His entry begins:
Re-reading, actually. More than three decades ago I read Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There by Philip P. Hallie. It tells the true story of a French village during the Second World War, and how the residents came together to save thousands of Jews from certain death at the hands of the Nazis. I never forgot that story and have recommended the book many times. But it was only recently that I decided to look into Le Chambon as a setting for a future Billy Boyle WWII mystery novel, so a re-read is in order. I’m excited about this possibility and hope I can do it justice.About A Bitter Wind, from the publisher:
The basic facts are that in one small French town in Nazi-occupied France, some 4,000 Jews were taken in and sheltered by a group of Huguenot Christians, who understood from their own history the threat of persecution. From 1940 until Liberation in 1944, the people of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon joined in what can be called a conspiracy of goodness. Risking all, the village literally doubled itself, giving sanctuary to some three or four thousand people who were escaping from the Vichy authorities and the Nazi regime. They organized themselves to forge identification and ration cards and to help refugees escape into neutral Switzerland.
The author, a professor of philosophy, was a decorated Army veteran of WWII. After years of...[read on]
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.Learn more about the Billy Boyle WWII Mystery Series at James R. Benn's website.
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 inclassified 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 about radio interception operations. Information worth killing over.
As Billy digs into the secret world of codebreakers and radio jammers stationed at Hawkinge, another body turns up. Now Billy must find out what connects these two men—and who was so hell-bent on silencing them. Enlisting the help of his long-time associates, Billy undertakes another thrilling investigation that brings him to war-torn Yugoslavia, where he must rescue an escaped POW who may be the only person who knows the truth.
The Page 99 Test: The First Wave.
The Page 69 Test: Evil for Evil.
The Page 69 Test: Rag and Bone.
My Book, The Movie: Death's Door.
The Page 69 Test: The White Ghost.
The Page 69 Test: Blue Madonna.
Writers Read: James R. Benn (September 2016).
Q&A with James R. Benn.
The Page 69 Test: Proud Sorrows.
The Page 69 Test: The Phantom Patrol.
Writers Read: James R. Benn (September 2024).
The Page 69 Test: A Bitter Wind.
Writers Read: James R. Benn.
--Marshal Zeringue
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