The Malcontenta

JACKET NOTES:  B arry Maitland's first mystery, ‘The Marx Sisters’, introduced American readers to an exciting new duo in crime fiction, Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla and Detective Chief Inspector David Brock of Scotland Yard. Now, in The Malcontenta, Kathy and Brock make their eagerly awaited return in a complex, nuanced new thriller. Kathy is on temporary assignment away from London with Family and Juvenile Crime and is desperate to escape the second-rate duties assigned her. So she jumps at the chance to investigate the unnatural death of a young physiotherapist at an exclusive local naturopathic spa. Very soon it becomes clear that the apparent suicide is fraught with complications. Is a cover-up taking place to protect the reputations of wealthy clients? Or was the cause of death really murder? Taken off the case with alarming speed before she has the chance to discover the truth, Kathy turns to Brock for help. But when Brock checks himself in as a patient, they both learn that spas are not always good for your health- especially if you're a target for murder.
Set against a background of natural remedies and with a suspicion of not entirely natural practices, The Malcontenta is a fast-paced, suspenseful, and satisfying new novel from a writer whose skills, already remarkable in his debut, continue to grow. Published originally in England and Australia, The Malcontenta won the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction, Australia's equivalent to the Edgar Award.
(© Arcade Publishing)