Reading right now:

          “Ruins of War” by John A. Connell. This new series came out in May and features Mason Collins, a former Chicago homicide detective, who is now a US Army criminal investigator in Munich’s American Zone of Occupation. The second novel in the series has a planned release date of February, 2016 (“Spoils of Victory”). I love the concept and setting. Collins’ character is interesting because of his complex and hard boiled nature.  

On hold right now:

            “A Time of Night and Fog” by Rebecca Cantrell. Cantrell has written four books in her Hannah Vogel series. This month a collection of the four books comes out together in one volume. Hannah Vogel is a crime reporter and sometimes British spy in 1930s Berlin. It is an interesting and terrifying time to attempt to either tell the truth or try to find out the truth in a country being taken over by secrets and an upcoming war.

Other mysterious things:

          There are several great authors who have written or are writing mysteries/thrillers/suspense/spy stories set in and around World War II. Alan Furst, Philip Kerr, Jack Higgins, Daniel Silva, Joel N. Ross, Ken Follett, and Peter Robinson are just a few that most people may have heard of already. Another terrific series is by James R. Benn who has written nine books in the Billy Boyle series and has the tenth coming out in September 2015. Billy Boyle is a Boston cop who becomes Eisenhower’s personal investigator. As of April, there are now ten books in Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series. Gunther is a Berlin detective in Nazi Germany. J. Robert Janes’ 16^th novel in the St. Cyr and Kohler series comes out in July (“Clandestine”). St. Cyr and Kohler are two detectives trying to solve crimes in occupied Paris. Christopher Fowler’s detectives Bryant and May try to keep the peace in Blitz ridden London. Book twelve in Fowler’s series called “The Burning Man” just came out in May. “Traitor’s Gate” from Charlie Newton is an historical thriller set in the Middle East during the time leading up to WWII. “Tin Sky” by Ben Pastor is set in the Ukraine in 1943. “When Paris Went Dark” by Ronald C. Rosbottom takes place in Paris during the German occupation. “The Secret of Raven Point” by Jennifer Vanderbes is about a young nurse who travels to the frontlines in WWII to find her brother. “Vanishing” by Gerard Woodward revolves around a British artist who is either a hero or a spy. Plenty of interesting reads for those who like a little World War II history mixed in with their mysteries.