To see and hear

Who: Novelist James Benn

What: Virtually discusses his two latest books, ”From the Shadows“ and ”Freegift“

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

How much: Free

To access: Via Zoom, register at www.banksquarebooks.com

Billy Boyle needed a vacation. In fact, he was on one, in Cairo. But, once again, his R&R was interrupted by James Benn, who just won’t let the poor devil rest.

For a bit of context, Boyle is a fictional character — a complex and reliably efficient former Boston cop turned criminal investigator for the U.S. Army in World War II. Benn is the author who created him and has excellently curated Captain Boyle’s adventures through 16 mysteries for Soho Books.

Well, make that 17 books.

Despite Boyle’s efforts to relax in Cairo — which he’s doing at the start of “From the Shadows,” Benn’s latest book in the series — the investigator is called to southern France in 1944 to work with French Resistance fighters to protect a Royal Navy Commander.

But Boyle discovers a wide web of subterfuge and betrayal in a plot that sees him reunite with his true love, Allies spy Diana Seaton, and interaction with the legendary 442nd Regimental Combat Team — a unit comprised of Nisei soldiers that became the most highly decorated outfit in the war.

Benn will discuss “From the Shadows,” along with another new novel, a historical, New London-centric work called “Freegift,” in a virtual author talk at 6 p.m. Tuesday on the Bank Square Books website.

Self-published, “Freegift” is the story of an emancipated slave who discovers that Benedict Arnold is his father.

While Benn typically does local events live — he was a guest last year on the “Read of The Day” series cosponsored by The Day and Bank Square — that situation has changed; he and his wife Deborah Mandel have permanently relocated from their Essex condo to south Florida.

Asked in a recent email interview whether they miss us, Benn replied, “I do. But I don’t miss shoveling snow.”

Benn also responded to questions about his new books. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: In “From the Shadows,” the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an outfit many folks have never heard of, plays a huge part in the story. One of the defining characteristics is the personnel makeup of the group. Talk a bit about that.

A: I thought I knew a fair bit about the 442nd, but all I really knew was the basics — Japanese American citizens who volunteered to fight even though the government had unconstitutionally placed over 125,000 citizens in internment camps for the crime of Japanese ancestry.

This happened at the same time my German-born mother and grandparents were living unmolested in Connecticut. Two-thirds of the 442nd volunteered while imprisoned in those internment camps. The big irony is that the other third came from the 100th Battalion of the Hawaiian National Guard, a Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) unit that existed before Pearl Harbor.

Japanese Americans in Hawaii were never interned, and the 100th went into combat in Italy ahead of the rest of the unit. There was a cultural gap between the Hawaiian contingent and the men who came out of the camps.

At first the groups were at odds with each other. The Hawaiians didn't understand how bad conditions in the camps really were. The government had churned out propaganda defending their policy and showing decent living conditions, and the men who had left their families behind kept quiet about the truth of the inhumane conditions.

It was only after a trip to one of the camps by a selection of Hawaiians that they realized how awful these places were. That bonded the men. The 442nd went on to be the most decorated unit, per capita, in the history of the US Army.

2: “From the Shadows” also further develops the relationship between Billy and Allies spy Diane Seaton. You’ve spoken about wanting a sort of mythic ideal of their love — tantalizing and just out of reach. How did you decide to nuance that this time out?

A: Every now and then I let them have some time together. In this book, Billy is providing security for a British officer who has antagonized the French Resistance. Diana is on a humanitarian mission, providing aid to French families who had lost members while aiding British agents.

Both are working in liberated southern France, and their paths conveniently cross. What could go wrong? Except for murder, that is.

3: You're other new book is “Freegift,” about an emancipated slave at the time of the Revolutionary War. The novel is very New London-centric and has some amazing revelations and surprises. Though you’re now famous for your World War II scholarship, it’s not surprising that you delved back further for another book. Why this particular story?

A: I've always been fascinated by what happened to southeastern Connecticut in 1781.The burning of New London and the massacre of surrendering militiamen at Fort Griswold must have been a 9/11 sized shock to the region. Add to that the fact that Benedict Arnold came back to his home turf (Norwich, actually) and caused all this chaos and death only added to the emotional registers.

I began to research the Arnold family, and when I found a yellowed newspaper clipping in which Arnold's father — Benedict Senior — offered one of his enslaved people for sale, I saw a way into the story.

Freegift Cooper learns from his mother on her deathbed the true identity of his father, and that launches him on a journey to come to grips with that truth. While I want to tell the history of what happened and illuminate the roles of Blacks in colonial society and the war for our independence, it's also a classic father and son story. That's universal.

4: The publishing business is tricky and occasionally perplexing. Even cruel. Without trying to make you say anything that can be inferred incorrectly, why, with your success, did you have to self-publish “Freegift” and an earlier standalone novel, “Shard.”?

A: Well, they call the Korean War the forgotten war. “Shard” is about American POWs, the forgotten men of that forgotten war. I couldn't find a home for it, and I wanted the truth of what they endured to be witnessed. Self-publishing was the way to do that.

“Freegift” was much the same. Southeastern Connecticut is a relatively small canvas, and the Revolutionary War is not a hot topic in fiction. Again, I'd rather have a story reach a smaller audience than none at all. And I had fun writing “Freegift” and visualizing what New London was like back then.

5: Did you experience any cool surprises researching “Freegift”?

A: On a walk to trace the route of the Redcoats into New London, we found that one of the fights occurred at Fort Nonsense, or Town Hill Fort, at what is now the corner of Ocean and Willetts Avenues — which is also the location of Debbie's childhood home. History has a way all it's own.