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First introduced in The Marx Sisters, Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla return in the fifth (fourth, if you were unable to get All My Enemies) book in the series to work back-to-back on two separate cases with one relating factor - Silvermeadow, a huge, posh mall found in the outskirts of Northern London. It is there that there a sighting of a fugitive named North was seen and Brock wants to catch him badly. This serial killer has been a thorn on the Chief Inspector's side since the series started and finally something is going to come out of it. The main storyline in this book involves the disappearance of Kerri Vlasich, a fourteen-year-old food court employee, who has gone missing for three days. Her mother fears the worst after hearing unsubstantiated stories of girls disappearing from the shopping center. The police have no records of other missing teens at the mall, but something strange is going on at Silvermeadow. A gruesome discovery forces the hand of Scotland Yard and they start investigating the going-ons inside the mall. It is the Christmas season and Silvermeadow does not want any negative publicity but instead they get something else. The heavy police presence has brought in a lot of curiosity seekers as well as shoppers into the stores increasing the revenue. Maitland does a good job showing the world inside the consumer's mind and how it is affected by the events. It is also a commentary of how big chains are taking away from the mom-and-pop stores making it obsolete. He also does a good commentary regarding how the security cameras serve as a Big Brother tools for unscrupulous individuals. Kathy does several innocuous things while working at the mall, but someone in the security booth edits the film to something to look a bit more tawdry. The list of suspects is long at Silvermeadow and each of the characters is colorful in his or her own way. The author introduces everything from unusual merchants, gung-ho security personnel, management, and a group of individuals that seem to live inside the mall. Kathy and Brock get further developed in this latest book in the series. There is more information regarding Brock's mystery woman and Kathy gets a new love interest. Her relationship will be strained due to the investigation but the author leaves enough information for it to continue in the following books. The story is entertaining even though there is some repetition from other books. It seems that by the end of each book in the series, DS Kolla gets way over her head at the end and winds up getting physically injured. Silvermeadow is no exception. Overall, the quality of Maitland's work continues and improves with every new book. Let us see what his next novel, Babel, will bring.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, January 2003
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