The Embassy Murders: A gripping wartime thriller (The DCI Frank Merlin Series Book 1)

The Embassy Murders is the first of a series following the attempts of Chief Inspector Frank Merlin to deal with crime in London in World War II. If you’re going to write a detective series, what better than to choose a time and a place where anything could realistically happen and where you have, on a plate, a vast pallet of characters ranging from the seedy underworld of the shadows to real members of the great and not so good – in this case, US ambassador Joseph Kennedy and his sons? London is a place where many crimes will be happening at once, so there’s nothing odd about Merlin finding himself dealing with several. Are they connected? Crime and politics are woven into the complexity of the puzzle. The Embassy Murders is set in the early stages of the war, before Churchill has taken over and where there was no certainty of victory – even an expectation of probable defeat. The German bombers had not arrived and there was more talk of appeasement and making terms with Hitler that of fighting on the beaches. It’s a time that has always fascinated me. I frequently asked my mother what it was like in 1939 and 1940, thinking that Germany might win, but hindsight had enabled her to blank it out. It is useful to be reminded that we weren’t always certain of winning.Frank Merlin is a an appealing detective, thorough, careful, compassionate, tragic (a grieving widower) but also slight exotic (half-Spanish). A measured start soon had me thoroughly hooked. Such a compelling read that I immediately bought the second in the series.

The atmosphere and assessment of 1939 and the pressure from so many people in various forms of power for appeasement was excellently covered. The amount of crime committed during WWII was unknown to me before the excellent Foyle’s War, and it was good to come across another author covering this aspect of the war that is so rarely mentioned.The reason I didn’t give the novel five stars is quite possibly a lack in myself rather than the author. I found it hard to follow who was who for the first half of the book. Characters are sometimes referred to by first name and then by their second, and I struggled to keep track of who everyone was and their relationship to each other.Apart from that it is an interesting story set in an interesting time, with some enduring characters.

My first read of my namesake and I was not disappointed. A plot that initially seemed to be quite complex and I feared that I'd lose track of the various strands... but over time it cleverly came together.

I actually struggled to keep reading this book in the first third but am glad I persevered as by the end I was thoroughly enjoying it.The problem with the first part of the book, for me, was the slow pace and the different threads being woven into the story. At one point I put the book down and decided, enough. But, I have always believed that if an author has given his/her sweat and time to write a book, then you should be willing to give your them a little of your time in time return. The only exception being if the writing is terrible and in this case it wasn't bad at all, just slow.By the second third the different strands had started to come together and the characters had begun to flesh out and I was dragged into the story.The multi faceted plot keeps going right to the very satisfactory ending with everyone getting their just deserts. My main quibble, apart from the pacing is that I never got a feeling for war time London, which was a disappointment.On the whole Mr Ellis has written a very competent crime story and introduced a cast of characters to carry a series.

An enjoyable book giving insight into the time period, characters and politics without the gloss often applied by time. A number of real people miss in with fictional characters have the story an almost non-fiction/documentary feel to it. Well written, well rounded characters with a good narrative. I enjoyed the story and there was enough sub plots to keep the reader enthralled. A very good read

The first in a great series. Set in the tense months of pre-war Britain, The Embassy Murders is a story of murder, intrigue, lies, and sleaze behind the formal façade of the American Embassy in London. We meet Frank Merlin, a detective outside the standard hard-drinking, hard-smoking, hard-headed sleuth. Merlin is a man of compassion applied more to anyone else than himself and so is a complex character who you want to know more about as little snippets of his past begin to explain the present.Mark Ellis evidently knows his history. He brings in real characters and their real characters with no sugar–coating. More than that, he perfectly captures the formality, the snobbery, and the double standards of the era and mixes this brilliantly with the confusion of pre-war Britain as those in power wrangle about whether to fight or fall in with Hitler’s regime. The result is that Merlin and his police team have to peel off the layers of the murders but also untangle as web of political intrigue and underground dealings. Compelling if unpleasant characters emerge – but no spoilers here.This is a great start to a series and a detective who will draw you back again and again.

A real page-turner, with credible and appealing characters. Mark Ellis writes well, with a good sense of atmosphere, and the story was believable and gripping. I will definitely look out for more books from this author.

Immersive and absorbing writing with Matt Addis superb narration makes this one of the best audible books I have enjoyed. Cannot recommend highly enough!

bk. not bad......!!

Atmospheric blackout London, 1940, a couple of murders occur very close to the American Embassy.... Frank Merlin investigates: an appealing character; no antagonism between him and his colleagues, which makes a change from so many crime books. Ok, his boss is stressed but in a realistic way.What I particularly enjoyed in this novel is the way historical events and characters are very closely linked to a complex plot (I learned quite a bit about Joseph Kennedy; about the USA attitude towards war in Europe); I also discovered that blackout meant greater and fiercer criminality; I could vividly experience what it meant to walk through London at the time before the Blitz when people wondered what war would mean for them.I really enjoyed it through and through!

Princes Gate has all the elements to be an excellent book, however it is not.This works supposed to be a thriller, involves historical facts, the dialogues are very good (effectively), but the problem is how the story is conducted and how the characters are presented to the reader, it is an incredible miscellaneous that takes time from the reader to identify the main characters that really interests to the history. Another fact is that the book is divided in chapters and when a book is written like this, we suppose that this chapter is open and close to present specific information about the story to the reader. The chapters really work likes this, as in average books, but instead of finishing that chapter to start another one with a new element the author suddenly changes the scenario and the characters in the same chapter and due to this I have to flip some pages back to see where this new plot had started. This can become tiresome to the reader. This is not a characteristic of a thriller!However, there are some positives elements that the author used to build this plotting, like the historical period where the story had developed, when the author narrate a scene he does it very well and the attempt to show Merlin (the main character) and his team like normal people rather than superheroes as in the average detective novels .In average this novel is tiresome instead of thrilling.

Try and wrap your head around two gruesome murders. That's what DCI Frank Merlin must do in London in the early stages of WWII. But he and his team is dogged in the face pressure from all sides not to step on diplomatic toes. Atmosphere, unsavory characters, pretty young women, pints of beer, and irony all appear in Mark Ellis' gritty novel.

An excellent little book, written appropriately for its type. Recommended.