Watches of the Night by Sally Wright

Watches of the Night (Ben Reese Mysteries) is the fifth installment of the author's Ben Reese mysteries. Sally Wright is also an Edgar Award finalist for this series. This particular one not only involves Ben in figuring out your typical murders, but it is meant for the reader to have some insight as to how and when became the man he is when these stories take place.

Not having read the first four novels, this is what I have surmised: Ben is a university archivist and part-time investigator who at one time during the second world war was a combat specialist. During his time in Europe he was severely injured, but through the hard work (even in the mid-10940's) his team of doctors and therapists made it possible for him to lead not just a normal life, but an extraordinary one. The story jumps back and forth from Ben's war years to early 1962.

He's a widower, he loves horses, he's well respected in his field (except for a dolt of a department chair) as a university archivist and professor. He likes to help people figure out all different types of mysteries.

In this particular book, Ben's old friend Kate Lindsay asks him to help her figure out which one of her late husband's (and army buddy of Ben) commandos, sent her husband's "pickled eye" over 20 years after his demise. Kate was a nurse in WWII, but has gone on to become a renowned author.

The story manages to unfold many unsavory characters and tell of many details of what soldiers went through during WWII. One of the major plots is one of the medics, Ross McNab, who is what could be the key to why Kate's husband was killed, the mysterious benefactor who has been paying for McNab's fee at a very expensive sanatorium and his ensuing "suicide". Others wind up dead as well, all at the hands of the "benefactor".

But who is the benefactor? Why did he keep McNab alive and at great expense only to murder him, his doctor and nearly Kate herself? Why does he feel the need to disguise his true identity?

The story spans from Ohio to England, the deep South and even Italy. Along the way, Ben re-unites stolen jewels to there rightful owners and even begins to kindle a romance for himself.

Ben Reese seems to be a very interesting character who has some interesting war stories to tell.

Maybe it's my love of history, learning new things and figuring out intriguing mysteries, but I enjoyed reading Sally Wright's "Watches of the Night".