James R. Benn
James R. Benn (born September 5, 1949) is an American author, best known for the "Billy Boyle" World War II Mystery Series. Personal life. Benn was born September 5, 1949 in New York City, New York to parents Harold Joseph and Gertrude Ross Benn and grew up in Southington, Connecticut. After graduation from Southington High School in 1967 Benn attended the University of Connecticut earning 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. 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. They have two sons and seven grandchildren. Section::::"Billy Boyle" books. 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 The books. 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.