THE PROMISED LAND is the 13th Brock and Kolla police procedural from Barry Maitland. The first novel in the series, THE MARX SISTERS, was originally released in 1994, and here we are at the 13th outing, and Maitland is still writing as assured, elegant and entertaining a police procedural series as you'd want. Always with that little quirk that his designer / architect mind obviously identifies with most strongly - choice of location.

This time the location is Hampstead Heath, the case is the investigation of three brutal murders of women, and the quick identification of a suspect who happens to be a publisher who has been handed a possible literary marvel - an unknown novel by one of the greatest literary figures of the twentieth century. The added layers are that Kolla is now a DCI heading up this murder investigation squad and Brock is recently retired, struggling to find his way without the job. Which means that when the publisher is charged with all three murders, his lawyer calls on Brock for advice. Nothing too contentious, just listen to the accused's story and provide some advice to his lawyer. Leading to Brock ignoring the warnings from partner Suzanne, the bells ringing in his own mind, overstepping the mark, launching some investigations of his own, upsetting Kolla's case, getting himself a serious belting in the process.

It's always interesting to see how an author progresses the personal lives of his main characters (in this case promotion / retirement based on age alone has to happen at some stage surely), whilst simultaneously keeping everybody in play in subsequent books. Rather than head down the trusted mentor or advisor path straight up with THE PROMISED LAND, Maitland's opted to throw a bit of tension between old colleagues into the pot, add some personal jeopardy for Brock, create and solve some personal problems for them both, and generally mix things up quite nicely. All while keeping the elements of an interesting case approach in the air. Suspect Charles Pettigrew is identified very early on in the piece, as is the fact that he's as unlikely a brutal serial killer as you could get. Add in the mysterious manuscript and connections between the author and Pettigrew's family publishing firm, the connection between the manuscript and one of the victim's, and then include the publishing world's reaction to the rumours. Include a true crime writer digging around in the background, introduce Kolla to the joys of upper management, Brock to the intricacies of family life, add a romantic frisson for Kolla, get the balance of everything spot on, and you've got exactly what you'd expect from as gifted a storyteller as Maitland.

It's been a while since the last Brock & Kolla outing (THE RAVEN'S EYE in 2013 by the looks of it) and this reader has missed them. They are one of the great, solid, reliable, enduring duo's of crime fiction and it's good to see THE PROMISED LAND indicating there is some fuel left in their combined tanks.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/promised-land-barry-maitland

It was so nice to visit with Brock and Kolla again, and I'd forgotten how literary Maitland's plots tend to be. It was a welcome little bit of crime fiction that distracted me for a few days.

This is the first Brock & Kolla novel I’ve read but it won’t be the last! I was captivated from start to finish. Loved the characters & totally enjoyed chasing the clues & solving the mystery alongside them. It’s an easy, engaging, well paced read & I will certainly be looking for more titles in our local library.

Brock & Kolla is one of my favourite crime series, so it's great to have another installment from the excellent Barry Maitland. Not crazy about the ending, but otherwise an enticing yarn, well told.

I had to order this from Australia, but I'm glad I did.

Brock has retired, but is asked by a defence lawyer to look into an aspect of her client's defence. This causes him to believe the client may be innocent. It is Kathy who has led the investigation resulting in the client being charged.

I thought this was excellent and am glad the door seems to have been left open fr further instalments. I'm not entirely convinced by the John/Kathy relationship, but that's a minor niggle.