No Trace

July 24, 2006
In Maitland's gripping new police procedural to feature DCI David Brock and Det. Sgt. Kathy Kolla (after 2004's The Verge Practice
), something evil afflicts a group of artists and assorted hangers-on who live in London's Northcote Square. When six-year-old Tracey Rudd, the daughter of the circle's most famous artist, Gabriel Rudd, goes missing, it appears she's the third girl to fall victim to a kidnapper. Soon two of the three girls are found, one dead and the other nearly so. As various members of this community are killed in horrible ways, Brock and Kolla dig through an intricate web of circumstances, which some readers may find too complex. Maitland, an architect who crafts his prose in accord with the dictum that God is in the details, brings the particular world he depicts unforgettably alive. No one who reads this haunting, unnerving work will ever again think about contemporary artists the same way.

Starred review from September 1, 2006
Six-year-old Tracey Rudd is taken from her bedroom at night, the third child to be abducted in London in recent weeks. But her case may be different: Tracey's father is a famous artist who spends more time working than raising his daughter. The body count rises; the Special Operations Team led by Detective Chief Inspector David Brock ("Babel") faces demands for a quick solution, while Rudd exploits his daughter's kidnapping for his next show. All of this escalating tension results in life-changing actions and decisions for both Brock and his Sergeant Kathy Kolla. In what may be his best book yet, Maitland starkly contrasts the modern art worldview of life as art/art as life with the police attitude that life is not a game. Fans of British police procedurals by such authors as Jill McGown, Stuart MacBride, and Quentin Jardine will demand this. Highly recommended for all collections. Maitland lives in Newcastle, Australia.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2006
The latest Brock and Kolla mystery finds the Scotland Yard partners looking into the kidnapping of a six-year-old girl. The case is made more difficult by the fact that the girl's father, Gabe Rudd, a renowned artist, is instantly unlikable; and by the fact that the girl's mother died several years ago, an apparent suicide. Rudd almost immediately turned her death into a controversial work of art, and now, barely hours after his daughter was taken, he is already talking about exploiting her disappearance, too. As usual, Maitland offers up a suspenseful story and a cast of engaging characters. A solid entry in this ever-enjoyable series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)