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James R. Benn | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Robert Benn September 5, 1949 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Mystery Historical fiction |
| Notable works | Billy Boyle series |
| Spouse | Deborah Mandel |
| Children | two sons, seven grandchildren |
James R. Benn (born September 5, 1949) is an American author, best known for the Billy Boyle World War II Mystery Series.
Benn was born on September 5, 1949, in New York City, New York to parents Harold Joseph and Gertrude Ross Benn. He grew up in Southington, Connecticut. After graduation from Southington High School in 1967 Benn attended the University of Connecticut, where he earned a bachelor's degree. He also holds a Master of Library Science (MLS) from Southern Connecticut State University. From 1969 to 1971 Benn was a VISTA volunteer. [1]
Benn did not begin his writing career until age fifty. Prior to that he served as head of information for the West Hartford Public Schools in West Hartford, Connecticut. Benn retired as the director of the Godfrey Memorial Library, a private family history library in Middletown, Connecticut, to write full-time in 2010. Benn is married to Deborah Mandel, a psychotherapist. [2] They have two sons and seven grandchildren.
This series of books centers on fictional Boston Police Department detective Billy Boyle. He comes from a family line of cops with Irish Republican leanings. When America enters World War Two his father and others fear he will be killed defending the hated British, as was his uncle in World War One. Calling on family connections they arrange for Billy to be assigned to the staff of a cousin's husband, a little-known Army officer named Dwight D. Eisenhower. “Uncle Ike”, as he is called in private, is soon promoted and takes Boyle with him as a staff investigator to solve crimes that require not only professionalism but discretion. Far from the safe stateside job his family back in Boston hoped for, Billy finds himself in great danger on every assignment.
The series was visible in the background of the HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 11, episode 1 (timestamp 29:40).
"A twisting, turning plot drives Benn’s gripping fourth WWII mystery to feature Lt. Billy Boyle . . . As an Irish-American whose family is sympathetic to the Republican cause, Billy struggles to remain impartial as he investigates the various factions on both sides of the Catholic-Protestant divide. Benn offers no easy answers in this rich mix of Irish history and wartime intrigue."—Publishers Weekly
Benn has also written two stand-alone novels set during and after World War II - On Desperate Ground and Souvenir. On Desperate Ground, originally titled Desperate Ground, was Benn's first published novel, and the characters Billy Boyle and Colonel Sam Harding both appear in the book. [5]
Patricia Cornwell is an American crime writer. She is known for her best-selling novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, of which the first was inspired by a series of sensational murders in Richmond, Virginia, where most of the stories are set. The plots are notable for their emphasis on forensic science, which has influenced later TV treatments of police work. Cornwell has also initiated new research into the Jack the Ripper killings, incriminating the popular British artist Walter Sickert. Her books have sold more than 100 million copies.
Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was an American gangster, boxer and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles during the mid-20th century.
The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in Greater Boston during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, on details revealed in court during a separate case, and DNA evidence linking him to the final victim.
A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 6 December 1992 until 5 April 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. D. Wingfield. Writing credit for the three episodes in the first 1992 series went to Richard Harris.
Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, was one of a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place in April 1944 on Slapton Sands in Devon. Coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire injuries during the exercise, and an Allied convoy positioning itself for the landing was attacked by E-boats of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, resulting in the deaths of at least 749 American servicemen.
The Winter Hill Gang is a loose confederation of organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. It is generally considered an Irish Mob organization, with most gang members and the leadership consisting predominantly of Irish-Americans, though some notable members, such as Johnny Martorano, are of Italian-American descent.
Southington High School is a public high school located at 720 Pleasant Street in Southington, Connecticut.
It is the only high school in Southington.
Owen Martin O'Hagan was an Irish investigative journalist from Lurgan, Northern Ireland. After leaving the Official Irish Republican Army and serving time in prison, he began a 20-year journalism career, during which he reported on paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland before being murdered in September 2001.
Traces is a series of novels written by British author Malcolm Rose, about the adventures of Forensic Investigator Luke Harding and his Mobile Aid To Law And Crime, Malc. The first book, Framed!, has been selected by the United States Board on Books for Young People and the Children's Book Council as an Outstanding International Book for 2006.
Christopher McWilliams was an Irish Republican paramilitary who was a member of both the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He was convicted of the murder of Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright, who was shot by an INLA unit led by McWilliams inside the Maze Prison.
Haunted Harbor (1944) is a Republic serial, based on the novel by Ewart Adamson.
The Big Blowdown is a 1996 crime novel written by George Pelecanos. It is set in Washington, D.C., and focuses on Peter Karras. It is the first of four books comprising the D.C. Quartet. The other books in this series are King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever and Shame the Devil.
John James Vincent Martorano is an American former gangster and former hitman for the Winter Hill Gang in Boston, Massachusetts, who has admitted to 20 mob-related killings.
Skulduggery Pleasant is a series of dark fantasy novels written by Irish author Derek Landy. Tom Percival is the series' illustrator. The books revolve around the adventures of fledgling detective Valkyrie Cain and her mentor Skulduggery Pleasant, along with other friends and allies. The central story concerns Valkyrie's struggle to stop evil forces threatening the world and her internal struggle to resist the darkness within.
William A. Petit Jr. is an American former physician and politician. A Republican, he represented District 22 in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023. A former physician, he was the sole survivor of the 2007 Cheshire home invasion, in which his wife and two daughters were murdered.
What the Night Knows is a 2010 novel by bestselling author Dean Koontz. It reached No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Following the events of the novella "Darkness Under the Sun," it follows the life of John Calvino, a survivor of a violent attack on his family and current police officer. In the aftermath of Billy Lucas's brutal slaying of his own family, Calvino notices many similarities between Billy Lucas's family and his own, and Lucas knows more about Calvino than he possibly can. Spooked, remembering the attack of that left his family dead so many years ago at the hands of the late Alton Turner Blackwood, Calvino starts worrying that Blackwood, or his memory, might be back, and the family Calvino created may be in danger.
Dick Lehr is an American author, journalist and a professor of journalism at Boston University. He is known for co-authoring The New York Times bestseller and Edgar Award winner Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil’s Deal, and its sequel, Whitey: The Life of America’s Most Notorious Mob Boss with fellow journalist Gerard O'Neill.
Lethal White is the fourth novel in the Cormoran Strike series, written by J. K. Rowling and published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The novel was released on 18 September 2018.
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a young adult mystery debut novel by Holly Jackson. The novel is the first in a series of three novels and one novella: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2019); Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020); As Good As Dead (2021); and Kill Joy (2022). All books were published by Electric Monkey in the UK and by Delacorte Press in the USA.
Meantime is a 2022 crime fiction novel by the Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle. The story follows drug addict Felix McAveety's unfocused investigation into his friend Marina's death. It is set in Glasgow, Scotland, shortly after the 2014 independence referendum. Felix is aided by the crime fiction writer Jane, the left-wing activist Amy and his depressed neighbour Donnie. They meet Chong, who seems to believe reality is simulated, and find signs that British Intelligence are involved in Marina's death.
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