Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Promised Land by Barry Maitland

After a six-year hiatus Barry Maitland released the 13^th book in his Kathy Kolla and David Brock police procedural series, The Promised Land (Allen & Unwin, 2019). As to be expected after a lapse of time that long, changes have occurred in the main characters’ lives. Kolla is a new Detective Chief Inspector and Brock has retired. Kolla is dealing with a couple of brutal murders so similar they have to be by the same hand and a new boss who is expressing doubts as to her ability before she’s even into her investigation. Brock on the other hand is at loose ends, not sure of what to do with himself. He is spending most of his time at the home of his long-time girlfriend on the Sussex coast but is reluctant to let his London house go.

The third murder occurs in the home of Charles Pettigrew, the owner of a small publishing house, with enough evidence to give Kolla unequivocal proof that Pettigrew is the killer. Pettigrew on the other hand tells a disjointed story about being approached by someone who claimed to have an unknown manuscript by George Orwell, which he says is somehow related to the murder. He can provide no proof and he is promptly incarcerated to await trial.

Pettigrew’s lawyer would like to use the insanity defense, as it seems to be the only recourse, and she asks Brock to look around a bit to see if he can corroborate any part of Pettigrew’s story. If Brock can show definitively the story is fictional, the lawyer will have stronger support for the insanity plea.

Brock is bored enough to accept the task, thinking he will give it a few hours and wrap up. As generally happens in this series, his plans go awry and events spiral out of his control as well as Kolla’s. The result is a complicated story with a most unexpected resolution.

In addition to the police investigation, there is considerable information about the competition among publishers for important manuscripts such as the unknown Orwell. How one single book can make or break a career and just how far some people will go to obtain that make-or-break book is all too clear by the last few pages.

Recommended for fans of police procedurals and followers of literary mysteries.

·         Publisher: ‎ Allen & Unwin (January 7, 2019)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Paperback: ‎ 320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 1760632678

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1760632670

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.