Death Of An Officer (Frank Merlin 6) is now a major award-winner!

Death Of An Officer, the latest in the Frank Merlin WW2 London detective series, is now available online and at all good book stores ‘A must-read for murder mystery lovers’ @dailymail.co.uk ‘Immersive, authentic, evocative’ @financialtimes.com ‘Remarkable’ @tommeadauthor.bsky.social

Lovely Financial Times review of my new #FrankMerlin book #DeathOfAnOfficer in today’s edition. ‘Ellis conjures up an immersive, authentic world in this evocative series.’

The Embassy Murders is No1 in the award-winning Frank Merlin WW2 London detective series. ‘A real page-turner’ Daily Mail

Last week I won the prestigious Cob and Pen Literary Award for my Frank Merlin detective mystery Death Of An Officer at the inaugural Bloody Barnes Crimewriting Festival.

The Embassy Murders is No1 in the award-winning Frank Merlin WW2 London detective series. ‘A real page-turner’ Daily Mail

Last week I won the prestigious Cob and Pen Literary Award for my Frank Merlin detective mystery Death Of An Officer at the inaugural Bloody Barnes Crimewriting Festival.

For lovers of folk horror and the British Gothic, a novel set in the midwinter of 1665, within a remote Scottish priory haunted by ancient sorcery and deadly secrets. Enter the Priory…if you dare. amazon.com/Feast-Innocents-Novel-Astonishing-Terror-ebook/dp/B09SYG7XTD #horror #gothic #thriller

Know there was a crime boom in #WW2 London? Gangsters, killers, black marketeers and other villains made hay in the bombed-out capital. For a fictional take on wartime criminality try #DeathOfAnOfficer, the new #FrankMerlin detective thriller. For facts try #BoomTime, my new WW2 true crime history.

My new piece in the great US mystery and crime fiction publication The Strand magazine. Subject: Ten Great Crime Novels Set In London. See what you think of my list. www.mystery enter.com/2025/08/25/strand-magazine-article-ten-great-crime-novels-set-in-london/

The DCI Frank Merlin series features a Scotland Yard detective in WW2 London battling against a crime boom on the wartime Home Front. Here are the 6 books currently available. “Immersive, authentic, evocative’ Financial Times ‘A must-read’ Daily Mail ‘A truly remarkable series’ Tom Mead author

Off to New Orleans today to attend #Bouchercon, the world’s largest crime fiction event where I’m on some great panels. #DeathOfAnOfficer, my new #FrankMerlin #WW2 London detective mystery is published in the US this week.

My new piece in the great US mystery and crime fiction publication The Strand magazine. Subject: Ten Great Crime Novels Set In London. See what you think of my list. www.mystery enter.com/2025/08/25/strand-magazine-article-ten-great-crime-novels-set-in-london/

Death Of An Officer, the latest in the Frank Merlin WW2 London detective series, is now available online and at all good book stores ‘A must-read for murder mystery lovers’ @dailymail.co.uk ‘Immersive, authentic, evocative’ @financialtimes.com ‘Remarkable’ @tommeadauthor.bsky.social

And there was I thinking I’d made Frank Merlin up!

Lovely Financial Times review of my new #FrankMerlin book #DeathOfAnOfficer in today’s edition. ‘Ellis conjures up an immersive, authentic world in this evocative series.’

Cheers Chris! We had fun👍😄

July 3rd is Publication Date. So why not come and see the brilliant @markell1953.bsky.social and I in conversation at @swanseastones.bsky.social ! www.waterstones.com/events/mark-...

Know there was a crime boom in #WW2 London? Gangsters, killers, black marketeers and other villains made hay in the bombed-out capital. For a fictional take on wartime criminality try #DeathOfAnOfficer, the new #FrankMerlin detective thriller. For facts try #BoomTime, my new WW2 true crime history.

#BookReview #DeathOfAnOfficer by @markell1953.bsky.social (feat. DCI Frank Merlin) A series that plays out in monochrome in the mind of the reader Atmospheric & suspenseful, these books are wonderfully plotted & delightfully entertaining www.swirlandthread.com/death-of-an-... #booksky 💙📚

Wishing @markell1953.bsky.social a Very Happy Publication Day🎊 #deathofanofficer is OUT NOW with @headlinebooks.bsky.social Another 👌 addition to this London-based wartime noir police procedural/crime fiction/detective series featuring the indefatigable DCI Frank Merlin 🕵️‍♂️ [ Review to follow ]

Now this is what I call book post... My copy of Death of an Officer, the latest Frank Merlin book by @markell1953.bsky.social, arrived today. Huge congratulations to Mark on publication day. It looks a belter!

It’s publication day for #DeathOfAnOfficer, the latest in the ‘masterly..compelling..intriguing..unputdownable’ #FranKMerlin #WW2 London detective series. Available online and at all good bookshops.

'Borrowing' his graphic to wish @markell1953.bsky.social a happy publication day for his fabulous new book in his excellent wartime crime series featuring DCI Frank Merlin and his team of detectives. Highly recommended. #histbookchat

Two murders, a mysterious men's club and a young villian with revenge on his mind. DCI Merlin and his team return to solve more crimes in wartime London. Only this time danger lurks even closer to home! @markell1953.bsky.social excellent new book is published next week on the 29th May.

Happy days! Got my author copies of the new #FrankMerlin detective thriller #DeathOfAnOfficer. Out from Headline 29/5. Early #netgalley reviewers say: ‘I loved it… a great read…the first Merlin I’ve read and it certainly won’t be the last…twisty, intriguing…superb entertainment…his best yet!’

In the Oxfordshire gloaming

#DeathOfAnOfficer, #6 in the #FrankMerlin #WW2 detective series, is out 29/5. All books are stand alone but if you want to start at the beginning, #TheEmbassyMurders kicks the series off. In a recent review the Daily Mail said of #1: ‘A real page-turner…juicy enough to devour in 1 sitting.’

Earlier shifts this week means less morning reading time. However I've managed to finish the 5th book in @markell1953.bsky.social enjoyable wartime detective series set in London. Book VI will be published in May. #histbookchat

On some good panels again at #CrimeFest in Bristol next month. Sadly this will be the last but a fittingly stellar list of authors attending. Advance copies of my new #FrankMerlin adventure, #DeathOfAnOfficer, will be on sale. Get your tickets now!

Again on some great panels at @crimefest in Bristol in May. Sadly the last one so a stellar cast attending. Get your tickets now!

#TheEmbassyMurders (#FrankMerlin 1) is recommended today in #MailOnline’s Special Mother’s Day Gift Guide. ‘A real page-turner…a gripping tale of life in #WW2 London…juicy enough to devour in one sitting, you’ll immediately want to order the next in the series.’ #historicalcrimefiction

Last couple of weeks of my X Thames painting posts

‘Tightly plotted, meticulously researched, and written with wonderful panache. #DeathOfAnOfficer is an excellent entry in a truly remarkable historical mystery series.’ Bestselling author Tom Mead’s verdict on the latest in the #FrankMerlin #WW2 London detective series out 29/5 from Headline.

Blurb now out for #DeathOfAnOfficer the 6th in the ‘masterly…compelling…unputdownable’ #FrankMerlin #WW2 London detective series. Out 29/5/25 from Headline.

The Great Fire of London,1666. c.1667. Liev Verschuier.

Walking from St. Katharine Docks yesterday past 'Timepiece' by Wendy Taylor, towards Tower Bridge.

Today’s Thames Painting: Westminster from Lambeth Bridge. 1912. Albert Goodwin.

Today’s Thames Painting: The Thames at Chiswick. 1865. Samuel Bough.

Today’s Thames Pa8nting: View on the Thames with Westminster Bridge. 1743-44. Samuel Scott.

Yesterday and Today’s Thames Paintings: Left: The Royal Hospital from the South Bank of the River Thames. Early 18th century. Peter Tillemans. Right: Opening of Old Hungerford Bridge. 1845. James Holland.

Today’s Thames Painting: The Thames at Richmond from the Middlesex Bank, Looking towards Richmond Bridge. Early 19th century. Ramsay Richard Reinagle.

The last eleven days of my Thames painting posts

Today’s Thames Painting: Blackwall, Looking Towards Greenwich, London. Early 18th century. John Ward.

Today’s Thames Picture: Westminster. c.1870s. Giuseppe de Nittis.

Today’s Thames Painting: Waterloo Bridge from the Thames. 1889. John MacVicar Anderson.

Today’s Thames Painting: The Thames. 1886. James Robertson Reid.