Showing results by author "Leigh Russell" in All Categories

From the best-selling author of The Geraldine Steel series comes The Adulterer's Wife. A suspenseful and gripping psychological thriller, perfect for fans of domestic noir. Julie is devastated to learn that her husband, Paul, is having an affair. It seems her life can’t get any worse - until she comes home to find his dead body in their bed. When the police establish he was murdered, Julie is the obvious suspect. To protect her son from the terrible situation, Julie sends the teenage boy to his grandparents in Edinburgh while she fights to prove her innocence.

DI Geraldine Steel knows people go missing all the time; sometimes because they don't want to be found. So when her partner Ian asks her to look into the disappearance of his football-buddy's girlfriend, her first instinct is to reassure him there's no need for concern. Until she's called to a suspected murder, and all her instincts tell her she's right about the identity of the victim. The young woman has earth and leaf mould and fragments of twigs in her long fair hair, her nose, her mouth, under her finger nails, clinging to her clothes. It's as if she'd been completely encased in earth.

A man is found dead, lying at the bottom of the stairs to his flat, his body blocking the door of the elderly woman who lives downstairs. The worried landlord who finds the body seeks advice from his friend's wife—now Detective Inspector Ariadne Moralis. Something in his demeanour hints at a hidden secret. When it becomes apparent that the body has been moved, it is clear the man's death was not an accident.

Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel relocates to London to take on another harrowing murder investigation. The bodies of two black girls are discovered in quick succession in North London; two teeth from each victim extracted after death. One of the girls worked in a massage parlour and suspicion falls on a client of hers, a known racist, but while the police flounder, the killer takes another girl home to his attic, where he keeps his victims chained up while he shows them his 'collection'.

The dead body of unassuming David Lester is discovered in a dark side-street, and DI Geraldine Steel is plunged into another murder investigation. The clues mount up along with the suspects, but with the death of another man in inexplicable circumstances, the case becomes increasingly complex. As Geraldine investigates the seemingly unrelated crimes, she makes a shocking discovery about her birth mother.

A glamorous young TV soap star dies in a car crash. Returning for her sixth case, Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel is baffled as the driver of the second vehicle miraculously survives - and vanishes. Another young actress is murdered, and once again the killer mysteriously disappears. Geraldine unwittingly risks her sergeant's life in their struggle to track down a serial killer who leaves no clues.

Two murder victims and a suspect whose alibi appears open to doubt.... Geraldine Steel is plunged into a double murder investigation which threatens not only her career but her life. And then her previously unknown twin, Helena, turns up, with problems which are about to make Geraldine's life turn toxic in more ways than one.

Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel returns in an exhilarating case of grisly murder in London. When a successful businessman is brutally murdered, the police suspect his glamorous wife and her young lover. Then the victim's business partner suffers the same gruesome fate and when yet another body is discovered, seemingly unrelated to the first two, the police are baffled.

Lucy Hall arrives in the Seychelles determined to leave her worries behind. The tropical paradise looks sun-soaked and picture-perfect - but as Lucy soon discovers, appearances can be very deceptive. A deadly secret lurks in the island's history, buried deep but not forgotten. And it is about to come to light. As black clouds begin to gather over what promised to be a relaxing family break, Lucy realises that her father stands in the eye of the coming storm.

Living with her colleague and long time love interest, Detective Inspector Ian Peterson, it seems that Geraldine Steel has finally found happiness. But life is never that simple. As a psychopath starts killing random women on the streets of York, Geraldine is abducted by a drugs syndicate who have been threatening her sister. Geraldine has everything to fight for, and her life is on the line.

DI Geraldine Steel is called to investigate the murder of a man who has been battered to death. His widow, Caroline, is terrorised into concealing the identity of the killer who then claims a second victim. This leaves Geraldine with a dark secret. The truth might help to solve the case, but it also threatens to cost Geraldine her career. When Caroline's 10-year-old son disappears, his distraught mother turns to the police, with fatal consequences.

When DI Geraldine Steel relocates to the quiet rural town of Woolsmarsh, she expects to find her new home to be somewhere where nothing much ever happens; a space where she can battle her demons in private. But when she finds herself pitted against a twisted killer preying on local young women, she quickly discovers how wrong she is....

When Alice Lewis is found murdered, the case becomes personal for DI Steel, as Alice was the niece of her childminder, Lisa. Despite Lisa's earlier pleas for help, Geraldine hadn't acted in time to save Alice. Now, driven by guilt and a thirst for justice, Geraldine dives headfirst into the case. But the deeper she digs, the more layers of secrets and lies she uncovers about Alice's life, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew. With an elusive killer watching her every move, Geraldine finds herself caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

When the corpse of Abigail Kirby is discovered, the police are shocked to learn that the victim's tongue was cut out while she lay dying. Then, shortly after coming forward, a witness to the crime is blinded and murdered. 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.

When Emily's boyfriend walks out, she is devastated. As she is puzzling over what to do with the rest of her life, she is surprised to learn that her great aunt has died, leaving Emily her cottage in the picturesque Wiltshire village of Ashton Mead. This inheritance comes with a condition – Emily must take care of her great aunt's pet. Not knowing what to expect, Emily sets off for the village. In the village, she soon makes friends with and meets other residents of the village where she decides to settle. All is going well...until her unknown pet arrives.

A man is killed in an apparently random attack, and suspicion falls on a gang of muggers. Only Detective Sergeant Geraldine Steel thinks this is the work of a more deliberate murderer. Two more victims are discovered, after further seemingly indiscriminate attacks. The muggers are tracked down, with tragic consequences. And all the while the killer remains at large. When Geraldine finally manages to track down a witness, she finds her own life is in danger.

When a man dies in a gas explosion, the police suspect arson, and the Murder Investigation Team is called in to investigate. But the case takes on a new and terrible twist when a local villain is viciously attacked. As the police enquiries lead from the expensive Harchester Hill estate to the local brothel, a witness dies in a hit-and-run. Was it coincidence - or cold-blooded murder? The Murder Investigation Team has problems of its own – and so does Geraldine Steel. A shocking revelation threatens her peace of mind as the investigation races towards its dramatic climax.

The body of a wealthy businessman is discovered in the river, but this was no accidental drowning. He was shot before his body entered the water. The police question the dead man's young girlfriend and his two adult children, all of whom are hoping to inherit his fortune. Before the killer is found, the dead man's girlfriend is murdered, and pressure mounts for Geraldine and her team to solve the case. Geraldine's partner is called away to work undercover. Soon after he leaves, their baby vanishes along with the child minder.

When two people are murdered, their only connection lies buried in the past. As police search for the elusive killer, another body is discovered. Pursuing her first investigation in York, Geraldine Steel struggles to solve the baffling case. How can she expose the killer and rescue her shattered reputation when all the witnesses are being murdered?

When a young girl is found dead in the woods, all the evidence seems to point to the teacher she has just accused of molesting her. After all, with his career, and marriage, under threat, he appears to have the most to lose. But for DI Geraldine Steel things aren't adding up, even though her colleagues disagree, she is certain they have accused the wrong man.