Book review : Death Rope - Leigh Russell

For the past few weeks, I've been racing through my random collection of books that I have bought at various times in the 3-for-£5 section at The Works, and I have to say, for the most part, I've been pleasantly surprised. Death Rope by Leigh Russell is one of them and I enjoyed it very much. Crime fiction is my favourite genre and this book ticked all of the right boxes, so it was perfect for winding down after a long and busy day at work (which I have had lots of lately !).

Death Rope is the eleventh book in the DI Geraldine Steel series, but it can be enjoyed perfectly well as a stand-alone novel. There are however several mentions of things from the policewoman's past, such as a demotion at work and a dodgy relationship with her recently discovered, drug-addicted twin sister, which make me want to go back to the beginning of the series and find out more about this multi-faceted woman.

The book begins with a wife walking into her home and frantically calling on the gardener for help when she discovers her husband's limp body hanging from the bannisters. It looks like a classic suicide, but his sister Amanda goes to the police, utterly convinced that her brother has been murdered. Detective Sergeant Geraldine Steel is put on the flimsy case, but apart from the sister's claims, she has very little to go on. When Amanda is herself found murdered, the whole thing suddenly starts looking a lot more sinister and Geraldine has her work cut out trying to work out what is going on.

The story is interesting because it focuses equally on the criminal activity and the police work, so the reader gets a real sense of what goes into following up leads and trying to figure everything out. Some of the characters seemed a bit too one-dimensional - the main villain, in particular, seemed laughably horrible and I find it hard to believe that nobody would have heard, or presumably smelt, his monstrous dog, kept in the cellar with his remains of rotting meat.

Overall, though, it's a great read and watching the villains get their just desserts is very satisfying !

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £7.99

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: No Exit Press; None ed. edition (22 Nov. 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184344934X
• ISBN-13: 978-1843449348