y separately published work icon Brock and Kolla series - author   novel   crime   detective   mystery  
First known date: 1994- Issue Details: First known date: 1994-... 1994- Brock and Kolla
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'The Brock and Kolla novels were among the first in contemporary crime fiction to feature a male-female police team as the central characters, playing complementary roles in the resolution of their cases. I liked the possibilities for human tension and for giving the reader alternative points of view which they provide, with Brock the older, more experienced man and Kathy his younger acolyte in London’s Metropolitan Police.

'They first meet up in The Marx Sisters, where Kathy, in charge of her first murder investigation, unexpectedly finds herself accompanied by the Scotland Yard heavyweight Brock, for reasons that only emerge during the course of the story, and which nearly bring Kathy’s career to a premature end. In the next story, The Malcontenta, Kathy is frustrated to be posted out of London, and enlists Brock’s support to investigate corrupt practices in a naturopathic clinic in the Kent countryside involving senior police officers. From this success she is able to join Brock’s elite unit within Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime Branch for the next case All My Enemies, in which we also learn something of Kathy’s family history and the childhood turning point of the suicide of her father.

'As the stories have continued, the relationship between the two detectives has gradually evolved, with Kathy becoming more self-confident and Brock more dependent on her insights and tenacity. Both Brock, divorced, and Kathy, single, have had relationships with other people during the series, which also features a number of other regular characters both within and outside the police force, but it is the bond between the two main players which provides the central dynamic of the stories.

'Each book is set in a different part of London and its surrounds, where I grew up and which I now return to as a partial stranger. I like to think of the detectives waiting for us at the start of each story, ready to lead us into a new and maybe unexpected part of the city. I have always loved the strong part that atmosphere and a sense of place play in crime fiction, and my architectural background contributes to that. The buildings and laneways are, for me, another set of characters in the books. The crime gives the detectives entry into the secret corners of the city, and also opens up the private activities of its people.

'Each book also has a particular theme based around some obsessive interest of the characters – naturopathic medicine in one book, philately in another, amateur theatre in another, and so on. Researching these obsessions is for me one of the most intriguing parts of writing the books.'

'On the Brock and Kolla Novels', Barry Maitland

Includes

1
y separately published work icon The Marx Sisters Barry Maitland , London : Hamish Hamilton , 1994 Z539766 1994 single work novel crime detective mystery
2
y separately published work icon The Malcontenta Barry Maitland , London : Hamish Hamilton , 1995 Z77904 1995 single work novel crime detective mystery
3
y separately published work icon All My Enemies Barry Maitland , London : Hamish Hamilton , 1996 Z429351 1996 single work novel crime detective mystery

'In one of the finest and most pivotal books in the critically acclaimed Brock & Kolla series, DS Kathy Kolla reports to New Scotland Yard and to DCI Brock's Serious Crime Division.

'Just before Kolla is to start her new job, a young woman is found viciously murdered in a leafy, well-heeled suburb, and the grotesque details of the slaughter appear to be well rehearsed, even theatrical. Assigned to the case, Kolla's only improbable lead draws her to a local amateur drama group. Once in their orbit, she is lured into a piece of theatre, over which, increasingly, she has little control.

'In All My Enemies, Brock and Kolla find themselves in a tangled web of secrets, lies and murder.' (From the publisher's website, 2012 Allen & Unwin edition.)

4
y separately published work icon The Chalon Heads Barry Maitland , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1999 Z231243 1999 single work novel crime detective mystery
5
y separately published work icon Silvermeadow Barry Maitland , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 2000 Z140630 2000 single work novel crime detective mystery (taught in 2 units)
6
y separately published work icon Babel Barry Maitland , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2002 Z979871 2002 single work novel crime detective mystery
7
y separately published work icon The Verge Practice Barry Maitland , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2003 Z1057427 2003 single work novel crime detective mystery
8
y separately published work icon No Trace Barry Maitland , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2004 Z1156406 2004 single work novel crime detective mystery
9
y separately published work icon Spider Trap Barry Maitland , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2006 Z1285556 2006 single work novel crime detective mystery Skeletons are discovered in wasteland behind Cockpit Lane, a poor black area of inner south London, and DCI David Brock and DS Kathy Kolla of Scotland Yard's Serious Crimes Branch are called in to investigate. - Back cover.
10
y separately published work icon Dark Mirror Barry Maitland , New York (City) : Minotaur Books , 2009 Z1594812 2009 single work novel crime detective mystery

'When Marion Summers - red-haired, beautiful and mysterious - collapses and dies in the rarefied surrounds of the London Library, DI Kathy Kolla and DCI David Brock are sent to head the investigation. Kathy finds a reluctant kinship with the feisty Marion, who had, like Kathy, left a difficult home life when young and struck out to London for independence.

Marion's research on the intriguing, adulterous circle of artists, wives, lovers and muses around Victorian artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti seems irrelevant until the use of arsenic arises. As Brock and Kolla get closer to the truth, another victim dies an excruciating death by poison in a library, and it looks like a serial poisoner is on the loose.' (From the publisher's website.)

11
y separately published work icon Chelsea Mansions Barry Maitland , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2011 Z1777525 2011 single work novel crime 'When Nancy Haynes, an elderly American tourist, is brutally murdered in a seemingly senseless attack after visiting the Chelsea Flower Show, DI Kathy Kolla suspects there is more to the case than first appears. When another occupant of the palatial Chelsea Mansions is murdered hot on the heels of the first - but this time a Russian oligarch - everybody wants to get involved.

'Is it a Litvinenko-style KGB assassination? The spooks muscling in certainly think so. Are the murders linked? Or is Nancy's death just the result of mistaken identity? Kathy is determined to dig deeper, but comes up against walls of silence. If she persists, does she risk her career-and possibly more? DCI Brock, meanwhile, faces the fight of his life, as his past comes back to haunt him.

'A crime long buried, a deadly African virus, and some of the most resourceful criminals Brock and Kolla have ever faced, conspire to make this one of Maitland's best mysteries yet.' (From the publisher's website.)
12
y separately published work icon The Raven's Eye Barry Maitland , Sydney : Allen and Unwin , 2013 6124366 2013 single work novel crime

'DCI David Brock and DI Kathy Kolla, of Scotland Yard, find themselves pulled into a case of murder, a mysterious death among the houseboats that line the canals around greater London


'DI Kathy Kolla of Scotland Yard is called in as a matter of course by the local Paddington police when a woman turns up dead in what appears to be an accident. On her houseboat, Vicky Hawks is found by one of her neighbors having apparently succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning due to improper ventilation of the narrowboat’s heating system. But while the cause of death seems apparent and there’s no reason for Kolla to think otherwise, something about this death still bothers her.

'Meanwhile, her boss, DCI Brock, is wrestling with harsh budget cuts and a new Commander who is determined to make fundamental changes to the system—including limiting resources devoted to investigations. Struggling against the limitations imposed by the new order at Scotland Yard, Brock and Kolla find themselves pulling at the loose strings in the death of Vicky Hawks, trying to find out who she really was, what she was up to, and how her death might be related to another earlier tragic accidental death.' (Publisher's blurb)

13
y separately published work icon The Promised Land Barry Maitland , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2019 14811530 2019 single work novel crime detective mystery

'Newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Kathy Kolla investigates a series of brutal murders on Hampstead Heath. Under intense pressure to find answers, she arrests the unlikely figure of John Pettigrew, a failing London publisher who lives alone on the edge of the Heath. Pettigrew's lawyer calls on recently retired David Brock for advice, and soon, unable to resist the pull of investigation, the old colleagues Brock and Kolla are at loggerheads.

'At the heart of the gripping mystery of the Hampstead murders lies a manuscript of an unknown novel by one of the greatest literary figures of the twentieth century. Brock believes that its story will unlock the puzzle, but how?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

14
y separately published work icon The Russian Wife Barry Maitland , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 23161235 2021 single work novel crime thriller

'When the Russian wife of the owner of one of the most valuable private collections of modern art in the UK is found dead, Detective Chief Inspector David Brock is drawn into a high-stakes world very different to his own. From the dealers and galleries in London's West End, his investigations take him to Hanover, Miami and New York on the trail of international forgery and fraud.

'At the same time, his old colleague Detective Chief Inspector Kathy Kolla, who now leads one of the Metropolitan Police Murder Investigation teams, finds herself at the wrong end of a corruption charge. With her whole career in the balance, she will do almost anything to clear her name.'

Source : publisher's blurb

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1994-
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Hamish Hamilton ,
      1994-1996 .
      Note/s:
      • Books one to three in the series first published by Hamish Hamilton in London.
    • St Leonards, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 1999-2000 .
      Note/s:
      • Books four and five in the series first published by Allen and Unwin in St Leonards.
    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2002- .
      Note/s:
      • Books six and onwards in the series first published by Allen and Unwin in Crows Nest.

Works about this Work

Spooks in Dead of Night Steve Meacham , 2011 single work biography
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 18 September 2011; (p. 4-5)
Spooks in Dead of Night Steve Meacham , 2011 single work biography
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 18 September 2011; (p. 4-5)
Last amended 14 Mar 2022 13:04:30
Settings:
  • London,
    c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
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