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This page lists novels that feature the London based police detectives David Brock and Kathy Kolla.

The Marx Sisters

Barry Maitland

1994

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"Mrs. Thatcher's London is bristling with the newly rich bankers, and property developers who have declared the city their personal playground. But on tiny Jerusalem Lane, time seems not so much to have stood still as to have slipped backwards. Its shabby houses are home to a clutch of elderly emigres, refugees from a once war-torn Europe who are still fighting ancient political battles, the Trotskyites thumping their canes in fury, the Leninists bellowing into the Anarchists' hearing-aids. To many outsiders, the Lane's enmities look like some quaint geezers' hobby, a louder version of canasta. But then the geezers start dying."

The Malcontenta

Barry Maitland

1995

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"Kathy has been reassigned to Family and Juvenile Crime and sent by her new boss to investigate an apparent suicide at a local 'naturopath' spa. She can tell right away that there is a cover-up in process and calls on Brock for help. When Brock checks himself in as a patient, they both learn that spas are not always beneficial for one's health -- especially if you're a target for murder."

All My Enemies

Barry Maitland

1996

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"Just before Kolla is to start her new job, a young woman is found viciously murdered in a leafy, well-heeled suburb, and the grotesque details of the slaughter appear to be well rehearsed, even theatrical. Assigned to the case, Kolla's only improbable lead draws her to a local amateur drama group. Once in their orbit, she is lured into a piece of theatre, over which, increasingly, she has little control. In All My Enemies, Brock and Kolla find themselves in a tangled web of secrets, lies and murder."

The Chalon Heads

Barry Maitland

1999

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"When Scotland Yard detectives David Brock and Kathy Kolla are summoned to Cabot's, a venerable dealer of rare stamps, they expect a simple case of theft and a pleasant digression from the usual sort of wrongdoing encountered in the Serious Crime Branch. Instead, they find themselves on the trail of an extortionist when they learn that the wife of Sammy China, an unsavory figure from Brock's past, has been kidnapped. The only clue is a ransom note decorated with rare and valuable Chalon Head stamps of the young Queen Victoria, to whom Sammy's wife bears an uncanny resemblance."

Silvermeadow

Barry Maitland

2000

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"When Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Sergeant Kathy Kolla of Scotland Yard's Serious Crimes Task Force get a tip that a vicious armed robber who's gotten away from them before has been sighted at the Silvermeadow shopping mall near London, they use the investigation into the disappearance of a teenaged mall employee as an excuse to surveil the mall in case the robber returns. Then the girl's body turns up in a trash-compacting plant not far from the mall, and Brock and Kathy's search for her killer takes them and their squad back to Silvermeadow, where rumors of other missing girls last seen at the mall soon come to their attention."

Babel

Barry Maitland

2002

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"Professor Max Springer, one of Britain's leading academics, has been brutally murdered on the steps of a London university. Springer was notorious for his stand against Islamic extremism, but was that motive enough to kill him? While Kathy and Brock start looking for answers in London's Arab community, rivalries within the university point in another direction. Springer's colleague, a professor of medical genetics, becomes involved. Is he as dangerous and unethical as he seems? Meanwhile, why would someone leak information about this sensitive investigation to the media, risking an explosion in the streets?"

The Verge Practice

Barry Maitland

2003

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"Charles Verge, a powerful, cutting-edge architect, has disappeared into the blue, leaving behind his firm; his beloved—and pregnant—daughter; and his young and very dead wife. The case is stalled, and, after months of fruitless searching leaves the authorities desperate to save face, Detective Chief Inspector Brock and Detective Sergeant Kolla are called in. All of London is abuzz with questions about the high-profile case, which will send Kolla and Brock to some less-than-scenic locales in Barcelona, and back to their own stomping ground—where suspicion of internal corruption comes much closer to home than they would like. As the investigation uncovers a dizzying web of possible suspects—including an ex-con gardener, a sinister doctor, and the missing Verge himself—it will reveal more than one crack in the shiny windows of the Verge practice’s sleek façade."

No Trace

Barry Maitland

2004

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"In a London neighbourhood known for its artists and bohemian style, six year old Tracey Rudd is abducted from her home without any warning, or sign of violence. She is the third child abducted under similar circumstances in recent weeks. But this case is different. She is the daughter of notorious contemporary artist Gabriel Rudd, best known for the grotesque "Dead Puppies," a work centred around his wife's suicide five years earlier. While Rudd exploits Tracey's abduction as an inspiration for a major new work in his upcoming exhibit, D.C.I. David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla hunt for the missing girls' kidnapper, who is suspiciously connected to the eccentric community of artists, dealers, and collectors in the neighbourhood."

Spider Trap

Barry Maitland

2006

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"Skeletons are discovered in a wasteland behind Cockpit Lane, a poor and largely black area of inner south London. DCI David Brock and DS Kathy Kolla of Scotland Yard's Serious Crime Branch are called in to investigate. The discovery that the victims died during the Brixton riots over 20 years ago leads Brock and Kolla on a dark and dangerous journey in which past and present come together in an intricate web of deception and intrigue."

Dark Mirror

Barry Maitland

2009

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"A student in the Reading Room of the London Library, Marion Summers, suddenly goes into a seizure, then slips into a coma and then dies. But what first appears to be a simple tragedy, is soon revealed to be much more sinister. During the autopsy, it's determined that she actually died of acute arsenic poisoning. Brought to the attention of the Serious Crime Unit of Scotland Yard, the newly promoted Detective Inspector Kathy Kolla, with the help of her superior, DCI David Brock, investigate the mysterious Summers, leading them to suspect her death was related to unexplained and unusual aspects of her recent life. The more they investigate, the more confounding the mystery becomes and more the clear it is that behind what really happened - and why - lies the most difficult-to-crack case Kolla and Brock have ever faced."

Chelsea Mansions

Barry Maitland

2011

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"When Nancy Haynes, an elderly American tourist, is brutally murdered in a seemingly senseless attack after visiting the Chelsea Flower Show, DI Kathy Kolla suspects there is more to the case than first appears. When another occupant of the palatial Chelsea Mansions is murdered hot on the heels of the first - but this time a Russian oligarch - everybody wants to get involved. Is it a Litvinenko-style KGB assassination? The spooks muscling in certainly think so. Are the murders linked? Or is Nancy's death just the result of mistaken identity? Kathy is determined to dig deeper, but comes up against walls of silence. If she persists, does she risk her career - and possibly more? DCI Brock, meanwhile, faces the fight of his life as his past comes back to haunt him."

The Raven's Eye

Barry Maitland

2013

A David Brock and Kathy Kolla novel.

"DI Kathy Kolla of Scotland Yard is called in as a matter of course by the local Paddington police when a woman turns up dead in what appears to be an accident. On her houseboat, Vicky Hawks is found by one of her neighbors having apparently succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning due to improper ventilation of the narrowboat's heating system. But while the cause of death seems apparent and there's no reason for Kolla to think otherwise, something about this death still bothers her. Meanwhile, her boss, DCI Brock, is wrestling with harsh budget cuts and a new Commander who is determined to make fundamental changes to the system--including limiting resources devoted to investigations. Struggling against the limitations imposed by the new order at Scotland Yard, Brock and Kolla find themselves pulling at the loose strings in the death of Vicky Hawks, trying to find out who she really was, what she was up to, and how her death might be related to another earlier tragic accidental death."