PROUD SORROWS

During World War II, deadly secrets surround the wreckage of a German aircraft discovered in the North Sea.

In a short opening chapter, dated May 1942, a handful of Norfolk villagers witnesses the crash of a Heinkel He 111 bomber. Two and a half years later, a houseful of guests at nearby Seaton Manor attends Angelika Kazimierz of the Polish resistance, recently rescued from a Nazi concentration camp and about to undergo surgery to repair an injured leg. Sir Richard Seaton hosts the group, which, in addition to a handful of local characters, includes his daughter, Diana; her lover, U.S. Army captain Billy Boyle; and Piotr “Kaz” Kazimierz—Polish baron, Billy’s closest friend, and Angelika’s brother. Billy’s buoyant first-person narration peppers details of the backstories of this heroic trio throughout. A pall is cast over the celebratory air when guest Charlotte Mothersole shares the story of her brother Stephen Elliot’s mysterious disappearance two years ago and of German soldiers reportedly seen in the area. The plot thickens when the notorious bomber is washed ashore with Elliot in the pilot’s seat—a discovery that answers some questions but raises others. Seaton falls under a temporary cloud of suspicion by British military stationed in the area. David Archer, a local who witnessed the original crash, is found dead shortly after freaking out about the bomber’s reemergence. Fortunately, Billy’s on hand to investigate. Benn skillfully advances the stories of the characters he’s developed over several previous novels while strategically revealing pieces of the complex murder puzzle.

This long-running series grows in breadth and depth with every installment.