Great series that always reminds me of Elizabeth George's series. I just discovered Maitland a few months ago, and what a find! This one takes place primarily in a mega-mall outside of London called "Silvermeadow." There are two real investigations going on at the mall: a missing teenage girl who turns up dead in a box compacter (ugh!), and a sighting of a notorious bank robber and murderer. The only part of the book that was just too facile was that of course both investigations are related; they have to be or the book just wouldn't work. And Kathy does a lot of talking herself into that fact, when the reader already knows, as soon as both stories are mentioned. Otherwise, the story progresses very appropriately, with good character development. We do get to see behind Brock and Kathy's face-saving walls into their personal lives this time. Really, though, this is a book delving into mall culture, "lost" people (including teens), and what we may have lost in our culture by giving completely over to consumerism. Of course, there is the obligatory climax scene where the bad guys are confronted -- and I have to say that I was somewhat blindsided by who it turns out to be -- but again, it seemed natural and literate. Long aside: I'm happy to now be on the side of "right" in this book, having lived in mall culture for the first 15 years of my life: every Saturday afternoon as early as I can remember until I went off to college--and possibly over summer vacations as well--Mom and I went to the library and the mall and bought something. What could we have been shopping for every week?! As an adult, I am apparently the only woman on Planet Earth who loathes shopping. At least the wandering about through store after store looking for just that perfect dress...or whatever. I'm more of a "boy" shopper: list in hand, I go directly to the store that sells what I need. I buy. I leave. If the first store doesn't have what I want, I go one (ONE!) other place, then give up: who needs it anyway? Wandering with my mom all those years through (at that point) the largest mall in the world cured me for the rest of my life.Anyway. I can't wait till the next Kathy & Brock book appears.
Some day, some day a crime novel will end with "Well, we'll never know exactly how he/she did it." In the meantime, we'll just have unbelievable conversations where the perp explains exactly how and why he/she dunnit. Or here's another idea: "Don't you want to know how I did it before you die horribly?" Detective faints dead away from loss of blood or just stress and never gets to hear.Maitland is a good writer (it's just so hard to explain everything at the end without looking like ... like you
What do You think about Silvermeadow (2002)?
While investigating the return of a sociopathic bank robber to England, Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Sergeant Kathy Kolla are bamboozled into also looking into the disappearance of a 14-year-old schoolgirl. Both of the otherwise unconnected crimes do have one commonality: Both have a connection to Silvermeadow, a state-of-the-art enclosed mall that boasts over 1 million square feet of retail space and 26 food courts. One character calls it the third-largest mall in Europe, making it clear that author Barry Maitland modeled the fictional Silvermeadow on Meadowhall in Yorkshire or Intu Lakeside in Essex. To say anymore than that is to give the game away.How suspenseful is Silvermeadow? Using the audio version, I meant to listen to a few moments just to get to sleep; instead, I had to stay with the novel until past 3 p.m. so that I could listen to the very last word. Mysteries in the Brock and Kathy series always capture readers; however, this one proved to be the most riveting yet. I'd recommend this novel to anyone. (While I've enjoyed the novels in order, Silvermeadow could be appreciated even by readers who begin with it, the fifth in the series.)
—Ivonne Rovira
