The French Spy

London, summer 1941. DCI Frank Merlin is drawn into several apparently separate cases: a young woman dies after an illegal abortion, a French émigré is shot in Notting Hill, and a British officer killed in Crete leaves behind a damaged letter whose intended recipient is unclear. The investigations lead into financial fraud and a world of French agents whose loyalties cannot be taken at face value.

First published as Merlin at War, the third novel expands the series beyond London through episodes and connections involving occupied France, Cairo, New York and Buenos Aires. Its central victims, suspects and spies are fictional, but the international setting reflects Britain’s precarious position in 1941, the German occupation of France and the intelligence networks generated by a global war.