The Chalon Heads (Paperback)

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.

"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.