Historical fiction offers more than just entertainment. It brings the past alive for modern readers. Writers can question what we know, speculate, explore new perspectives and redress absences in the historical record. Paul Burke explains. Historical fiction can be fun, a light entertainment, as with any genre. There is nothing wrong with that; but I […]
Death of an Officer by Mark Ellis
London in the Spring of 1943. While Europe continues to suffer under the iron fist of Nazi occupation, Britain remains battered but unbowed. DCI Frank Merlin, already contending with a booming wartime crime wave in the capital, is confronted with a baffling case: the brutal murder of a respected doctor. Following a puzzling trail that […]
The Second World War crime boom
For criminals, 1939 to 1945 were “the golden years”, as a crime boom swept Britain, The blackout and the black market that rationing encouraged were a gift to them. Mark Ellis explains why law-breaking rose by 60 per cent during the Second World War. I am the author of a series of crime thrillers featuring […]
Review: After The Flood by Alec Marsh
Mark Ellis reviews Alec Marsh’s After The Flood and finds it “excellent and gripping”. Read on to see what he enjoyed so much. After The Flood is the fourth of Alec Marsh’s imaginative 1930s ripping yarns featuring the unlikely heroic duo of Drabble and Harris. I very much enjoyed the first three books as I […]
Dead in the Water by Mark Ellis
Summer, 1942. The Second World War rages on, but Britain now faces the Nazi threat with America at its side. In a bombed-out London swarming with gangsters and spies, DCI Frank Merlin continues his battle against rampant wartime crime. A mangled body is found in the Thames just as some items of priceless art go […]
Historia Q&A: Mark Ellis
Mark Ellis is the author of the DCI Frank Merlin series of thrillers, set in London during the Second World War. The latest, Merlin at War, was published in July 2017. What is your idea of perfect happiness? A good book and a glass of wine, sitting by the pool in warm sun. When did […]