“In 1972, when I was 18, I was sent on an English Speaking Union scholarship to Shady Side Academy in the Fox Chapel Borough of Pittsburgh…”
About the author: “Mark Ellis is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former barrister and entrepreneur.
He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war skilfully blended with gripping plots, political intrigue and a charismatic protagonist…”
Author Website From the Publisher: 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 mysteriously missing. What sinister connection links the two?
Merlin and his team follow a twisting trail of secrets and lies as they investigate a baffling and deadly puzzle…”
More Info “This is to my shame the first Mark Ellis book I’ve read. If the others evoke a vanished London so impressively, are graced with such complex plots and deep characterisation, and, above all, are written so well I shall have to read them all.” –The Times – Picks of the Week
What’s your connection to Pittsburgh?
In 1972, when I was 18, I was sent on an English Speaking Union scholarship to Shady Side Academy in the Fox Chapel Borough of Pittsburgh. I joined the senior year and spent two terms in the school before graduating. While at the school I joined in various school activities, played rugby for the local Pittsburgh team and enjoyed going on a school skiing trip to Vail at Easter time. I stayed with a wonderful family who lived in South Negley Avenue and with whom I enjoyed many local outings including trips to see Robert Clemente and the Pirates and the Penguins ice hockey team. I have many wonderful memories of my time in Pittsburgh. On my return to England, I took up a place at St John’s College, Cambridge to read law.
DCI Frank Merlin is a unique and memorable character. What inspired his creation?
Originally my hero was going to be a more prosaic Cockney character but I then decided to make him a little more exotic. On holiday in Spain I thought why not make him half-Spanish? I happened to be in the countryside when the idea came to me and a herd of Merino sheep were nearby. I suddenly decided that Merino was a good name. Thus was born Francisco Merino, born in London to a Spanish sailor and his English wife. In due course, the father Javier decided to Anglicise his name and those of his children. Thus Francisco Merino became Frank Merlin.
How did time living in the U.S. influenced your writing?
In 1972, I went on a school exchange trip to America. The school I attended was Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh and I was looked after by a wonderful family called the Denneys. When school was finished I bought a Greyhound monthly bus pass for $200 and then travelled right around the country. It was on this journey that I first read great classic American crime writers like Chandler, Hammett, James M Cain and Patricia Highsmith. This was when I first had the idea of one day becoming a crime writer myself. Later in the 80s and 90s I worked for a while in the US, specifically in New York and Los Angeles. My exploration of American crime writers continued. My business life also provided me with ideas and characters for my future fiction.
Who are some of your favorite authors and what inspiration have you drawn from them?
I love the writers mentioned above. Other favourites in crime fiction include Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Michael Connelly, Ruth Rendell, Robert Crais, Don Winslow, Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo, PD James…I could go on! Other favourite general authors include Tolstoy, Dickens, Gore Vidal, Hilary Mantel.
Historical fiction often requires a lot of research. What’s your process for making sure the books are as accurate as possible?
I am writing a series set in wartime London. The books progress in roughly 6-9 monthly intervals. I am just embarking on Book 6 of the series which will be set in the Spring of 1943. Before I start writing I immerse myself in the particular period and usually my research will yield ideas for the plot or plots of the new book. As I am well into the series, I have already built up a large library of war-related books. Online information has grown hugely since I started the series and I get much from that source. Biographies, collections of letters and fiction of the period are all excellent sources as well as more straightforward wartime histories.
Why do you think wartime stories continue to be so popular with readers?
As a period of history retreats further into the past, it inevitably becomes more strange and exotic. Also, interest in the war has been prompted by a number of major anniversaries in recent years. Overall the war is a fantastic story on a large level and a more intimate one. I focus mainly on the level of ordinary people, good or bad, trying to go about their lives against a tumultuous background. I find the details of their lives fascinating as do, apparently, the readers of my books.
What does Frank’s future look like?
I have always said that I intend to take Merlin all the way through the war. At the normal pacing of the books, that implies another 3 or 4. What his adventures will be I cannot say. I do not plan my books in advance. The plots come to me as I am writing them. All I can say is that every time I research a book I find something new and exciting to incorporate into it.
For more about Mark Ellis and Dead in the Water, visit markellisauthor.com!
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