Kathy and Brock Books

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The Kathy and Brock series is the work of Barry Maitland. The Crime Fiction novels follow a team of officers in London working to unravel a complex set of crimes.

Barry, who studied architecture, published the first book in the series in 1994. By this time, Barry was working as a professor in Australia. He wrote ‘The Marx Sisters’ in his spare time, the success of the novel driving him to produce even more crime fiction novels in this series.

Barry’s Kathy and Brock books are whodunits that seek to determine the motivations of the individuals committing crimes in Kathy and Brock’s world. Brock is the older than Kathy and brings a lot of experience to the table.

Kathy is younger and quite eager to learn from Brock, and to prove herself. Their relationship is hardly rosy in the beginning. However, while their differences prove to be a hindrance, Brock eventually learns to trust Kathy. Kathy also grows as a person, gaining more confidence in her abilities and, as a result, becoming more of an asset to Brock in the long run.

The first book in the series finds Brock and Kathy working to unveil the truth behind the deaths of the great granddaughters of the Legendary Karl Marx.

Kathy and Brock Awards

Barry Maitland has been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly awards for Crime Writing on a number of occasions for books like Bright Air, Chalon Heads, Silvermeadow, Babel, No Trace, and Spider Trap.

All these are books in the Kathy and Brock series for which Barry Maitland received recognition between the years of 1996 and 2009. Barry was actually a joint winner of the award for The Malcontenta.

Best Kathy and Brock Books

You won’t find many people talking about Barry Maitland’s Kathy and Brock books; however, the series has a garnered quite the following over the years, with the best Kathy and Brock works including:

Chalon’s Head: With their partnership now standing on far more solid ground, Kathy and Brock visit Cabot’s with a hint of optimism, certain that they will be met with a pleasant distraction. Glad to be free of the nefarious wrongdoings they normally encounter while working in their Unit, they have no reason to believe that a jaunt to a stamp dealer could elicit any noteworthy concerns.

There optimism doesn’t last however, with the duo quickly learning that things are far more complicated.

Brock is forced to contend with Sammy China, an individual from his past whose personal issues elicit more problems than he is worth. Luckily for Brock and Kathy, they have a few things going for them, this including a clue connected to a stamp that could break the whole case open.

People who are talking about the Kathy and Brock series almost always make mention of this book because it one of those rare crime fiction novels that have a truly mind-bending mystery.

Even with all the clues provided, very few readers will claim to have figured things out before Barry Maitland revealed the truth at the end. In fact, things get a little too complicated and convoluted at some point.

The Malcontenta: Kathy Kolla is still trying to learn the ropes after being positioned in the Family and Juvenile Crime Unit when she is assigned to look into a suicide at a naturopath spa. It doesn’t take her long to identify a possible cover up.

Kathy doesn’t know who she can trust, so she inevitably turns to Brock.

This book, which finds Kathy struggling to adapt to a superior with little interest in her well being, has a thick and multi-layered mystery that sets it apart from the competition.

Babel: This is a very interesting book as it was written just before September 11th. The world changed forever on that day and this book is an interesting look at what the world was back then. With racial tensions and Muslims being key characters, the book perhaps suffers a bit when you think of the history of our world.

That said, this book is great. Barry Maitland tackles a lot of complex ideas in this book with the aforementioned Muslims and genetic research with all the religious and ethical debates that come with those issues. While those ideas are great and make the story twist filled, the stars of this book (as always) is Kathy and Brock. They are a great team and it’s interesting to see how their minds work. He’s older than her, so there isn’t any romance or anything like that. Just good old fashioned police work by two great London detectives.

Raven’s Eye: While most fans love the interactions between Kolla and Brock, and those interactions often carry the books at times, this is not one of those books. This book has one of the very best mysteries in the series. There are murders, English canals, medical malfeasance and police malfeasance. A little bit of everything keeps this story moving at a fast pace and twisting at every turn. A great read.

Many fans enjoy this book because of it’s George Orwell-ian themes. Big brother is watching with cyber technology and there are whistle blowers out there.

Other Series you May Like

“A Victorian Bookshop Mystery Series” is a series of books written by Kate Parker that follows Georgia Fenchurch, an antiquarian bookseller in Victorian London whose unassuming appearance hides her role as a member of the Archivist Society, an adventurous organization of private investigators with a mysterious leader.

The work of Kate Charles, the “Book of Psalms mystery” series follows a solicitor called David Middleton-Brown who often finds himself embroiled in crimes relating to the church. Kate frequently tackles social problems and common religious perceptions in these books, though she has been praised for delivering her messages without being too preachy.

What Is The Next Book in The Brock And Kolla/kathy And Brock Series?

There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Brock And Kolla/kathy And Brock Series. The newest book is The Russian Wife and was released on November, 30th 2021.

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