Coming Soon: 'Close Enemy' by Leigh Russell

 

Published by No Exit Press, 3 December 2026

Book 25 in the Geraldine Steel series.

When a young woman is found stabbed in a York park, DI Geraldine Steel faces a case with no obvious motive and frustratingly few leads. The charismatic victim, Jessica Bulmar, was not everything her friends believed her to be. Her older husband, Jon, is ill with Parkinson's and deeply devoted. Her husband's business partner, Robert, accompanied the couple on every holiday. And Amy is hiding something she can barely bring herself to acknowledge.

When a second woman is murdered in almost identical circumstances the investigation takes a sinister turn. Geraldine begins to suspect that the two killings are linked not by the victims but by the killer's motive: an consuming obsession that has curdled into something lethal. Geraldine edges closer to the truth and the danger closes in.

The enemy is nearer than she knows.

 

Leigh Russell has written twenty five books in her Geraldine Steel series. Leigh launched a new cosy series in March 2023 with Barking up the Right Tree. This was followed by Barking Mad in July 2023. There are now five books in the series.  Leigh has twice been a Finalist for The People's Book Prize. She is Chair of the CWA Debut Dagger judges, and a Royal Literary Fellow. Leigh studied at the University of Kent, gaining a Masters degree in English and American Literature.  She is married with two daughters and lives in London.

 http://leighrussell.co.uk