Death Of An Officer. Frank Merlin 6. Best Crime Fiction Novel 2025, Bloody Barnes Crime Festival. ‘Must-read’ DailyMail⁩ ‘Immersive, authentic, evocative’ ⁦@FT ‘One of the most attractive characters to emerge in recent detective-thriller fiction’ Andrew Roberts historian

Busy book week. After the successful Conversations in Crime Event yesterday at @cardiff_hub with a great bunch of crime writers, will be joining another great group next Saturday in Cambridge for ‘Crime & Nourishment’, an event organised by the wonderful Bodies In The Bookshop.

The award-winning latest in the acclaimed Frank Merlin WW2 London detective series, Death Of An Officer, is now available on Kindle+ in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. ‘Pitch perfect’ @aspectsofcrime ‘Very well paced, plotted and ably written’ @TheCriticMag

City Lights. 1931. #ClassicFilmPosters

😂😂😂

Elizabeth Taylor’s visits the local pub I'll never forget hearing a story about Elizabeth Taylor. It was told to me by someone who knew the chauffeur she used whenever she visited the UK. Taylor wasn't just any celebrity - she was a woman so famous that film critic Barry Norman once said that if you showed her photograph to a thousand people they would all recognise her. During her years with Richard Burton, she was arguably the most famous woman in the world. Yet, every year, on the anniversary of Burton's death, she would drop whatever she was doing and go on a pilgrimage to Wales. The chauffeur would drive her the long distance from London to visit Burton's family. Once at her destination, she didn’t behave like a movie star. She didn't hide in a hotel. She spent her evenings in the local pub, sitting with the villagers, sharing stories, laughing at their jokes and telling her own. She would recite a silly poem about a waiter and two hard boiled eggs, which all the locals loved. And unlike some famous people I’ve known, who make a habit of “forgetting” their wallets or purses, she insisted on buying a round of drinks - sometimes two or three. She had no pretensions, and never brought an entourage with her. She was just a woman honouring the memory of someone she loved, surrounded by the people who had also loved him.

😁

Horse Guards Parade. 1755. Samuel Scott.

#OnThisDayInWW2 (1/11/42) Montgomery’s Allied Forces broke through the German/Axis lines on what was the 10th day of the Second Battle of El Alamein.

This is what a $3 train ride looks like in Japan 🇯🇵 And this is why I love the Japanese. They make even a regular commute beautiful. Just the regular 410 yen ride from Osaka to Kyoto… except it's not regular at all. The Kyo-Train Garaku has tatami seats, tiny Japanese gardens, circular windows, and six cars themed after Kyoto's seasons. No extra charge and no reservation needed. Only runs on weekends and holidays, 4 trips a day. Save this if you are planning a trip to Japan.

I agree. Posted about him a while back. Here’s another of his great paintings. Queen Mary.

Amazing!

Born in 1835 and renowned for writing the adventures of Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer, this is a rare colour photo of American author Mark Twain 118 years ago. He's wearing his Oxford University robes after receiving an honorary Doctorate of Letters degree from the University of Oxford on 26th June 1907. I have cleaned-up this Autochrome study by Alvin Langdon Coburn, which used an early colour glass-plate process. It's not colourised

Wonder what year this is? 1960? Maybe later?

Oblivious of the horrors to come

This is real footage from 130 years ago Moscow in 1896

Undaunted by a night of German air raids in which his store front was blasted, a shopkeeper opens up the morning after for business as usual in London.

Sheffield, 1902, Filmed by Mitchell & Kenyon from the front of an electric tram. The tram carries us along streets including London Road, the Moor, Haymarket and Fargate. Horse drawn carts share the road with the new electric trams, while people go about their day. Sheffield was already famous throughout the world for its steel, but here we see something much more personal: the shops, streets and people of the city as they wer going about their everyday life. #Yorkshire #Edwardian

Yes!!

Enjoyed the sellout day yesterday at Cardiff Library for the ‘Conversations in Crime’ event. A host of bestselling Crime Cymru authors present included Chris Lloyd, Alis Hawkins, GJ Williams, LJ Shepherd, Sarah Ward, Louise Mumford, Evonne Wareham, Jacqui Harrett and Phil Rowlands. @cardiff_hub

Celebrating with a glass after our sold out bestselling Welsh crime writers event at Cardiff Library today! @cardiff_hub @louise_mumford @Alis_Hawkins #chrislloyd @PhilRowlands2 and friends.