Proud Sorrows (A Billy Boyle WWII Mystery)
May 1942: a German bomber struggles to stay airborne over the coast of Norfolk, England. People from the village of Slewford see or hear the burning plane and rush to where it might come down. Two years later, in November 1944, a brutal storm and extreme tides uncover the wreckage previously buried in a tidal estuary. The body of a British officer, Stephen Elliot, sits in the pilot seat. Elliot grew up and lived in that area. Slewford is also home for German POWs and a joint U.S./British intelligence operation. England’s royal family owns properties in the area and visits from time to time.
U.S. Army Captain Billy Boyle and his British lover are on well-earned leave at the nearby country estate owned by her father, but now the U.S. orders Billy to investigate the new mystery. Many theories rise up about how and why Elliot got on that plane before it plunged into the tidal waters. Did the crash or another person kill him? A key witness is suddenly murdered, local law officers act strangely, and a variety of villagers come under suspicion. British Nazi sympathizers and the deep history of the estuary make for a bigger story than Elliot’s death alone.
The dialogue, settings, and the many characters all feel authentic. Tension builds to a rousing conclusion in Boyle’s Poirot-like quest to find the killer or killers and the motives. A glossary of the many characters would have helped to follow the many subplots. Overall, though, this is an interesting page-turner about little-known aspects of WWII. The historical note at the end helps separate overlapping true facts from fiction.
