The latest Brock and Kolla procedural provides a mystifying case involving arsenic poisoning, a relative rarity in the crimes of the day. Kathy Kolla, newly promoted to inspector, is presented with a challenging, if not enigmatic, crime. Marion Summers, a young, brilliant PhD student collapses in the British Library after having just eaten lunch in St. James Park. The pathologist intuitively believes that it is a case of arsenic poisoning [later confirmed] and murder.
Unfortunately, as the investigation proceeds, it soon appears that the victim committed suicide. But Kathy is obsessed and continues to look into Marion’s background. Then the latter’s friend, another student, is found poisoned, and the case takes yet another turn.
The plot revolves around Marion’s research into the Victorian pre-Raphaelite period, in which arsenic was widely available and used for a variety of purposes [unlike today, when it is rare and largely unobtainable]. There are a number of suspects, and the reader is kept on the brink of discovery until the real culprit is unveiled. Maitland is a master in creating suspense, and smoothly moving the story ahead without revealing clues to the reader as he or she twists and turns until a most unexpected conclusion. Recommended.
