Class Murder

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oldcastle Books for an advance copy of Class Murder, the 10th novel in the Geraldine Steel series of police procedurals.

Demoted and forced to relocate by her own actions Geraldine is now a sergeant in York working with her old colleague DI Ian Peterson in a reversal of their previous roles. She has barely arrived when she is plunged into a murder investigation when Stephanie Crawford is found slashed to death on her kitchen floor. Unfortunately Stephanie is not the only victim and with few clues and even less idea of motive the team struggle to make headway.

I thoroughly enjoyed Class Murder which held me so enthralled from start to finish I read it in one sitting, unable to put it down. The plot has plenty of twists and turns, not least a dramatic conclusion, and the ongoing saga of Geraldine's private life. It should be noted that while this is a continuous thread throughout the series there is enough backstory and explanation to allow the novel to stand alone comfortably.

The novel is told from several points of view, including the unidentified killer. Normally I'm not a fan of this approach but it works extremely well here as it fleshes out the situation and adds to the reader's knowledge. I'm not normally interested in the killer's thoughts or motivations but in this case it is well done as he keeps his motivation hidden, preferring to concentrate on his cleverness. Ms Russell captures the mixture of arrogance and hubris neatly and brings a realism to his character which escapes many authors. It's impressive.

After so many novels Geraldine is becoming an old friend. She is a smart, sympathetic character who often ignores herself in favour of helping her family. The move and the events surrounding it have left her unsettled so she is lonely and unsure in her new role. My heart went out to her and I admire her determination not to cause waves and try to adjust to her new place in the hierarchy. She is an excellent creation.

For sheer readability I would have awarded Class Murder 5 stars but I found the ending strange and decidedly OTT. It almost seems to belong to another novel. The majority of the novel is the slow, painstaking accumulation of knowledge and evidence, sifting through the lies and subterfuge of their witnesses and then suddenly there is a flurry of activity from a quiet character. It doesn't ring true.

Class Murder is a great read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

I would like to thank Oldcastle Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Class Murder’, the tenth in the series of Geraldine Steel novels written by Leigh Russell, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Geraldine Steel is working for the Major Investigation Team in York with her former sergeant Ian Peterson although their roles are reversed as Geraldine has been demoted to sergeant due to breaking the law assisting her twin sister and Ian is now an inspector.
Geraldine and Ian are seeking the man who went into a flat and viciously murdered Stephanie Crawford, followed soon after by Peter and then Beth. The only thing the victims have in common is that they all attended the same school and were in the same class. With the number of bodies increasing, can the murderer be found before he kills anyone else?
After reading book number 9 I’d hoped for another and Leigh Russell answered my prayers with ‘Class Murder’ which digs a little bit deeper into the friendship between Geraldine and Ian.
Once again Leigh Russell has produced an exciting action-packed thriller which kept me reading long after the lights were out and everyone was asleep. The characters were convincing and the storyline gripping, ending with a cliffhanging conclusion. I can wholeheartedly recommend ‘Class Murder’ to anyone who enjoys compelling detective novels.

Magic read. I absolutely love this series. We find Geraldine not in a good place, Having been demoted and forced to leave the Met she is back with her old colleague Ian but now he is the boss. Lacking in self confidence and torn in her family live this could be her hardest case yet.

Eagerly awaited and certainly not disappointed to find that Geraldine and Ian have been reunited in book ten of the series. Geraldine has been demoted to sergeant but thinks herself lucky to be still on the force and to be working in York with Ian as her D.I. This is a gripping crime thriller and the author delivers her usual formula to keep the reader riveted right to the last page. I loved it thank you for the ARC

Book 10 in the Geraldine Steel series and still up with the best of police procedurals. Geraldine is demoted and moved to York when she is thrown into a murder case. This book is told from several points of view and is very well written. Good character development between Geraldine and her sister Helena, also her best friend, Ian Peterson. An excellent plot, good pace and a very unexpected ending. Hoping that book 11 is on the way sooner, rather than later. Thanks to Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads and Facebook.

Its great to have Geraldine Steel working with her old colleague Ian Peterson although it is a role reversal Ian is the DI and Geraldine a DS and she has now moved to York where Ian was working. Geraldine doesn't know what to expect but she hits the ground running when a body is found and at the crime scene it seems the old cameraderie is stilted and she will have to try and reign herself in as she gets used to her new role. When the second body turns up Ian feels the pressure from his superiors to give results but what kind of strain will that put the rest of the team under. It seems that the old partnership may still be as efficient as before and you are willing them to find the killer before he/she strikes again.
I loved this book and my only disappointment is that I have to wait for the next one. Thank you NetGalley for my kindle copy.

Class Murder is the tenth novel in the Geraldine Steel series by Leigh Russell and I can’t believe that I have only discovered this series now. I started reading this book during my lunch break at work and I did not want to put it down, if I could have stayed reading all afternoon I would have.

Geraldine has recently relocated to York after she was forced into a position to leave the Metropolitan Police in London. She knows that she has no chance of promotion and is now working alongside her old colleague, DI Ian Peterson, but their roles have switched. As she is beginning to adjust to her new life in York, she is thrown into a murder investigation when a young woman is found dead. And soon more bodies begin to turn up, but the suspect continues to evade them and the police come under fire from the media. But there is something there that links the individuals, why has the killer targeted them and are there more people on the killer’s hit list?

When I first started reading this book, I really found the reversal of roles between Geraldine and Ian a really interesting idea. I was curious to see how this would work out between them and if there would be any tensions from Geraldine’s side as she is the one who is now taking orders. It left me wondering how Geraldine would get on working up in York and if, whether or not, she would stay to stick it out. 

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book, and I’m sure that I’ll return to previous books in the series as Leigh raised plenty of questions about Geraldine’s life which I want to find out more about. Geraldine is definitely the kind of officer who you would want working on your case, she is determined to see results and she is willing to put all other matters aside, including her own family who become increasingly frustrated with this idea.

The plot of the novel was engaging, the novel is also told from the viewpoints of several other characters, who were once all students together. Leigh also tells the story from the viewpoint of the killer who remains in the shadows. When it becomes clear that the killer is targeting them they come together to try and work out who it is that is behind this and what they can do to try and protect themselves. This is where the tension in the novel escalates as they begin to fear for their lives. 

Leigh’s writing is highly engaging and she pulls you into the story without effort. A really enjoyable read. Thank you to Anne Cater for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and to No Exit Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of the book to read.

Wow! Are we really on book 10 of this series? With not a single sign of the series going stale I can hardly believe it. Obviously, like all series, it is best to start from book one and read in order. Although the main story contained within this book is complete, Geraldine is a rather complex character with an interesting backstory and a lot of personal development through the series so, even though there is sufficient catch up included for what happens in this book to make sense, it is always best to read the full story so I would recommend you do play catch up if you have time.
With the events and aftermath of what happened towards the end of the previous book, Geraldine is lucky that all she has had to endure is being busted down to DS and relocated. The positive side of things is that she has moved to York and has been reunited with her former DS Ian Peterson. The negative being that she is now DS to him being DI. Talk about a switch of power. Luckily, there are few in her new team that know of their shared past and, as our story begins, she is on the whole, doing mostly OK in the early days of her new, more subordinate role. This doesn't last though as not long after starting, she is thrown into a murder enquiry. a young lady is found dead in her own home. Geraldine struggles to find her new place in things as she is no longer in charge. Having to take orders from Ian isn't the easiest thing to handle as well as try to do her job. As the body count rises, Geraldine's work life overtakes her personal life and, now living far from her family, she struggles to keep the balance between work and home life, especially made more complicated by her new sister's reliance on her which is made harder by the distance. But Geraldine is strong and tenacious and it takes a lot more than what has been thrown at her thus far to put her down.
I really loved that Geraldine and Ian are back together but I think, like the two of them, it may take me a wee while to get to grips with their new relationship. There's also the fact that Geraldine's way of doing things isn't always strictly by the book and she has a new DCI to build up a relationship with too. I'm sure she'll find her feet in due course though. Hope so anyway. But it's quite interesting to see this side of her. Sometimes when series go the length of time this one has, they get stale. I think that this one has remained fresh and this has as much to do with the character development as the actual stories being told. This new spin on things, reuniting DI with DS but the opposite way round is simply genius and something I can;t remember happening before in a series (and I read a lot of this genre). I really can't wait to see what happens next.
The story itself is rather intriguing. Yes, there's quite a lot about Geraldine's transition in this book but there are also crimes to be solved. As the murders are quite local, there are certain connections that could be just coincidence. Geraldine believes there is more to it than that and tries to steer the investigation but sadly, she doesn't have the same influence as before and so things drag and the body count gets higher until eventually she does what she needs to to do to get to the truth. And what a truth when all is said and done. I really didn't see all that coming. It really was the book that kept on giving, but all actually pretty credible at the end of the day.
All in all, a different direction to the series but one that I am really quite enjoying. I wonder what book 11 will bring next time, really can't wait. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is the tenth book in the Geraldine Steel series and one that I was looking forward to reading and it certainly didn’t disappoint! I have been an avid of Geraldine since book one. It can also be easily read as a standalone. Geraldine is now based in York after being demoted to DS. She is involved in the case of the murder of a young woman and a young man who were at school together years ago. She needs to find the killer before he strikes again. The book is told from different viewpoints which only adds to the enjoyment. There were a few twists that I didn’t see coming but it was a gripping read and I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for book 11 in the series,
Thanks t9 the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

It's been far too long since I have read a Geraldine Steel novel so I was looking forward to catching up following on from the last book. For those people who intend on reading the series in order, you may want to stop reading my review as it will inevitably contain spoilers if you haven't read the whole series.

I was keen to see how things were working out for Geraldine. Following her demotion she has now got a bitter pill to swallow by working as a Sergeant for none other than Ian Peterson. I am thrilled that these two are now working together although the dynamic sure has shifted. Geraldine seems a lot more vulnerable now that she has the added pressure of demotion, a twin sister in rehab and an adopted sister who could do with Geraldine's support. That's all without the actual job so Geraldine's life certainly seems to have taken a few steps back. Ian Peterson is also another one that has changed and in the first half of the book you can tell that both he and Geraldine are struggling with the new arrangements of him being above her in rank. That said, the two of them are starting to get back to normal the more the story continues.

As for the storyline, it seems that bodies are turning up and they seem to be linked through a group of schoolfriends. Geraldine and Ian are part of the team investigating the murders. Their new colleagues leave a lot to be desired I must say. I spent most of the time wanting to slap their colleague Naomi who obviously has a crush on Ian, and couldn't warm to the new boss Eileen. I think the reason I loved this book so much was that it felt like the series has been given a massive shake up and everything is topsy-turvy. Overall this was an absolutely cracking read and certainly one of the best I've read with Geraldine for a while, I literally cannot wait for book 11!

First of all, a confession. For the first time I have missed a Geraldine Steel out of the series so her current situation came as a surprise to me.

Demoted for the rest of her career and sent north to a new area she is once again working with Ian Peterson. A girl is murdered and the crime scene is clinically clean leaving the police almost nothing to go on. The case struggles on when a second murder is committed in the small rural area but there is almost nothing to link the crimes together. With the size of the population the only link seems far too tenuous to be substantial. Then the press find the link and start to make a story out of it. Then there is a third murder...

Russell has really returned to her roots with this story. We enter the head of the murderer without finding out 'why' and learn his cold, psychopathic thinking - and hating him more each time. Rooting for Steel and Peterson but we find Peterson wants to play 100% by the rules and do everything that's expected of him while Steel pushes her neck further and further out to the point...

Does their previous friendship have any real meaning anymore? Is Steel really now alone hundreds of miles from home?

Russell at her very best and Steel crying out to be turned into a TV series. I loved this book as much as any of the previous 8 out of 9 that I've read. I really can't wait for number 11.