Dark
Mirror
A
Brock and Kolla Mystery
Barry
Maitland
St.
Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-38399-1 (0312383991)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-38399-2 (9780312383992)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $24.99
Synopsis (from the publisher): Newly promoted to Detective Inspector, Kathy Kolla of the Serious Crimes Unit is called in by the forensic pathologist regarding the recent sudden death of a London student from what he’s determined to be arsenic poisoning. Marion Summers had no reason to be in contact with arsenic and, though once common, arsenic is now very hard to get hold of. The more Kolla investigates, the more she discovers that certain other things about Summers are also unusual. She moved three Octobers ago without leaving a forwarding address or informing her relatives. And her step-father has a disquieting past and, after attacking a constable in a pub, a not-so-savory present. With each turn in the investigation, it becomes increasingly clear that behind what really happened—and why—lies the most difficult-to-crack case the team has ever faced.
Review:
DCI David Brock and newly promoted DI Kathy Kolla of the Scotland Yard
Serious Crimes Unit are assigned to investigate the death of a graduate
student at the London Library in Dark
Mirror,
the 10th mystery in this series by Barry Maitland.
Marion Summers collapsed and died in a reading room. The pathologist
attributed the cause to arsenic poisoning. Although her death could
have been suicide, it seems highly unlikely: arsenic is now a rare
poison and is no longer readily available. And Marion was two months
pregnant. Brock and Kolla's investigation is thwarted from the
beginning because so little information is forthcoming about the dead
woman. She had vacated the apartment at the address she had given
months before, leaving no forwarding address. As an undergraduate
student, she had given her aunt's name and address in Scotland as a
contact. But her aunt knows nothing about her current status, but does
give Brock and Kolla the name and address of her mother and step-father
in London. They, too, say they know nothing of Marion’s
private life. Even Marion's life as a graduate student is something of
a mystery. Her professor believed that Marion had assisted an author in
obtaining material for her book, by possibly plagiarizing another work,
but the author knows little of the source. Kolla takes the lead here
and the more she looks into the information they have been given, the
less she seems to know. More and more a tangled web is weaved, making
this first case that Kolla heads a very complex case indeed.
Dark
Mirror is a mystery filled
with twists and turns. Central to the story is Marion Summers, an
intelligent young woman without a close family or public social life,
an enigma to those who know her. The solution to her murder lies in
understanding the woman herself, and Kolla isn't sure she's up to the
task. There's a sense of fallibility here that endears her to the
reader. Fans of the series will appreciate how the characters are
evolving. Dark
Mirror isn't a fast-paced
novel, but one that draws the reader into its nooks and crannies, much
like the unusual and rarefied setting of the murder, the London Library.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Dark Mirror and to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Dark Mirror? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
The
Marx Sisters
Arcade Publishing (Hardcover), June 1999
ISBN-10: 1-55970-474-8 (1559704748)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55970-474-8 (9781559704748)
The
Malcontenta
Arcade Publishing (Hardcover), August 2000
ISBN-10: 1-55970-527-2 (1559705272)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55970-527-1 (9781559705271)
All My Enemies
St. Martin's Minotaur (Trade Paperback), September 2009
ISBN-10: 0-312-38400-9 (0312384009)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-38400-5 (9780312384005)
The
Chalon Heads
Arcade Publishing (Hardcover), August 2001
ISBN-10: 1-55970-570-1 (1559705701)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55970-570-7 (9781559705707)
Silvermeadow
Arcade Publishing (Hardcover), August 2002
ISBN-10: 1-55970-614-7 (1559706147)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55970-614-8 (9781559706148)
Babel
Arcade Publishing (Hardcover), May 2003
ISBN-10: 1-5597-0668-6 (1559706686)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55970-668-1 (9781559706681)
The
Verge Practice
Arcade Publishing (Hardcover), July 2004
ISBN-10: 1-55970-713-5 (1559707135)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55970-713-8 (9781559707138)
No
Trace
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), October 2006
ISBN-10: 0-312-35892-X (031235892X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-35892-1 (9780312358921)
Spider
Trap
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), October 2007
ISBN-10: 0-312-36908-5 (0312369085)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36908-8 (9780312369088)
Dark Mirror
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), September 2009
ISBN-10: 0-312-38399-1 (0312383991)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-38399-2 (9780312383992)
Omnimystery
keywords for Dark Mirror
...
Location(s) referenced: London, England.
