In his fifth book in the Frank Merlin series, Mark Ellis takes us back to WWII to the scene of a grisly murder. But at the same time, priceless pieces of art go mysterioiusly missing. Merlin must uncover the link between the two in this new book, set to be released on April 25 through Hachette.
In this interview, Ellis talks about the setting and how they influenced the books, how his own life proved an inspiration and who Frank Merlin is and how he’s changed over the years.
Why place the book in WW2?
I was born in 1953. World War Two loomed large in my life from an early age. My father was in the Navy during the war and on service in West Africa he contracted a wasting lung disease. It took a while but he eventually died from this. My mother worked for a railway company in South Wales during the war, and made frequent trips up to London when it was being bombed. She told me many fascinating stories about these visits and life in general on the Home Front. It seemed only natural when I decided to start writing historical crime fiction, that World War Two be one option for a period setting. When I then dug deeper into that historical period, I discovered that Britain suffered a huge increase in crime during the war years. This helped make up my mind for me.
What kind of research did you need for this book?
With each book I spend at least three months researching the particular period. In the case of my latest book, “Dead In The Water,” that period was the summer of 1942. For my earlier books I spent a lot of time in libraries, but with the huge advances in the internet, I can now access much of the information I need there. I have also built up my own little World War Two library which is very helpful. History books are a major source of information obviously but I also use biographies, diaries and novels written during the war. Period films can also be useful.
How does the setting influence what happens in the book?
All my books have fictional plots set against specific historical facts which influence the storylines. Much of the plot in “Dead In The Water” revolves around the American military who had been arriving in Britain in their thousands since the beginning of 1942. My first book features murders at the American Embassy, presided over in 1940 by Joseph Kennedy. The London Blitz provides a vivid background to my second book. The background of my third book is espionage among De Gaulle’s Free French in London, and that of my fourth, the wartime British film industry.
Who is Frank Merlin and how did you create the character?
It was always my aim to have a detective hero in a senior position at Scotland Yard, so therefore a man likely to be in early middle age. Originally the hero was a true London Cockney with a wholly English background. However, while on holiday in Spain, I had the idea of making him half-Spanish. He is still to all intents and purposes, a Londoner but has a slightly more exotic background. His back-story is that his father, Javier Merino, was a Spanish seaman, who on a visit to London met and fell in love with Agnes, the daughter of a London ships chandler. Javier settled down with Agnes in London and in due course took over the chandlery from her father. The couple had 3 children, Frank Merlin, originally named Francisco Merino, being the first born.
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| Mark Ellis |
How has Merlin changed over the course of the series?
He has remained basically the same though there have been developments in his life which have made him personally happier. I won’t go into detail as that would entail spoilers.
In this book, DCI Merlin discovers a mangled body found just as priceless art goes missing. Without giving away spoilers, how do these two stories intertwine?
Terrible stories of Nazi looting of art from Jewish families in ‘30s and ‘40s Europe still feature in the news to this day. In “Dead In The Water,” one important plot line concerns extremely valuable pieces of looted art which somehow end up in 1942 London. I shall say no more than that various people want to get their hands on it and violence ensues.
Did you have to carefully outline this book?
I do not plan out my books in advance. During my research, I often get plot ideas which I note down. Then I start writing and see where those plot lines take me. Usually, I’m about three quarters of the way through a book before I know who did what.
This is the 5th book in the series. Did you always intend this to become a series, and if not, what happened that it became one?
Yes, I always intended there to be a Frank Merlin series, which is why I set the first one very early in the war. (Merlin 1 is set in January 1940.) As I continued the series, I adopted the habit of setting each book 6 to 9 months after its predecessor. My aim has always been to take Merlin through to the end of the war, so this would imply at least 4 more books if I can manage that.
Where do the ideas for the different stories come from?
Many of my story ideas come from research, as mentioned above. If not they likely come from something I’ve read or seen in the past. The inspiration for my 4th book, “A Death In Mayfair,” came from a book I read a long time ago about the British film industry during the war. This was a surprisingly active production period and there were numerous film studios in and around London during the period. I remembered this when I started researching the book and it gave me the idea of creating a fictional film studio where murder could be done.
There are five books in the Frank Merlin series, and I am working on the 6th. The five books are:
1. The Embassy Murders (previously Princes Gate).
2. In The Shadows of the Blitz (previously Stalin’s Gold).
3. The French Spy (previously Merlin At War).
4. A Death In Mayfair
5. Dead In The Water (4/25 publication date in USA)
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