Customer Reviews

The Chalon Heads

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Another intriguing and riveting installment in the Kathy & Brock mystery series. And like "Malcontenta" you can be assured that this latest novel, "The Chalon Heads," is as intricately plotted, with well developed chracters, and interesting plot twists, as any avid mystery reader could wish.

"The Chalon Heads" opens with DCI Brock and DS Kathy Kolla of New Scotland Yard being summoned to Cabot's, a well established institution that deals with the sale of rare stamps. Brock and Kathy think that they've been asked around to investigate a serious theft. To Brock's dismay however, the invitation from Cabot's was made indirectly for one time East End gangster, Sammy Starling. Apparently Sammy's young wife, Eva, has gone missing, and he has been receiving anonymous letters hinting that she has actually been kidnapped and that a ransom demand will definitely be in the offing. Several things about this entire episode has Sammy really worried. To begin with, Sammy is a rather serious collector of British first issue stamps, and the anonymous notes have all been stamped with rare and valueable Chalon Heads (an almost full front portrait of a young Queen Victoria), and the stamps have also been sliced, thus rendering them invalueable. Another unsettling point, Eva bears a very strong resemblance to the young queen portrayed on the stamps. Because of his previous dealings with the police, Sammy feels as if he can only trust Brock. However, Brock would like nothing better than to walk away from the whole affair as he doesn't trust Sammy an inch. Orders from up-high puts Brock and his team on the case. And when the ransom demand comes for Sammy to buy a very rare stamp so that Eva can be exchanged for said stamp, Brock and his team put into action a plan to switch the real stamp for a duplicate. But the plan goes horribly pear-shaped and Eva turns up dead. But worse is to follow: the real stamp has gone missing and Brock is accused of stealing it. Now it is up to Kathy to vindicate her boss and to discover who exactly is behind this very elaborate plan to ruin Brock's reputation and destroy Sammy. But whom can she trust? Obviously someone on the team stole the real stamp. But whom? And is Sammy definitely in the clear for both framing Brock and murdering Eva? Or was the whole thing just an elaborate way to get rid of Eva and keep the police off his back? These are some really hard questions to find answers for, and time is of the essence, for the longer Kathy takes to come up with a solution, the more difficult it will become to exonerate Brock.

"The Chalon Heads" is a really cleverly plotted mystery novel that will definitely keep you guessing to the very end. Each new development in the case opens up a host of possibilities and suspects. I just kept going to and fro, between suspects and ideas about what was really going on. This is one of the most complex and ingenious of mystery novels that I've ever come across; and DS Kathy Kolla is steadily becoming one of my favourite detective heroines. "The Chalon Heads" is definitely a brilliant read.

I read The Marx Sisters recently and enjoyed it so much that I immediately started searching for other books in the series. They are not easy to find, unfortunately, which I find hard to understand since they are really above average reads. I particularly like Kathy Kola, the detective sargeant of the series. She is so tenacious, so dedicated, but still seems so human. She is good looking and clever, ambitious but a team player, doesn't have much of a personal life but is neither psychotic nor haunted nor totally messed up as are some other heroines in today's mystery world. The plot is summarized above, so I won't repeat the details. Enough to say, that if you enough a good mystery with interesting protagonists, this series is for you. I am busily looking for others in the series and hope that some reprints appear SOON.

Detective Inspector Kathy Kolla and David Brock of Scotland Yard team up again in this mystery.

It all centers around rare postage stamps, and gives the reader quite an education in stamp collecting and how buyers and sellers connect. The action focuses on Chalon Head stamps, designed after the portrait by Alfred Edward Chalon of Queen Victoria at age 18 - and worth a fortune.

Sammy Starling, a wealthy elderly businessman of Chinese ancestry with a shady past, is an avid philatelist specializing in Chalon Heads. His beautiful young wife Eva has just been kidnapped, and the ransom notes each bear a mutilated Chalon Head stamp.

As Brock and Kathy investigate, they uncover an ever more tangled web of people with axes to grind and guilty secrets to hide. Suicides, murders, forgeries and grisly assaults keep things moving right along.

Sammy Starling is a delightfully complex person in whom assumed innocence and true innocence combine engagingly. In fact, the book is rich in fascinating personalities. Brock and Kathy, by comparison, are rather flat - just smart and persistent, mainly.

I do recommend the book, however, for its intriguing subject matter and excellent cast of characters.

An enjoyable read with likeable cops investigating some less than pleasant characters. About half way through the book I thought the suspect was rather obvious but as the end approached the plot twists became fast and furious. The background of stamp collecting adds a nice bit of atmosphere. Recommended.

This is a solid police procedural. The latest installment in a series that is popular abroad, this book features two detectives with contrasting personalities and backgrounds. Maitland is a competent writer who has been gradually developing and enlarging the principal characters in the series. The character development and close attention to detail place this book above the usual run of procedurals. The plot, however, is somewhat contrived albeit clever. A solid though nor really exciting read.

I thought the book was ok, not as strong as Marx Sisters or the latest ones. But what a fine writer he is.

I had mixed feelings after reading this book. I have read a previous book of his and enjoyed it and also, this author was highly recommended by a fellow mystery lover. He moves the story along with strong characters but the plot left me rather bewildered. Somehow, it was not that believable. Too many zigs and zags, I think and the ultimate solution was less than satisfactory and somewhat unbelievable.
I did find the fact that the solution was discovered and revealed by the female detective, Kathy Kolla, interesting. Although Chief Inspector Brock appears to have divined the answer but having being taken off the case, may have orchestrated events (perhaps including the solution) behind the scenes.
I find it interesting that the duo are referred to as "Kathy and Brock", her first name and his last. A small wondering there.