The Promised Land
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley February 4, 2019
Author Barry Maitland
Distributor: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760632670
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Release Date: January 2019
Website: http:/www.allenandunwin.com
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Kathy Kolla has been newly promoted to Detective Chief Inspector on the retirement of her former partner and adversary, David Brock when a series of brutal murders occur on Hampstead Heath. In a case which will push her to the limits and find her once again working with David Brock, needing to tap into his immense wealth of knowledge, they attempt to solve what is fast becoming far more than just murder in The Promised Land.
Involving a mysterious manuscript by a long dead much acclaimed author, a publisher who is trying to hold onto his slowing dying publishing company and a woman who is not what she appears to be, this is one mystery that will have the basic tenants of decency challenged, friendships destroyed and the wrong man almost tried for murder.
The murder of Andrea Giannopoulos, wife of Greek businessman Valentin Giannopoulos, from severe blows to the head with a hammer, was the beginning of what was to become a series of horrific killings, all involving high profile people.
As Kolla picks her way through what appears to be a strong line of evidence, she realises that somehow the publisher Charles Pettigrew, the mysterious manuscript and the women brutally murdered are all connected; She arrests Pettigrew on what seems to be hard evidence.
It is not until Pettigrew’s defence lawyer asks her to revisit her line of questioning and evidence that she begins to doubt what once seemed like facts, and decides she needs a little bit of help from Brock to clarify and sort out what is fast becoming a case that is far more complex than it at first appeared.
Bouncing off each other, the pair use their formidable talents to pick their way through a puzzle with a culprit who, until the very last minute remains very well camouflaged by hiding in plain sight!
Although it is while since this formidable pair have graced the pages of crime, through the imagination of Barry Maitland they have not lost their edge, in fact they seem to have gained a certain maturity at a solving one of the most complex cases ever dreamed up in a criminal’s mind.
Maitland paints his characters and sub-characters with a deft pen, creating real atmosphere, and another intriguing plot which will not let go until the final word has been written.