended. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Death's Door
James R. Benn
A Billy Boyle, World War II Mystery
Soho Crime (September 2012)

Publisher synopsis: Lieutenant Billy Boyle could have used a rest after his last case, but when his girlfriend, Diana Seaton, a British spy, goes missing in the Vatican, where she was working undercover, he insists on being assigned to a murder investigation there so he can try to help her. An American monsignor is found murdered at the foot of Death's Door, one of the five entrances to Saint Peter's Basilica. Wild Bill Donovan, head of the OSS, wants the killing investigated. The fact that the Vatican is neutral territory in German-occupied Rome is only one of the obstacles Billy must overcome. First is a harrowing journey, smuggled into Rome while avoiding the Gestapo and Allied bombs. Then he must navigate Vatican politics and personalities—some are pro-Allied, others pro-Nazi, and the rest steadfastly neutral—to learn the truth about the murdered monsignor. But that's not his only concern; just a short walk from the Vatican border is the infamous Regina Coeli prison, where Diana is being held. Can he dare a rescue, or will a failed attempt alert the Germans to his mission and risk an open violation of Vatican neutrality?