Customer Reviews

Silvermeadow: A Kathy and Brock Mystery

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

 

 

"Silvermeadow" is a must read, esp for anyone who's ever been stuck at or who works at a shopping center/mall.

It looks as if DCI Brock is finally going to be able to nab his bęte noire, the amphetamine juiced killer, 'Upper' North (whom readers may remember from "The Marx Sisters"), who has been recently sighted at the Silvermeadow shopping center in Essex. Eager to finally close the chapter on this violent but elusive criminal, Brock and his team (which also includes DS Kathy Kolla) use the investigation into the murder of a young girl as a cover for their being in Essex.

Everyone had more or less assumed that teenage school girl Kerri Vlasich (who also happened to work part-time at the food court at Silvermeadow) had runaway from home to be with her father (Mr. Vlasich works in Germany) -- that is until her compacted body is found at a waste disposal site. Who wanted Kerri dead, and why? And when the preliminary investigations seem to suggest that she had been abducted from (and was probably murdered at) Silvermeadow, the local superintendent suggests that Brock and his team take on the investigation into Kerri's murder while they keep an eye out for North. And even though they are committed to discovering who Kerri's murderer is, both Brock and Kathy cannot help but hope for a quick resolution to Kerri's case -- they're main objective for being in Essex is to collar 'Upper' North after all! But there are certain aspects about this case that are rather troubling, esp to Kathy. To begin with there is the whole issue of exactly what sort of crime it is they are investigating. Was Kerri's murder a one off? Or is there a predator at work at Silvermeadow? And is there any truth to the rumours that there have been other mysterious disappearances? Or are they just rumours? Both the local police and the people who manage Silvermeadow shy away from the notion that there is a predator at work, but Kathy cannot shake the uneasy feeling that there is something completely creepy about Silvermeadow. With time decidedly against them (the shopping center people are pressuring for a quick resolution) and the machinations of an overly ambitious local DS, Brock and Kathy will have to pull out all the stops in order to resolve Kerri's murder, even as they keep an eye on the main prize -- 'Upper' North...

Barry Maitland can congratulate himself for writing another exciting and riveting Brock and Kathy mystery novel. What a truly engrossing and compelling read "Silvermeadow" turned out to be! The plot was an intriguing and chilling one; and there were some really clever plot twists and enough red herring suspects to keep most mystery buffs happy. And Brock and Kathy are such and engaging team. I like the manner in which they complement each other (work wise and personality wise). The Brock and Kathy mystery series is probably one of the best in police procedural genre, and I'm always on the look out for the latest Brock & Kathy installation. "Silvermeadow" fulfilled all my expectations. A truly brilliant read.

Having read a few of Maitland's book, I finally made it to this one. The first two I read were good reads but nothing compared to Silvermeadow. This is a riveting read that uses a large mall, Silvermeadow, as the locus of the action. Brock and his crew, including DS Kathy Kolla use the search for a 14 year old employee at the mall as a pretext to hunt for Brock's nemesis, North. North has been spotted in the mall. The 14 year-old is discovered, murdered in a pile of garbage that has been compacted at the premises of the mall. The story takes off from there at breakneck speed with red herrings, twists and a hair rising ending.

The mall comes to life vividly as do the various characters in the novel. An excellent procedural mystery and I highly recommend it. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Barry Maitland has never failed to impress this reader, as each of his four books has proven to be page-turners, complex and logical and safisfying. The police procedural is in clever hands here, as clues keep popping up and sending both the reader and Kathy and Brock in new directions. While each of these characters has some private life, the main emphasis is on the tenacity and instincts of very smart investigators who know their jobs. The author is a splendid writer, a careful plotter and has a sharp understanding of human nature. I regret that we must wait till next summer for Kathy and Brock number four!

This is my favourite book from the Brock + Kolla series. I would recommend that anyone interested in crime novels to give this a try, you will not be disappointed.

Being a big fan of Barry Maitlands books, I feel a bit let down by this mystery.
The imaginary shopping mall called Silvermeadow seems to be a leading character of this less than compelling story. We get the every minute detail of its functioning.
Descriptions of its plans and blueprints, take whole pages at the time.
Maybe it is just me, but reading about every aspect of running the shopping mall is as interesting as watching paint dry.
What is hard to overlook is still, the amazing skill of Mr. Maitlands in setting the story and drawing sharply its protagonists. I just wish it all went a bit quicker. On a scale of 1 to 5 i would give this book 3,5.

I'm reading the Kathy and Brock mysteries in order, and this one is terrific. The setting is Silvermeadow, a vast mall that combines endless shopping opportunities with fitness facilities, movies and a dazzling fantasy volcano that erupts every hour.

A naked fourteen-year-old girl is found compacted beyond recognition in a bale of packing boxes that can be traced back to the mall. Scotland Yard's David Brock and Sergeant Kathy Kolla get involved in the investigation as a cover for a clandestine manhunt they're engaged in. Master criminal and thief Upper North (always dangerously high on uppers) has been spotted at this very mall.

It's fascinating to watch the local police, the mall's security staff and the hot shots from Scotland Yard work their way through murder, rumors of disappearing girls, drug dealing, robbery - and layer upon layer of lies from all concerned.

Brock and Kathy both acquire lovers in this book, which fills out and warms up their characters. And as usual, the plot is rich in engaging or ominous eccentrics, from the game-addicted boy who seems to live in the mall to the weirdo in security obsessed with other people's secrets.

Brock's lady friend gives him a copy of The Ladies Paradise by Zola to sharpen his thinking on shopping. This happens to be one of my favorite books, too, and its theme of rampant consumerism encouraged by seductive marketing does tie in very nicely with the heady atmosphere of Silvermeadow. Even Sergeant Kolla falls prey to a shopping frenzy in the perfumed halls of the mall!

Kathy and Brock have worked together before, but I haven't read those books and you don't really need to, to enjoy this one. Silvermeadow is set in a fantasy giant super mall, complete with volcano that goes off every hour, to everyone's enjoyment. It also has had a girl go missing, and end up in the recycling compactor, crushed. Was she the first girl? Have there been others? What is going on at Silvermeadow?

An enjoyable, easy to read dective procedural with nothing earth shattering in writing or concept, and with the fatal flaw of having the villian explain way too much at the end (any normal villian would have just killed the copper, not spoken about every crime he had commiteed for 20 minutes until help could arrive!) I would describe it as a cozy read, the sort of thing you're happy to have on holiday because it's highly readable but not so engrossing that you don't want to go out and see the sights...