If it hadn't been for handsome Jonathan, Earl of Portbury, Beth might never have seen another Christmas! Destitute and suffering from amnesia, she was lucky to be saved from the freezing cold and given a roof over her head. A year later the earl returns, seeking a bride. Discovering his foundling is now a beautiful woman, he resolves to give her a new identity. This Christmas, under the mistletoe, the earl will make Beth lady of his manor!

Beschrijving Engeland 1321: een geïsoleerd plattelandsdorp wordt geleid door een sinister bestuur van Uilenmeesters. Het is een heidense wereld vol terreur en afpersing, waar buren elkaar verraden en iedere zonde bestraft wordt met de dood. Dit leven wordt verstoord door begijnen, die net buiten het dorp een hof stichten. Waarom hebben zij wel een goede oogst? En waarom blijft hun vee wel leven ondanks een plaag? Bittere jaloezie verandert inmoordlust wanneer de vrouwen onderdak geven aan een jonge martelares. Maar dan sterft de jonge vrouween lange, pijnlijke dood nadat ze een hostie in vlammen uitspuwt. Is ermagie in het spel? Of is de vrouw een heilige, en de hostie een relikwie? Terwijl de Uilenmeesters hellevuur en plagen over de vrouwen afroepen, klampen zij zich vast aan hun geloof om te ontkomen aan de dreigende schaduw van het kwaad... Recensie(s) NBD|Biblion recensie Een dorpje op het Engelse platteland wordt in 1321 geregeerd door de geheimzinnige, wrede Uilenmeesters. Met oude heidense rituelen, bedreigingen en geweld weten zij de bijgelovige dorpelingen angstig en onder de duim te houden. De pas gestichte gemeenschap van vrome, vredelievende begijnen buiten het dorp is de Uilenmeesters een doorn in het oog. De begijnen vergaat het namelijk een stuk beter dan de dorpelingen, zij hebben een goede oogst en noch zijzelf noch hun vee worden ziek. De dorpspriester en de Uilenmeesters geven de begijnen de schuld van de plagen die het dorp treffen en beschuldigen hen van hekserij. De jaloezie en haat van de dorpsbewoners worden steeds groter. Spannende, sfeervolle, boeiende historische thriller met een mooie intrige, verteld vanuit meervoudig perspectief. Maitland heeft zich goed gedocumenteerd en brengt de onwetendheid, angst en het bijgeloof van de middeleeuwse dorpelingen overtuigend over het voetlicht. Ze geeft ook een boeiend inkijkje in een begijnengemeenschap. Derde middeleeuwse thriller van Maitland, eerder verscheen in vertaling 'Het gezelschap van leugenaars'*. Voorin een lijst van personages, achterin historische opmerkingen en een lijst van begrippen. Paperback met normale druk. www.maitland.com. (NBD|Biblion recensie, Redactie)

Midden op een marktplein valt een man neer. De mensen om hem heen schrikken terug als ze zijn verminkingen zien. Wat ze onmogelijk achtten, is gebeurd: de pest is naar Engeland gekomen. De stedelingen raken in paniek en vluchten weg. Tijdens de vlucht worden negen mensen tot elkaar veroordeeld. De verhalen die zij vertellen zijn onbetrouwbaar, de enige die de waarheid lijkt te spreken is het kind Narigorm, maar haar gruwelijke voorspellingen houden iedereen op afstand. Ondertussen rukt de pest van alle kanten op. De angst en het wantrouwen zijn groot en de onderlinge verhoudingen worden nog grimmiger wanneer een van hen dood wordt aangetroffen. Bevindt het kwaad zich ook in hun midden?

Murder, fundamentalism, intrigue - and that's just the start of Babel, Maitland's gripping sixth Brock and Kolla mystery.

Professor Springer, one of Britain's leading philosophers, is brutally murdered on the steps of a London university. He was well-known for his stand against fundamentalism, but was that reason enough to kill him? Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla start looking for answers in London's Arab communities, but perhaps Springer's enemy can be found closer to home. As suspicions fall on the factions within the university, Springer's colleague, the Professor of Genetics, becomes involved. Is he as dangerous and unethical as he seems?

Brock and Kolla must work closer than ever before, sifting through the clues to find the real killer before further violence erupts.

'Maitland gets better and better, and Brock and Kolla are in impressive team who deserve to become household names.' - Publishing News

'Maitland is a...

Brock and Kolla have been called to a shop dealing in rare stamps on the assumption they'll be handling a simple case of theft. But a man from Brock's past, Chinese East End ex-villain Sammy Starling, comes to him for help when Starling's vivacious young wife is kidnapped . . .

When Sammy Starling, a former London gangster with a passion for collecting, discovers that his beautiful young wife is missing, he assumes old enemies in the police force are taking their revenge. Ten years ago Starling's evidence of police corruption put DI Marty Keller, an ambitious, clever young cop with everything to live for, behind bars. Now Keller is out. And getting even.

But as investigations into Eva Starling's disappearance proceed, it's DCI David Brock who is under suspicion of corruption. His team is disbanded and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla is reassigned to the Fraud Squad. Unsuccessfully trying to come to terms with Brock's disgrace, Kolla needs to find out why nothing in this case...

A deadly virus, a vicious killer and a long-buried mystery push Brock & Kolla to the limit.

When Nancy Haynes, an elderly American tourist, is brutally murdered in a seemingly senseless attack after visiting the Chelsea Flower Show, DI Kathy Kolla suspects there is more to the case than first appears. When another occupant of the palatial Chelsea Mansions is murdered hot on the heels of the first - but this time a Russian oligarch - everybody wants to get involved.

Is it a Litvinenko-style KGB assassination? The spooks muscling in certainly think so. Are the murders linked? Or is Nancy's death just the result of mistaken identity? Kathy is determined to dig deeper, but comes up against walls of silence. If she persists, does she risk her career - and possibly more? DCI Brock, meanwhile, faces the fight of his life as his past comes back to haunt him.

A crime long buried, a deadly African virus, and some of the most resourceful criminals Brock and Kolla have ever faced,...

An edge-of-your-seat Brock and Kolla mystery set within a radical artists' community in London where three children have been abducted in a matter of weeks. Within an unconventional artists' neighbourhood in London, Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla are embroiled in their most compelling case yet - three young children have been abducted in as many weeks. The most recent of these, six-year-old Tracey Rudd, is the daughter of the infamous contemporary artist Gabriel Rudd. Unbelievably, he begins almost immediately to exploit Tracey's abduction as inspiration for a major and controversial new artwork, in the full glare of media attention. As Tracey's grandparents step in to blame Gabriel for Tracey's disappearance, Brock and Kolla conduct an intensive hunt for the missing children and their kidnappers, who appear to be connected to an eccentric and suspicious community of artists, dealers and collectors. Kathy tries to decipher the motives of this world where art and reputation might be more highly prized than life while Brock's attention is diverted not only by a personal crisis but also by finding himself in the unwelcome spotlight of a police inquiry.

Silvermeadow is a brand-new mega-shopping mall - 'more like a small city than a department store'. Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla and Detective Chief Inspector David Brock investigate the reappearance of one of the most violent criminals Brock has ever come across.

Silvermeadow's calculated, manipulative and dressed up to deceive. If this glossy, huge new shopping mall on the outskirts of London had been a suspect rather than a place, Kathy Kolla would have said its manner was guilty as hell. Dark secrets fester in its depths. A young woman is found dead, gruesomely crushed in the rubbish compactor; the most vicious bank robber known in England has been seen there; and a homeless boy is discovered dead in bizarre circumstances.

Too many dead, too many secrets, and for Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla there are too many loose ends in this, their most frustrating and dangerous investigation yet.

'Comparable to the psychological crime...

If it hadn't been for handsome Jonathan, Earl of Portbury, Beth might never have seen another Christmas! Destitute and suffering from amnesia, she was lucky to be saved from the freezing cold and given a roof over her head.

A year later the earl returns, seeking a bride. Discovering his foundling is now a beautiful woman, he resolves to give her a new identity. This Christmas, under the mistletoe, the earl will make Beth lady of his manor!