Margins
Solemn Graves book cover
Solemn Graves
2018
First Published
4.30
Average Rating
340
Number of Pages

Part of Series

A double murder in a French chateau just after D-Day threatens Allied operations, and US Army detective Billy Boyle is called to investigate. July, 1944, a full month after D-Day. Billy, Kaz, and Big Mike are assigned to investigate a double murder, close to the front lines in Normandy. An American officer and a member of the French Resistance were found dead in a manor house outside the town of Trévières.The investigation is shrouded in secrecy, due to the highly confidential nature of the American unit headquartered at the Manoir de Castilly; the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. This vague name covered a 1,000-man unit with a unique mission within the US Army: to impersonate other US Army units in order to deceive the enemy, causing them to think they were facing large formations, when in reality it was the 23rd (they called themselves The Ghost Army) creating deceptions by radio traffic, dummy inflatable vehicles, and sound effects. Not even the units adjacent to their positions were to know what they were doing. The balance of power in WWII hangs in the balance—can Billy solve the crime before the Ghost Army is exposed?

Avg Rating
4.30
Number of Ratings
795
5 STARS
44%
4 STARS
44%
3 STARS
12%
2 STARS
1%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Author

James R. Benn
James R. Benn
Author · 25 books

James R. Benn is the author of Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery, selected by Book Sense as one of the top five mysteries of 2006 and nominated for a Dilys Award. The First Wave was a Book Sense Notable title. Benn is a librarian and lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut.

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2026 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved