A Blind Goddess by James R. Benn, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Military investigator Billy Boyle — now Captain Boyle — is in England looking to take a break from the action on the Continent when he's asked by Sergeant Eugene "Tree" Jackson, a black man who grew up with Billy in Boston, to help him defend one of his men accused of killing a white cop, in A Blind Goddess, the eighth mystery in this series by James R. Benn.

Abraham Smith is no stranger to violence. Indeed, his quick temper has earned him the nickname "Angry". But it is March 1944, and the army still harbors deep-seated racial prejudice, even among senior officers, who make little effort to defend Smith. Billy concludes that Smith couldn't have committed the murder, but evidence is scant. And he really doesn't have the time to investigate as he's officially assigned another case: find the killer of an accountant with ties to the military, who has been murdered in a nearby town. Strangely, he's hampered in his efforts here, too, though for less obvious reasons.

A Blind Goddess is a gripping, exciting entry in this outstanding series. Here, Billy is faced with dealing with — and overcoming — both racial and Army politics during World War II. Though the British Army was tolerant of blacks within their ranks and their communities, the visiting US soldiers largely were not. Scenes of racial intolerance by Americans of Americans are deftly handled here, with Billy Boyle not afraid to use his own political connections — "Uncle Ike", General Eisenhower to everyone else, is a close friend of the family — to diffuse tense situations. The disparate storylines are clever and credible in their setup and execution, resulting in a superior mystery that fans of the series will thoroughly enjoy.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Blind Goddess.

Death's Door
Soho Crime (Hardcover), September 2012
ISBN-13: 9781616951856; ISBN-10: 1616951850

The Rest Is Silence
Soho Crime (Hardcover), September 2014
ISBN-13: 9781616952662; ISBN-10: 1616952660

A Blind Goddess

A Billy Boyle, World War II Mystery by James R. Benn