Brief

A Death In Mayfair is a classic whodunit story. It’s December, 1941. London is in shambles as World War II drags on. In the rubble of a bombed out building, an unidentified body is found and suspected to have been murdered. Across town, a movie star falls to her death from her apartment terrace. Merlin and his team of Scotland Yard detectives must navigate gangers, pimps, studio executives, movie stars, and the downtrodden, to solve these two cases. And they discover a strange connection between them before it’s over.

What We Liked

The story has a lot of layers and threads, some that end nowhere and others that are good leads. This helps to develop intrigue and tension, as well as false starts and misdirection. All this contributes to consistent forward momentum of the narrative. There is a huge cast of characters to follow, which help with engagement and paying attention. The main character is a genuinely good guy and good detective, which makes him very compelling and likable.

Film: A Death In Mayfair can work well as a film. While a few of the side stories would need to be cut, the foundational murder mystery is the classic whodunit. There are two great murder mysteries and a set of great characters that are all woven together in a neat way that could tie up nicely at the end o the film. The backdrop of 1941 London makes the story unique in that it isn’t directly about World War II even though the characters in the story are affected by it.

TV: A Death In Mayfair could make a great mini series or TV show. Because the plot has so many different offshoots, there are many different side stories that could be developed and followed and fleshed out in more detail. There are so many interesting characters each could have their own full storyline that a TV show would allow us to follow and for them to be more fully developed. The main detective is also such a great character, he could continue to be developed and go on to solve other mysteries.

Key points: Great development of intrigue; Setting - time and place; Robust set of characters; Constant forward momentum; Great twist

Synopsis

The time is December 1941, and the place a decimated London, backdropped by World War II. The Japanese diplomats are readying themselves to evacuate from the U.K, and news of the attack on Pearl Harbor increases anticipation that the U.S. might soon join the war efforts.

Detective Chief Inspector Frank Merlin and a group of his constables pursue a group of men in a raid. They capture 2 men and three get away. At around the same time, Jean Parker and Michael Adair, two famous movie stars who also happen to be in a relationship, are in the middle of shooting a scene for their upcoming feature film for Victor Goldsmith’s Silver Screen Studios. Laura Curzon, Adair’s estranged wife calls him to tell him she’s back in town and they get together amicably. She tells him that she had been in Hollywood getting ready to star in a picture that was unexpectedly shut down and that forced her to come back early. Goldsmith is also getting some bad news, his investors need to pull out immediately and he needs to find a way to keep the studio afloat and pay them back. It turns out that while Goldsmith might be extremely successful, he’s also totally broke and putting on airs. Back at Scotland Yard, the coroner calls Merlin about a strangled girl hidden at a bomb site. They suspect that she was placed there because it would look like she was one of the other corpses who died in the building collapse. They open an investigation. Later, Curzon’s body was found having fallen from her 7th flood apartment terrace. Merlin and another detective, Bridges, go to the apartment to look at the crime scene and talk to any witnesses. On the terrace they find a thread from a coat and a handkerchief with a distinct perfume that’s embroidered with a “C.” The next door neighbor had reported hearing a ruckus next door that evening. They are investigating whether it was an accident, a suicide, or foulplay.

Merlin is now overseeing both the Curzon and Jane Doe cases. Merlin, Cole, and Johnson, Bridges, pursue leads for both cases. In the Curzon case, their top suspects are Adair and Cowan. In their Jane Doe case, their top suspects are Cowan, Waring and maybe Abela. Merlin questions Adair about his marriage to Curzon. He seems broken up about her death and says that while he saw her that night, he left well before it was suspected that she fell. He said that her mental state seemed fine and he didn’t think she jumped. Johnson, meanwhile, goes to Cowan’s to see what he can find. He doesn’t get much from him, but does learn that only Cowan and his assistant had been with the company before the move to the new building. Bridges goes back to Laura’s apartment to get more information. He learns from the doorman that the next day his trainee, Baxter, quit and disappeared. Cole is following his lead on the records from the orphanage and tracks down Mary Walker, who may be Jane Doe’s mother. She isn’t home, but the next door neighbor tells him that she and her husband fight a lot.

By luck, Johnson spots Cowan’s secretary Ryman, and follows her into a diner. He overhears her talking about how she quit and how terrible Cowan was to her. Johnson confronts her and asks if she can tell him more, and she tells him that Cowan often had young women around but that he’s not capable of murder. Merlin meets with Hilton, Curzon’s agent, who tells him the real story of why the film was shut down. It was because Curzon refused to give sexual favors to the producer. In passing, the agent also mentions her and Adair’s joint life insurance policy.

A sketch artist finally finished an estimation of what Jane Doe may have looked like in life. Ryman is asked if she looks familiar and she IDs her as a girl that Cowan had come around a couple of times at the old office. Merlin follows a lead to one of Abela’s former account keepers who confirms Abela was running young girls and agrees to give Merlin records later that night. Bridges and Merlin go to meet the account keeper only to find him just stabbed. His uncle is standing over him and gives the men the notebook he left with him just before he was killed. Cole goes back to Walker to see if she is back and can ID the picture. When he gets there, he finds her abusive husband forcing her not to talk with him. They both deny the picture is their daughter.

Archie Tate runs into Parker and talks to her about her relationship with Adair, calling him untrustworthy. Tate puts moves on Jean and all but threatens her that if she doesn’t comply with his advances that he will ruin her career. She pushes away from him. When Parker gets home she finds Adair comatose from a binge. She goes to sleep and when she wakes up she finds a crazed Adair on top of her. He attacks and rapes her, calling her his deceased wife’s name. When he woke up in the morning, he didn’t remember a thing, but a traumatized Parker runs from him and tells him she wants nothing to do with him.

Merlin and Johnson start decoding the accounting book and discover the names of Cowan, Tate, and Waring. They go over to Warings and see a van pull up and a group of under-age appearing girls being taken from the back of the truck and led violently into the house. They decide to get a warrant and bust into Waring’s Satanic ritual. They find the girls naked but unharmed.

The AC is annoyed with Merlin about the raid and says the Commissioner wants Waring released as he is helpful in the war efforts. Robinson, who was away at a course, comes back and goes to interview the girls who were rescued from Waring’s house. Three of the girls say nothing, but when she shows the sketch to the fourth girl, she begins to cry and says that she knows her and lets slip that she’s working for Abela.

Bridges goes to see Adair’s lawyer about the life insurance policy, only to find out that it’s null, since the premiums haven’t been paid. The lawyer tells him that Adair had been around to collect and was upset to find out that he couldn’t. Bridges then tracks down Baxter, the doorman trainee from the building where Curzon lived. He runs, but they catch him. Baxter tells them that Curzon had asked him to leave the backdoor of the building unlocked because she was expecting a delivery. He went into the back and ran into the delivery guy, who threatened his life if he said anything to anyone about seeing him. Being frazzled by the incident, Baxter had accidentally left the front and back doors to the building unlocked when he left that night. Merlin also talks to Cowan, showing him the sketch. Cowan admits that he knew the girl but had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Merlin questions Adair in custody. Adair finally admits that he hadn’t been telling the whole truth. He had, in fact, been with Curzon longer than just an hour. He showed up at 7pm and left at 11pm. The delivery they received was cocaine. The fight the nextdoor neighbor heard was over Adair asking her for money. The Commissioner intercedes, and makes sure Adair is released as soon as the news that Parker won’t be pressing charges is given.

Baxter ID’s Abela’s man, Gough, as the man who threatened him that night. They talk to Gough and he admits that he came to the building with a drug delivery at 8pm. Curzon asked if he would bring more at around 11pm. While he was annoyed about it, he said sure. When he got to the building later that night and came to her door, he was rushed by someone fleeing the scene who quickly got away. Gough went into the apartment looking for Curzon, but saw no sign of her. He left, and on his way out, saw her body on the pavement.

Cole and Robinson show up at the hospital and find Mary Walker’s husband trying to suffocate her with a pillow. They get him off of her and she survives. She then tells them that it was her husband who killed Ida.

Merlin shows up at Tate’s house, the only name in the Abela accountant’s book that they hadn’t adequately looked into. Tate’s mother is visiting and he escorts the men to the back of his house. He denies knowing anything about young prostitutes or Curzon’s murder. It seems innocent enough. On their way out, Tate’s mother is coming down the stairs telling him that she fixed him up some new handkerchiefs and one falls, revealing an embroidered “C,” for his nickname, Chuckie. She mentions he’s out of his perfume, which was the brand on the one found at Curzon’s. The detectives pressure Tate into giving them the whole story. He admits that he was at Curzon’s house that night. He had come to tell her he could help her get back up as a star if she returned the favor. She ran away from his advances and they ended up out of the terrace where she slipped and fell to her death. Merlin isn’t buying it, and thinks that Tate pushed her, but doesn’t have enough proof yet. He does get Tate on manslaughter. The Laura Curzon death is also closed.

Merlin is back at his desk looking at Curzon’s diary when he notices a small hidden slit. He pulls out a letter from her adopted parents and realizes that Curzon was actually the elder daughter of the Walkers, who had run away, changed her name, and became a star. In the end, it’s Cowan who bails out Goldsmith and they go into partnership. Merlin is still hoping to get Tate on full murder charges, And he’s still gathering evidence to get Waring on underaged prostitutions. No movement on getting Billy Hill though.

About The Author

Mark Ellis is a former barrister and entrepreneur. A Death In Mayfair is Book 4 in the Detective Chief Inspector Frank Merlin, a Scotland Yard detective in World War 2 London series. Ellis was nominated for a UK Crime Writers Award in 2018.