Published by No Exit Press,
25 May 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-84344-850-1
25 May 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-84344-850-1
A
woman’s body is crammed into a wheelie bin and left outside a charity shop. As
soon as the dead woman is identified, most of the detectives investigating the
case suspect the woman’s husband. For them it is obvious, after all the husband
has scratches on his face and his DNA matches skin under the victim’s
fingernails, and the bin used to dispose of the corpse comes from their house.
The detective team build their case against him and the evidence against him
continues to mount up, especially when his alibi witness fails to turn up to
back his claim of being elsewhere. However DI Geraldine Steele has nagging
doubts about the man’s guilt.
Geraldine is glad of a case to involve her mind
and help her to shelve the troubles that are disturbing her personal life.
Geraldine’s birth mother had given her up for adoption when she was a baby and
Geraldine had been adopted by a middle-class, respectable family who had given
her the chances in life that enabled her to achieve a pleasant life style and a
good career. However, Geraldine wished to meet her birth mother and was hurt by
her refusal. Her birth mother changed her mind shortly before her death, but it
seems that one of the main motives for this was to ask Geraldine to take care
of her twin sister, Helena, who had not been given up for adoption. After her
birth-mother’s death, Geraldine knows that she must tread very carefully.
Helena is a heroin addict, petty thief and prostitute, but she is also
Geraldine’s identical twin and Geraldine feels impelled to help her and attempt
to make a relationship with her.
As Geraldine tries to balance her personal life
and the murder investigation, she discovers that neither are straight-forward.
Her underlying disillusionment with an investigation that is focused on the
simplest solution and a fast clear-up rate, is compounded by the choices she
must make in her personal life and the danger she faces of destroying the
career that is the centre of her life.
Deadly Alibi is the ninth book in
the series featuring Geraldine Steele. It is an intricate, cleverly plotted
police procedural with a well-drawn cast of characters. A very enjoyable read.
-------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
Leigh Russell studied at the University of Kent gaining a Master’s
degree in English and American literature. Formerly a secondary school English teacher, with the
success of her Geraldine Steel series, Leigh now writes full-time. Her debut novel, Cut Short, was published in 2009 by No Exit
Press in the UK,
followed by Road Closed, Dead End, Death
Bed, Stop Dead, Fatal Act and Killer Plan, all featuring detective
Geraldine Steel, and Murder Ring will
be published in 2016.
Leigh
also writes a spinoff series for Geraldine's sergeant, Ian Peterson. Cold
Sacrifice, Race to
Death and Blood Axe. Leigh recently signed a three-book deal with
Thomas and Mercer for a new series featuring Lucy Hall. Leigh Russell is married
with two daughters and lives in Middlesex.
Carol Westron is a successful short
story writer and a Creative Writing teacher.
She is the moderator for the cosy/historical crime panel, The Deadly
Dames. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary
and Victorian times. The Terminal
Velocity of Cats is the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published
July 2013. Her latest book The Fragility
of Poppies was published 10 June 2016.
Read a review of Carol’s latest
book
The Fragility of Poppies
The Fragility of Poppies
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