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SILVERMEADOW
(2000) |
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Sub-category:
murder/detective
The plot: At a vast and
glossy new shopping mall on the outskirts of London, Pauline
Lewins here's the voice of killer, 'North.' Coincidentally,
at the same time, a young teenager goes missing and turns
up as crushed refuse from a box compactor. The packing of
the boxes surrounding her body lead the police back to the
Silvermeadow shopping centre.. DCI Brock is called into
to coordinate the hunt for North. However, the shopping
mall is appalled at the thought of the police doing a major
investigation for a serial killer and torn between assisting
the police or watching their mall's reputation disappear
under a pile of nasty rumours. Brock seizes the opportunity
to manage the investigation into the girl - and look for
North at the same time.
Comment: Fascinating
and riveting! Maitland has written a murder novel here with
plenty of unexpected plot twists, incredible trivia about
the psychology behind a shopping centre and sensational
character development. A great book from start to finish.
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ALL
MY ENEMIES (1996) |
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Sub-category:
murder/detective
The plot: Finally, Kathy
Kolla has made it! She's back in London working in a new
division at Scotland Yard with DCI Brock. Before even her
first day, she is called out to investigate a murder or
a young woman. The lady is found viscously murdered in a
nice suburb and the only clues seem to lead to the theatre
and a perverted man who had been harassing the victim at
work, but doesn't fit the profile. The Yard finds some other
murder victims under vaguely similar but mysterious circumstances
and divvies up the work load. Kolla seems to have drawn
the short straw and begins investigating the least likely
victim who had any connection to the case. But, something
draws Kolla onwards even after Brock has told her to give
up...
Comment: Maitland continues
his winning writing style with another British-based thriller.
He devotes much time to entertaining conversations surrounding
the emotional tug-of-wars that go on between workers, friends
and families. And yet, through all of this, he keeps the
reader turning pages to see what happens with the crime
investigation as it builds towards a climax.
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THE
MALCONTENTA (1995) |
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Sub-category:
murder/detective
The plot: Detective Sergeant
Kathy Kolla is having a largish personality conflict with
her superior, Gordon Dowling. He dispatches her an 'alternative
health home' to what appears to be a straightforward suicide
case of a physiotherapist. But Kathy senses there are some
odd things surrounding the body and her honed London senses
suspect this is a murder case. However, every move she makes
is thwarted by Dowling, and eventually to reaffirm her belief
in the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death, she
decides to talk to her London comrade, DCI Brock.
Comment: Light and frothy.
No other way to describe Maitland's work... OK, maybe, he
paints his characters rather tenderly as well. An entertaining
little novel with enough twists and turns to keep you entertained
until the end with the obligatory life-threatening climax.
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