'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 'An atmospheric, compelling evocation of war-torn London in the wake of the Blitz, where DCI Frank Merlin fights against a tidal wave of crime' GEOFFREY WANSELL, Crime and Thriller Reviewer, DAILY MAILSummer, 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 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 .'Unputdownable' ROBERT LYMAN'Mark Ellis delivers diamonds - an intriguing, masterly juggling of an intricate plot and an enviable command of detail.' JOHN LAWTON'Extraordinarily atmospheric and compelling, DEAD IN THE WATER is a wonderfully intelligent and complex story' CHRIS LLOYD, HWA Gold Crown Award winner.'...historical noir at its best. Mark Ellis's talents as a writer are many; finely embroidered plotting, a meticulously researched historical context and place, and rounded characters whose lives and capers become real for a reader' GARY DONNELLY'A very satisfying puzzle, expertly crafted' HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETYPraise for the DCI Frank Merlin series:'Masterly . . . compelling . . . one of the most attractive characters to emerge in recent detective-thriller fiction' ANDREW ROBERTS, SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR'Against the backdrop of Blitz-hit London, this stylish thriller sees Scotland Yard's Frank Merlin investigate a tangled conspiracy' SUNDAY MIRROR