A Maxim Jakubowski Great Female Crime Sleuth.

DI GERALDINE STEEL - A truly believable female sleuth with a sad knack for coming across cases where the bodies just sort of accumulate in her passage, Geraldine Steel is a classic British cop, part of a tight knit murder team, in which she proves to be a vital cog. Adopted at birth and still marked by the fact, and prone to flirting with her pathologist, Geraldine proves great fun and a character who grows on the reader with every successive title in the series, of which there have been three to date.

Synopsis

When the corpse of Abigail Kirby is discovered, police are shocked to learn that the victim's tongue was cut out while she lay dying. Shortly after coming forward, a witness is blinded and murdered. Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel's flirtation with the pathologist on the case helps her to cope with the distress of finding out she was adopted at birth. Abigail Kirby's teenage daughter runs away from home to meet a girl who befriended her online. Too late, she realises she has made a dreadful mistake – a mistake that may cost her life. Detective Sergeant Ian Peterson uncovers a shocking secret about the serial killer who has been mutilating his murder victims. Does the sergeant's discovery come too late to save Geraldine Steel from a similar dreadful fate?

Reviews

Critical acclaim:

'All the ingredients combine to make a tense, clever police whodunnit'
- Marcel Berlins, The Times

'In Dead End, Leigh Russell's third and best novel, an unpopular headmistress is found dead with her tongue cut out. Her husband, in the midst of an affair, is the obvious suspect, but DI Geraldine Steel has doubts. The daughter of the victim's unhappy marriage goes missing, apparently to join a friend she'd met on the internet, and a man who may be an important witness in the case is blinded and killed. Steel tries to ascertain information about her own birth and takes a few tentative steps towards acquiring a lover. All the ingredients combine to make a tense, clever police whodunnit.' Marcel Berlins, The Times

'I could not put this book down.' - Ann Marie Muldoon, Newbooks magazine

'A brilliant talent in the thriller field.' - Jeffery Deaver

''An encounter that will take them into the darkest recesses of the human psyche''
- Barry Forshaw, Crime Time

'Well written and chock full of surprises, this hard-hitting, edge- of-the seat instalment is yet another treat... Geraldine Steel looks set to become a household name. Highly recommended.'
- Amanda C M Gillies, Euro Crime

'Good, old-fashioned, heart-hammering police thriller...a no-frills delivery of pure excitement.'
- SAGA Magazine

'Sometimes nothing else will do but a good, old-fashioned, heart-hammering police thriller. This is it - a no-frills delivery of pure excitement. Abigail Kirby's husband and kids assume she's at work, but then her corpse is found, with the tongue cut out. It’s another case for DI Geraldine Steel, and before the twists and turns (involving Abigail’s teenage daughter and a dodgy online friend) are done with, Geraldine will be fighting for her own life. A classic teckie that grips from the start.' SAGA Magazine

About the Author

Leigh Russell studied at the University of Kent gaining a Masters degree in English and American literature. A secondary school teacher, specialising in supporting pupils with Specific Learning Difficulties as well as teaching English, Leigh Russell is married with two daughters and lives in Middlesex. Her first novel, Cut Short, was published in 2009, followed by Road Closed in 2010.  Her third novel, Dead End was published in May 2011. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation