Revenge Killing by Leigh Russell
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.
With only an elderly witness who seems hesitant to disclose all she heard unless the price is right, and a key suspect on the run having fled the scene, Ariadne finds herself grasping at straws.
DNA evidence supports the witness’s claims that the victim had two girlfriends, Carly is unwilling to cooperate. Lauren is missing.
The motive remains unclear, and the case becomes a confounding maze of unanswered questions, pushing Ariadne to her limits.
Meanwhile, Geraldine Steel, adjusting to the routine of new motherhood, longs for the thrill of being at the centre of an investigation. As the body count grows, and every lead seems to turn out to be a dead end, the case quickly throws up more questions than answers, and Ariadne is rapidly out of her depth.
Can her friend Geraldine Steel help her uncover the truth?
About the author
Leigh Russell is the author of the internationally bestselling Geraldine Steel series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. Her books have been #1 on Amazon Kindle and iTunes with Stop Dead and Murder Ring selected as finalists for The People's Book Prize.
Review
Leigh Russell has managed to breathe some fresh air into this series by mixing it up for this outing! Still packed full of tension, misdirection, twists and revelations, I devoured this book in one day. This is the 21st (!!!) book in the Geraldine Steel series but it can be easily read as a standalone and is probably a good place for a new reader to jump into it. This book sees Geraldine take a back seat in the story as she is on maternity leave so she isn't too integral to the main mystery. But she still makes her mark though.
When a young man is found dead at the bottom of his steep stairs, the landlord, who is a friend to Detective Inspector Ariadne Moralis’s husband asks for her help. She tells him he has to talk to the police. It soon becomes clear that the man was murdered and there is only a frail elderly lady who witnessed his death. She claims that someone fled from the scene and that it was probably one of his many girlfriends. Can Ariadne sort out what is her first case as a DI?
It was really a pleasure to see Ariadne up front and centre in this story and as a loyal reader of this series it was lovely to learn more about her and her motivations. Turns out she is a lot more like Geraldine than I thought! It definitely brought some freshness to the series and shook it up a bit. Geraldine is certainly off-centre so to speak in this outing as she is on her maternity leave after giving birth to her son Tom. Ian is blissfully happy but Geraldine is reluctant to accept she doesn't feel right and is desperate to return to work!
The mystery was a good one as there were very few leads for Ariadne and the team to go on. I didn't guess what happened that's for sure! It certainly was a good puzzle and it was although there were some nudges that I got I must have missed some. It was a brilliant and engrossing read and I can't wait for the next one!
Let me know if you pick this one up!
