Review of Stalin’s Gold by Mark Ellis (Troubador, 2014)

1938 and during the transfer of gold bullion and treasures from Spanish republicans to Russia a couple of crates go missing.  Stalin orders Beria to track it down and recover the haul.  Two years later the Battle for Britain is raging and London is experiencing the full force of the blitz.  Along with their other duties, DCI Frank Merlin’s team has been instructed to get a grip on the looting of bomb sites.  In addition, Merlin has taken on the task of finding missing Polish RAF pilot Ziggy Kilinski, who seems to have some connection to the Polish government-in-exile.  That government has been funded in part by gold bullion transferred out of the country, bullion that a Russian émigré has a keen interest in.  With the bombs falling on a burning city, Merlin tries to get to the bottom of a case that involves common thievery and political intrigue.

Stalin’s Gold in the second book in the DCI Frank Merlin series set in London during the Second World War.  At one level there’s quite a bit going on in the tale which entangles Polish aristocratic exiles and RAF pilots, Russian gangsters and political agents, local criminal looters, and the police, centred around some missing gold bullion.  At another, the whole story is quite strongly telegraphed, meaning that there is not much mystery or surprise to the tale.  Moreover the tale is held together in a web of coincidences, such as Merlin finding some gold in a bomb site and the looter’s also being connected to the Russians, and there are a number of scenes that do not move the story forward.  To a degree these don’t really matter as it’s still an enjoyable read, Merlin continues to be a likeable character, the tale is interesting, and the context with respect to the war is nicely done, but I felt they took the edge off what could have been a more intriguing story with respect to how the mystery is revealed to the reader. 

Review of Princes Gate by Mark Ellis (Matador, 2011)

London, 1940, and the city is experiencing the ‘phoney war’.  Politically, many of those in government favour appeasement, as does Joseph Kennedy, the US Ambassador to Britain.  While Kennedy is away in America seeking to dethrone Roosevelt, one of the young women from his typing pool is found floating in the Thames.  DCI Merlin is assigned the case, one of a handful under his brief that includes the hit and run death of an emigre scientist, and suspected IRA activity.  Merlin would like to sign-up for active service, but is consigned to remain in the police. Shortly after questioning, another of the US embassy’s staff is found beaten to death.  It appears that there is something afoot within Kennedy’s domain, but diplomatic concerns over Anglo-American relations hampers Merlin’s investigation.  Instead he pursues the case through other means, drifting through the seamier side of the capital, ruffling feathers in the underworld and Whitehall.

Princes Gate is the first in a war-time series featuring London-based DCI Frank Merlin, a widowed copper of Spanish descent.  This first book is set during the ‘phoney war’ of early 1940, a time when many hoped that an agreement could be reach with Hitler rather than pursuing total war.  Ellis taps into the political movements around such hopes as Merlin investigates two murders linked to the US embassy and Joseph Kennedy, a strong proponent of appeasement.  Merlin is a likeable character, the story has a nice hook, and the plot is engaging, entwining a couple of intersecting threads.  However, the pacing is a little uneven, the plot drifts a little in the middle, the tone is a sombre throughout, and I wasn’t entirely convinced by the closing pages.  Nonetheless, Princes Gate is an interesting read and Merlin seems a character worth spending time with so I look forward to reading the second book in the series, Stalin’s Gold.