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In this, the final book of the Belltree Trilogy, DS Harry Belltree has gone bush. His obsessive pursuit of justice has cost him everything—his job, his marriage and his newborn child—but then his estranged wife disappears, leaving their baby daughter behind, and he is dragged back to Sydney. The police think Jenny has murdered a man. Harry thinks she’s in danger. When body parts are found maimed and strewn around a suburban park, his former colleagues are distracted by this apparently unrelated case. Harry is left to track Jenny down on his own—and to lay bare, at last, the extraordinary conspiracy that led to his parents’ murder.

Barry Maitland was born in Scotland, studied architecture at Cambridge University and went on to work as an architect and urban design expert. In 1984 he moved to Australia to head the architecture school at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. In 1994 The Marx Sisters, the first in his Brock and Kolla crime series, was published. Barry now writes fiction full time. He is published throughout the English-speaking world and in translation in a number of other countries, including Germany, Italy, France and Japan. He lives in the Hunter Valley.

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2016

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About the author

Barry Maitland

44 books185 followers
Barry Maitland is the author of the acclaimed Brock and Kolla series of crime mystery novels, which are set in London, where Barry grew up after his family moved there.

His books have been described as whydunits as much as whodunits, concerned with the devious histories and motivations of their characters. Barry's background in architecture drew him to the structured character of the mystery novel, and his books are notable for their ingenious plots as well as for their atmospheric settings, each in a different intriguing corner of London.

Barry studied architecture at Cambridge University, and went on to work as an architect in the UK, then took a PhD in urban design at the University of Sheffield, where he also taught and wrote a number of books on architecture and urban design. In 1984 he moved to Australia to head the architecture school at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, and held that position until 2000. He now writes fiction full time, and lives in the Hunter Valley, Australia.


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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
Profile Image for Brenda.
5,084 reviews3,017 followers
October 12, 2016
When journalist Kelly Pool stepped off the small plane in far north Queensland, the heat hit her like a furnace. But she needed to find Harry Belltree and this was where he was meant to be. Harry had vanished before his wife Jenny had had their baby – she’d told Harry from her hospital bed that she didn’t want to see him again. So with his career in homicide finished, and Jenny not wanting anything more to do with him, he could see nothing to keep him in Sydney…

When Kelly told Harry that Jenny had disappeared, and the police were sure she had murdered a man, Harry dropped everything and he and Kelly immediately caught flights back to Sydney. Harry knew Jenny was in terrible danger – the events leading to their estrangement and the unanswered questions that remained meant Harry needed to find his wife before someone else did.

Slater Park in Sydney was embroiled in murder which was keeping the homicide department on edge. Dubbed “Slaughter Park” by the media, the gruesome remains of women meant the department had fewer resources to continue searching for Jenny. Though Harry was on his own, he still had contacts – and he had suspicions. The deep and soul searching questions about the deaths of his parents needed answers – but would he find them? And was Jenny’s disappearance connected to what happened five years ago?

Wow! Slaughter Park is an absolutely exceptional ending to the Belltree Trilogy! Fast paced with loads of action, Aussie author Barry Maitland is up there with the best in my opinion. Around three or four pages from the end, I suddenly had goosebumps – startling and fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed Slaughter Park and highly recommend the trilogy. Crucifixion Creek first, then Ash Island before this one :)

With thanks to Text Publishing for this copy to read in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Marianne.
4,422 reviews341 followers
October 2, 2016
Slaughter Park is the third book in The Belltree Trilogy and the sixteenth novel by Scots-born Australian author, architect and urban design expert, Barry Maitland. Harry Belltree’s self-imposed exile in Queensland comes to an abrupt end when Times journalist Kelly Pool tracks him down to tell him that his wife Jenny has disappeared, leaving their daughter Abigail with her sister.

Harry hasn’t seen Jenny for almost a year, and has never met nine-month-old Abigail, but he knows there is no way that Jenny could have committed the crime of which she is suspected: the brutal murder of a fifty-four year-old man in Blackheath.

Harry is puzzled about Jenny’s most recent actions; he has stayed far away to reduce exposing her and Abigail to the danger that always seems drawn to him, but now she appears to be intentionally involving herself in the affairs of the rather menacing Nordlund family.

His old partner in homicide, Deb Velasco is in charge of the investigation and unwilling to listen to reason; Kelly Pool is more than willing to exchange information with him if it will get her a scoop.

Maitland’s characters are complex and multi-faceted: while some are exactly what they first seem to be, this is certainly not the case for all of the players. Harry is appealing: a tenacious maverick who will do anything to protect those he cares about, whether that means spending nights in his new baby’s room or other, more violent deeds. Jenny really proves what she’s made of in this instalment, and Kelly Pool certainly goes above and beyond to get her stories.

Once again, Maitland gives the reader fast-paced tale with plenty of twists and surprises, and more than one heart-stopping climax. This wholly believable piece of crime fiction includes copy-cat murders, stolen generation children, corrupt politicians, developers and police, dog fights and some clever police work. Maitland manages to tie up all the loose ends and resolve the questions that have engrossed readers from the start. The final twist provides a delicious irony. A brilliant end to an excellent Aussie crime trilogy.
Profile Image for Sue Gerhardt Griffiths.
1,232 reviews81 followers
May 30, 2022
An electrifying end to the Belltree trilogy. I couldn’t have asked for a better crime series.

Awwww, I’m sorry to see the last of Harry. What a gorgeous, flawed, complex and interesting character he was. I’m gonna miss you Harry Belltree.

Not in a million years could I have predicted the end. Stunning!

Barry Maitland is an exceptional crime writer so it’s a given that I’ll read the Brock and Kolla series.

Listened to the audio version. Peter Hosking 👍
Profile Image for Pam.
1,183 reviews
January 14, 2019
The final book in the trilogy sees Harry Belltree finally solving the murder of his parents...although it nearly costs him his life, more than once. And it kind of leaves the door open for another book... Many twists and turns and just when I thought I had an idea of what was going to happen next, I was surprised. Good read!
Profile Image for Andrew Roberts.
151 reviews
February 5, 2023
A cracking finish to a what feels like an increasingly wild ride throughout the trilogy. I really enjoyed reading a series set in familiar locations, and with characters that are much more than simple good/bad stereotypes.
Profile Image for Text Publishing.
713 reviews289 followers
Read
May 24, 2018
‘Fans of hard-hitting crime fiction will be sorry to see the last of Harry.’
Publishers Weekly

‘Almost hypnotically compelling—impossible to look away from, despite the violence on view…A stunning conclusion to a remarkable trilogy.’
Booklist, starred review

‘This is a ripper of a book…If you like crime fiction, then this is right up your mean street.’
Weekly Times

‘At last, the third instalment of Barry Maitland’s Belltree Trilogy, Slaughter Park. It’s an impressive conclusion to an epic tale…Taken as a whole, these three crime novels constitute an extended commentary on some of the more pressing moral issues facing Australia. These include dealing with a reprehensible past and the ongoing impact of the stolen generation, as well as the obligation to defend a fragile environment from commercial exploitation.’
Age

‘Once again, Maitland has thrown in everything you would want from an Australian crime novel, particularly one set in Sydney: greedy developers, corrupt police, compromised media, shonky politicians, bikies, illegal dog fighting and drugs. But also, in the ongoing mystery, issues of Aboriginal identity, and in particular the stolen generation, also get a look in. And Harry Belltree is the perfect guide to this world.’
Pile by the Bed
1,916 reviews21 followers
April 20, 2018
It's a rather amazing achievement - creating a trilogy where the underlying mystery is only solved in the last few pages of the final book. This, like the first two books, has endless twists and turns from Pacific adventures to psychiatric incarceration. None of it is quite believable but that doesn't matter because it's just a good adventure.
Profile Image for Ron Brown.
432 reviews28 followers
November 23, 2016
Over the last decade I have read a number of Barry Maitland’s books. I live in Newcastle and I have met him on a number of occasions. He is a friendly, delightful man and he is a talented crime fiction writer.
I have read Crucifixion Creek and quite enjoyed it. I have Ash Island on my bookshelf and for some reason I have not read it. A mistake, and I would suggest that you read the Belltree Trilogy in their order.
The book started out well with Harry’s wife, Jenny in the frame for a murder. The best part of the book is when Harry turns the tables on the framers of Jenny. I thought this could be pursued at greater length. Although I was somewhat uncomfortable with the ease at which the author had a one-time police officer murder a serving police officer.
The second half of the book evolved to its predictable conclusion.
This is the type of book where I have to write the names of all the characters in the front of the book to keep track of who’s who and who’s done what to whom. I have done this with some Peter Temple’s books.
In the end I found Slaughter Park overpowering, there was just too much in it. Stolen generation, corrupt police and politicians, corrupt land developers, animal cruelty, and powerful forces suppressing journalists.
I still don’t see the reason why the initial murders in Slater Park are included in the story. Too many incidents are contrived. Wherever Harry went he found a letter, photo, USB drive that all contributed to the solution – more like solutions!
At times Harry Belltree is more like Jack Reacher than John Rebus. The murders he commits start to mount. We read the mandatory “hero caught by baddies, bashed, tortured, threatened with a gruesome death and then the cavalry arrive just in time!"
I am also critical of the use of too much stilted and verbose dialogue. This dialogue is predictable, stereotypical and clichéd. There is little real tension. At times the dialogue slows the action down. When the resolution of Harry’s parents suspicious death is finally resolved it is all a bit “ho hum” and all too neat. The characters here have incredibly clear memory for events that happened so long ago. I will go back and read Ash Island.
Profile Image for Peter Anderson.
160 reviews6 followers
August 7, 2017
A very good book and series - recommend

My rating is actually 3.5 stars but you can't do a half star. For the whole series I would like to give a 5 star rating but this last book, I feel, is not as well done as the first two, so 4 stars for the Belltree series.

Like the first two books Slaughter Park is a riveting read. By this stage we are "good friends" with the main characters, especially Harry Belltree and Kelly Pool.

I tend not to go over the plot line of books I read, that's for you to do if you buy this book. Instead, I like to look at the characterisation and the quality of the story telling.

Barry Maitland is a master at good characterisation. Across this series and in his Brock and Kolla books he demonstrates these skills.

Story telling is Barry Maitland's other strength. I don't intend to discuss the plot in detail but Harry's Bondi caper just seemed totally out of character for him and this small part of the story contributed nothing to the overall storyline, it was unnecessary and annoying. Then there's the wrap-up finale which again seems contrived and while it might've been useful for Harry's family tree, it was not necessary here, especially the way it just "flops out" and wraps up everything neat and tidy.

Despite these criticisms I would still recommend this book but only as part of the series. Crucifixion Creek could be read as a standalone novel but not the other two books, they need to be read as a series.

Thank you Mr Maitland, I really did enjoy the Belltree series.

Regards,
Peter
207 reviews
Read
June 18, 2019
In this, the final book of the Belltree Trilogy, DS Harry Belltree has gone bush. His obsessive pursuit of justice has cost him everything—his job, his marriage and his newborn child—but then his estranged wife disappears, leaving their baby daughter behind, and he is dragged back to Sydney. The police think Jenny has murdered a man. Harry thinks she’s in danger. When body parts are found maimed and strewn around a suburban park, his former colleagues are distracted by this apparently unrelated case. Harry is left to track Jenny down on his own—and to lay bare, at last, the extraordinary conspiracy that led to his parents’ murder.

Barry Maitland was born in Scotland, studied architecture at Cambridge University and went on to work as an architect and urban design expert. In 1984 he moved to Australia to head the architecture school at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. In 1994 The Marx Sisters, the first in his Brock and Kolla crime series, was published. Barry now writes fiction full time. He is published throughout the English-speaking world and in translation in a number of other countries, including Germany, Italy, France and Japan. He lives in the Hunter Valley.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kerrie.
1,306 reviews
March 12, 2022
SLAUGHTER PARK takes up where ASH ISLAND left off.

Harry's wife has regained her sight and given birth to a baby daughter and when he visits her in hospital Jenny tells him he must go, leave them. She is frightened that the forces that have been following them will continue to pursue them and destroy them all. Harry takes Jenny at her word and he disappears and she hears nothing of him.

However when Jenny disappears nearly a year later, her sister uses the journalist Kelly Pool to find him and he comes back to Sydney to find her. Bodies have turned up in Slater Park, nicknamed Slaughter Park by the media, and the police are looking for Jenny, believing she has murdered a man.

Once again this is a novel about police corruption, political corruption, the domination of one family, and the death, years before, of Harry's parents. The threads that began with CRUCIFIXION CREEK are eventually resolved, some of them in a surprising twist.

I recommend the series to you.
Profile Image for Larry Fontenot.
757 reviews17 followers
April 13, 2020
My wife swears that we both read the first two books in this trilogy. And I do know that we've both read many of Maitland's Brock and Kolla series. But I only vaguely remembered the first two books of the Belltree Trilogy, and given the absolutely fabulous quality of the final book, I might have to go back and read the first two. The main character, Harry Belltree, is a tortured and almost ruthless man in his attempts to discover why his mother and father died years ago and his wife severely injured. Now years later his wife is under suspicion of committing a murder and Harry must save her and her reputation and continue to investigate the reasons his parents were killed. It's a fine book.
12 reviews
June 7, 2017
A totally blood soaked conclusion to the trilogy which doesn't let go until the final page. The alienation and rage of the main character is front and centre with this book and a new addition of self loathing and distrust, make Harry Belltree nicely real. The echos of contemporary politics and Australian history - somehow linking the stolen generation, illegal motorbike gangs, corporate environmental vandalism and venal self serving politicians - make for a shiver as you read the headlines today and wonder what's really going on. Once again this really is quite violent and gore filled, so beware before you venture in.
Profile Image for Robyn Gibson.
309 reviews2 followers
September 27, 2018
The third book in the Belltree Trilogy and one that is hard to put down. It bounces around from Queensland, Sydney, Vanuatu, the Hunter Valley. Harry's wife has gone missing and police are after her because they're sure she has murdered a man. His baby daughter is left with his sister-in-law. Crooked cops. Bikies at suspect Doggyland kennels. Harry is still trying to work out why his parents were murdered. Poor old Harry gets practically tortured but of course he survives the ordeal! So much is crammed into this one story but it's very exciting.
Profile Image for Gary Van Cott.
1,446 reviews8 followers
December 7, 2017
This is a very good book although I think there might have been a couple of loose ends. My problem was that I read them as they became available and it was just over two years between the first and the third. I read a lot of books and while there were references to what had happened in the past I couldn't remember the details. I think if you read all three of these books in a row it would be a better experience.
Profile Image for Mark Wilson.
149 reviews2 followers
June 24, 2017
I feel this lost something between book two and book three. Perhaps it is that Slaughter Park moves the setting back from Newcastle to Sydney and so the novelty of reading a thriller set in my own locality wears out. I still very much enjoyed this and I think I will revisit the trilogy as a whole sometime again in the future.
103 reviews
August 2, 2023
A tense, gripping conclusion to the Belltree Trilogy. The action is, as always, fast-paced, well-written and exciting.
However my admiration for the story was lessened by (spoiler alert, sort of) the author allowing the main character, Harry, do something that was unwarranted to say the least and a disappointing way to solve a particular problem.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
25 reviews1 follower
July 8, 2024
Last in the series of 3 and listened as audiobook. The narrator is good and I enjoyed them all.
It rounds up the trilogy nicely, unravelling the mystery satisfactorily.
The books do need to be read in order to do the final one justice. Part thriller and part mystery with plenty of nasty characters, corruption and criminal activity to make it an engaging read.
Profile Image for Any Length.
2,174 reviews7 followers
May 2, 2018
Slightly better than the previous two books and less "disjointed". Nice ending. But a wee bit too long and I do not enjoy animals suffering in a book. Still felt there were more bad cops that didn't get cleaned out in this book.
Profile Image for Kate Loveday.
Author 13 books18 followers
April 4, 2021
This is the last book in a gritty and suspenseful ongoing story, set in and near Sydney, which kept me reading late into the night. These are the first books I have read by Barry Maitland, and I will certainly look for more by this author.
474 reviews4 followers
September 23, 2017
Another good yarn for the trilogy.
A bit iffy in parts with questions left hanging, but overall a good, quick read.
Profile Image for Karen.
465 reviews
May 11, 2018
An intriguing twist to this trilogy tail. As always, the action is constant , and the murders ghoulish. An excellent read.
Profile Image for Helen.
1,506 reviews13 followers
May 16, 2018
Although a bit disjointed at times, all the bits and pieces finally came to an end and loose ends were neatly tied up.
Profile Image for Annarella.
14.2k reviews165 followers
July 3, 2018
Fascinating, fast paced and brilliantly written.
There're all the elements I always loved in Barry Maitland's book.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Text Publishing Company and Edelweiss for this ARC
687 reviews1 follower
May 30, 2019
A grisly and rather farfetched end to the trilogy, but still very entertaining and perfect for reading on my phone while baby wrangling.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews

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