Chalon Heads [Hardcover]

Barry Maitland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 1999

When Brock and Kolla are summoned to a rare stamps shop, they assume they'll be dealing with a simple case of theft. Not so. An ex-villain has made contact because his wife has been kidnapped: he's sure it must be the corrupt policeman that he helped put away, but the duo aren't convinced.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this riveting, if flawed, British police procedural, Maitland (The Malcontenta) serves up a plot so deviously complicated it's sometimes hard to follow. Scotland Yard's Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla and Chief Inspector Brock investigate the kidnapping of Eva, the wife of wealthy philatelist Sammy Starling, a specialist in stamps displaying the young Queen Victoria and called Chalon Heads. (The dust jacket, depicting a stamped envelope of Victorian vintage, is sure to draw stamp collectors.) Sammy, who was a key witness in a police scandal several years earlier, receives ransom notes with rare Chalon Head stamps glued on the pages and hence made worthless. The final ransom note demands a unique Canadian philatelic item, which is to be sold at auction. After Sammy buys and delivers it, he receives a grisly, if thematically fitting, present. The subsequent autopsy is not for the squeamish. Suspense builds as the fraud squad enters the case, while the author's psychological insights into his characters add further interest. The ending crowds together several long and surprisingly articulate confessions, one by a woman who had been incoherent only minutes before she tells all. Readers may wonder just who did what to whom. Although parts of the narrative read as though written at different times and stitched together with the seams showing, Maitland's intricate tale never fails to grip. 5-city author tour. (Sept. 12)nominee and Ned Kelly Prize winner Maitland now lives in Australia.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Police detectives David Brock and Kathy Kolla (The Marx Sisters) take on a strange case: the kidnapping of a rich ex-crook's young and beautiful wife. The pair soon discover the woman's uncanny resemblance to the young Queen Victoria, as depicted on stamps called "Chalon Heads." Detailed, literate, satisfying.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: Orion (March 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752824708
• ISBN-13: 978-0752824703
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,470,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Third and best so far!, July 29, 2003

By 

Louis M. Perdue (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chalon Heads: A Kathy and Brock Mystery (Kathy and Brock Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is an incredible mystery written by someone who is becoming one of my favorite authors very quickly. Each book in this series has been better than the last.

In this story, Kathy & Brock are helping an old acquaintance (actually, an old nemesis of Brock's) with the kidnapping of his much younger wife. The twist is that the ransom is a rare stamp, a Chalon Head (hence the name). There are so many twists and turns in this book that it would be impossible for me to list them all but rest assured, it is not confusing at all, merely enjoyable to the last page.

Congratulations to Mr. Maitland for another creative and well-written book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read, as usual!, November 1, 2004

By 

L. Yang (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chalon Heads: A Kathy and Brock Mystery (Kathy and Brock Mysteries) (Paperback)

Barry Maitland is one of my favorite authors, and this was yet another great book. I highly recommend it. Although I find it puzzling that this is labelled as his third book in this series -in fact it is the fourth. The third is All My Enemies, and I can't seem to find it in this website.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stamp forgeries and kidnapping, February 5, 2002

By 

Angel L. Soto (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chalon Heads: A Kathy and Brock Mystery (Hardcover)

Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla and Detective Chief Inspector David Brock return in Barry Maitland's latest novel. They are involved in a case involving kidnapping and stolen stamps. This case will affect Brock because aspects of his past are going to be involved in this affair.

There are times in the story when the plot gets to be a bit confusing. The author takes a lot of time bringing out all the players involved. It is not till the end of the novel that we see how one person was manipulating most of the characters. It is not clear exactly one happens but the author puts his effort. We get to see the characters as they are as well as how they pretend to be in other people's company. We get to learn a little bit of Brock's past and we get to see a bit more of Kolla's character.

I preferred Maitland's previous novels to this one. The story here is good but I think THE MALCONTENTA was better. I am looking forward to reading SILVERMEADOW as soon as it becomes available in the United States.