In At The Kill is the third novel featuring the series character of MI5 officer Jonas Merrick. After his previous operations against terrorism and a Russian mole in MI6 he has been moved to the “backwater” of organised crime. Here he has put together an operation against the importation of drugs from South America to Europe.
A custom built semi-submersible craft has been assembled in South America to transport millions of pounds worth of pure and uncut cocaine to Spain. Thanks to DEA surveillance and an undercover operative in Spain Merrick is aware of roughly where and when the craft will arrive. It is believed that the crime families responsible will be there in person so the operation depends on him catching them red-handed when the craft arrives.
In Liverpool the Goviers are the supreme crime family. Matriarch Doloures has invested in the drugs being brought to Spain as an opportunity to expand their influence and become even more powerful.
In Spain the undercover operative is Kenny Blake. He’s been running a shady investment scheme to enable him to get close to the pre-eminent crime family there, the Munoz clan. He was due to return home to the UK but Merrick had convinced him to stay on a bit longer. Now he’s starting to fall for a Dutch girl who paints the Spanish coastline.
Back in England Merrick rides roughshod over the complaints of the police officers who previously investigated the Goviers and ran Kenny Blake. They now have to follow Merrick’s instructions and timeline.
The narrative strands draw simultaneously together on a Spanish beach and on a Liverpool Street for a tense finalie.
Fans of the previous two books, The Crocodile Hunter and The Footsoldiers, will no doubt enjoy this one as well.