99p DOWNLOAD!

STOP DEAD has been selected for the amazon 12 Days of Christmas Kindle Promotion. Download for 99p! PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

Download Stop Dead here

Leigh Russell in 2012

Leigh Russell
Current UK covers 

Special Edition

For my last signing of 2012 at Waterstones Hemel Hempstead my publisher sent a few of the hardback copies of DEATH BED. Only 200 were printed, and that's all there will ever be since this is a special limited edition, signed and numbered. They are usually only available directly from my publisher here Limited Edition Death Bed but here it is in the bookstore. It's a really lovely edition!

STOP DEAD

STOP DEAD is available to download TODAY. 

Good reviews are starting to come in.  If you have an e-reader you can read it for yourself NOW! 

STOP DEAD ebook 

"She dashed across the cold kitchen floor. The sound of his feet pounded in her ears as he raced down the stairs. It wouldn't be long before he caught up with her."

STOP DEAD

Thanks to Best Crime Books for a fantastic review of Stop Dead "all the things a mystery should be, intriguing, enthralling, tense and utterly absorbing"

Back in time for Christmas

A little piece  of good news - after selling out on amazon (just before Christmas - typical!) CUT SHORT is now back in stock. This time it's the brand new edition, and there's still time to order before Christmas! Click on CUT SHORT on amazon if you'd like to introduce a friend to the series, and contact me directly on Leigh Russell website if you'd like me to email a personalised inscription.

Chin Wag at the Slaughter House

Having a Chin Wag at The Slaughter House - on "hard scenes and sexual pathology"
http://www.richardgodwin.net/author-interviews-extensive/chin-wag-at-the-slaughterhouse-interview-with-leigh-russell

STOP DEAD

You can read an interview about STOP DEAD on 'Fiction is Stranger than Fact'
http://fictionisstrangerthanfact.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/stop-dead-by-leigh-russell.html

Large Print Cut Short

CUT SHORT is now available in Large Print. It is really nicely produced. If you are buying it as a xmas present and would like a personalised inscription contact me on http://leighrussell.co.uk
The link for the Large Print edition is also on my website above or on
http://www.largeprintbookshop.co.uk/cut-short-p-258682.html

What does Father Christmas read?

Did you ever wonder what Santa Claus reads? Would you believe it!

Fans of crime fiction are everywhere!

Mystery People Interview

Here is an extract from a recent interview on Mystery People

Leigh, your fifth book Stop Dead featuring Geraldine Steel, will be available as an e-book in December 2012, and will be in print May 2013. From where did Geraldine spring? Is she based on any one person or just purely from your imagination?
A Geraldine evolved, rather than sprang to life. In Cut Short the reader learns a little about her, and with each book different facets of her character emerge. She has developed quite a following (much to my surprise) that has grown as the series progresses. Neither Geraldine nor any of the other characters in my books are based on real people. They appear on the page as I write, and are all fictitious.

Q It is frequently said: ‘write what you know’. As your background is in teaching what was the thought process behind your protagonist being a police inspector. Why not an academic, or an amateur detective?
A ‘Write what you know’ always strikes me as very limiting. It hardly makes sense, unless the phrase was dreamed up by someone who writes non-fiction. I have never worked for the police, or conducted a postmortem - I’ve never even killed anyone. What is wrong with imagining events and settings? Isn’t that the meaning of fiction? Does JK Rowling have personal experience of swooping through the skies on a broomstick? As for EL James… on second thoughts, let’s not go there! I do like the idea of writing a crime novel with a private investigator, but the police today have so many resources at their disposal, I don’t think this would work in contemporary crime novels.

Q Do you have to spend much time in researching police procedures? And have any of your readers, particularly those in the police force ever contacted you to point out an error in procedure?
A Since Cut Short came out in 2009 I’ve conducted a lot of research, and finding out about life as a detective is part of that. I talk to police officers and have spent time with a Murder Investigation Team, which was fascinating. I’ve never worked for the police, but have gathered all sorts of information such as which Metropolitan Police station serves home made banana bread. This kind of attention to detail helps the reader believe in the world of my books. I take as much care as I can to make sure all the details are accurate, although it’s not always easy. Procedures can be quite complicated, and of course they are subject to change. So far none of my many fans on the police force have criticised the authenticity of my novels, even though my detectives might receive the results of a DNA test more quickly than would happen in real life, and Geraldine spends less time behind a desk with paperwork than a real detective inspector would. My readers all appreciate that I’m not writing a handbook on police procedure, but a novel. My priority is to serve the story.

Q Not to give too much away, Geraldine is troubled by her origins. Is her area of concern something of which you have experience?
A This is not an area where I have personal experience, but I haven’t killed anyone either! Fiction isn’t writing about what you experience, but about what you understand and imagine. I try to empathise with all my characters, detectives, victims and killers.

You can read the whole interview on http://www.promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/leigh-russell.html

Interview on The Yellow Room

Thank you to The Yellow Room for interviewing me. "The future for crime writing is looking quite robust"
http://theyellowroomeditor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/guest-blog-leigh-russell-crime-writer.html