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Frank Merlin: Princes Gate by Mark Ellis (view source)
Revision as of 11:12, 25 July 2011
, 11:12, 25 July 2011no edit summary
DCI Frank Merlin was the investigating officer and he and his team were in search of the murderer as well as the driver of a car involved in a hit-and-run accident which resulted in the death of a prominent scientist. In both cases they're surrounded by secrecy and people who would prefer to hide their lives behind a cloak of diplomatic immunity. Merlin has to tread a delicate path – no mean feat for a man whose even temper is not his strongest attribute. It gets tougher when another member of staff at the residence is murdered.
I liked Merlin – a widower who would really like to join up but who can't be released from the police force. He doesn't have a drink problem. He gets on ''reasonably'' well with his superior officers and he's not a womaniser. Yes – he's an original and someone you could relate to. I believed in his team too – decent coppers trying to do a job rather than a set of ‘''characters''.
The story seamlessly blends fact and fiction. Joe Kennedy was Ambassador and his views on appeasement and on Britain's likely chances were only too well-known. His other, less-endearing (if that's possible) characteristics have been caught too – and used to good effect to build the story. As for the fictional characters, they're an engaging mix of the young, the naïve and the louche. It's an engaging story which sits well in the murk (sometimes quite literally so) that was London at the time. I enjoyed he book and I'd like to hear more from DCI Frank Merlin.