Geraldine Steel Books in Order
Part ofLeigh Russell Books in OrderSee the DI Geraldine Steel series by Leigh Russell in order, with book summaries, series background, character notes and guidance on the best place to begin reading the investigations.
Last updated: January 17, 2026
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Publication Order
24 books
Cold Justice
by Leigh Russell
2025
When Alice Lewis, niece of Geraldine’s childminder, is murdered after earlier pleas for help went unanswered, the case becomes painfully personal. As Geraldine digs into Alice’s complicated private life, she realises someone is watching her investigation and may be willing to kill again to keep the truth hidden.
Revenge Killing
by Leigh Russell
2024
In a shabby apartment block, a man lies dead at the foot of the stairs and whoever moved his body is lying. DI Ariadne Moralis leads the case while new mother Geraldine Steel is drawn back into danger, as missing women, shifting stories and rising bodies turn suspicion toward everyone.
Deadly Will
by Leigh Russell
2024
A wealthy businessman is found shot and dumped in a river, leaving his ambitious children and much younger girlfriend vying for his fortune. When the girlfriend is murdered and Geraldine’s own baby is kidnapped, she must split her focus between catching a killer and saving her child.
Without Trace
by Leigh Russell
2023
Asked as a favour to check on a friend’s missing girlfriend, Geraldine initially assumes the young woman has simply run off. Then a body appears on a suburban pavement, covered in earth as though buried alive, and the case spirals into a desperate search before another woman vanishes.
Final Term
by Leigh Russell
2023
When schoolgirl Cassie is found dead in nearby woods after accusing a teacher of assault, the evidence all points toward the man whose career and marriage are collapsing. Geraldine is unconvinced and, after Cassie’s best friend is murdered, must decide whether they are chasing a serial killer or playing someone else’s game.
Guilt Edged
by Leigh Russell
2022
A quiet man is suffocated in his home and forensic tests reveal DNA from a stranger. Geraldine arrests a suspect yet doubts his guilt, especially after a witness provides an alibi. When a second murder follows his release, she must face the possibility she freed a killer.
Fake Alibi
by Leigh Russell
2022
A wheelchair user is strangled in her flat and her son Eddy is swiftly charged. His story collapses and even his supposed girlfriend denies knowing him, but Geraldine is not convinced he had the brains to plan such a crime. As more bodies appear, she races to uncover who is hiding behind Eddy’s lies.
Evil Impulse
by Leigh Russell
2021
Life with fellow detective Ian Peterson looks hopeful for Geraldine until a drug syndicate fixates on her family and a sadistic killer begins targeting women on York’s streets. Abducted and cut off from help, she must outwit both criminals and a psychopath to survive.
Deep Cover
by Leigh Russell
2021
When a sex worker dies in York, Geraldine’s investigation is overshadowed by Ian Peterson’s unexplained disappearance. Unbeknownst to her, he has gone undercover to infiltrate the gang threatening her life. As more women are murdered, their separate investigations converge in a deadly confrontation.
Deadly Revenge
by Leigh Russell
2021
On a freezing night a baby disappears from her cot and suspicion falls on the child’s absent father. Geraldine senses there is far more behind the kidnapping than a custody dispute, and a shocking discovery turns the search into a dangerous battle driven by vengeance.
Deathly Affair
by Leigh Russell
2020
A homeless man is strangled and left in the street, a killing that seems both brutal and senseless. When another body appears and a toxic triangle of lovers and lies emerges, Geraldine must decide who to trust in a case where every motive seems tainted.
Rogue Killer
by Leigh Russell
2019
A series of apparently random street attacks leaves men dead and the city on edge. Senior officers blame a gang of muggers, but Geraldine believes a single, deliberate murderer is behind the violence and risks her career to prove it before she becomes the next target.
Death Rope
by Leigh Russell
2019
Police write off Mark Abbott’s hanging as suicide, but his sister insists he was murdered. As more members of the family vanish and the evidence turns murkier, Geraldine follows a trail that leads straight into the hands of an adversary deadlier than any she has faced.
Class Murder
by Leigh Russell
2018
In her first major case back in York, Geraldine faces a killer selecting victims from a loose-knit group whose shared past hides old grudges. As witnesses keep dying and public fear grows, she must rebuild her damaged reputation while stopping a murderer who plans carefully and kills without remorse.
Killer Christmas
by Leigh Russell
2017
Spending Christmas Eve alone in York, Geraldine agrees to help when a man collapses at a bustling winter fair. It soon becomes clear he has been murdered, not struck by illness, and she must trace a killer hiding in holiday crowds before anyone else dies.
Murder Ring
by Leigh Russell
2016
An unremarkable man is shot dead in a side street, followed by another inexplicable killing. As Geraldine tracks links between seemingly random victims, the investigation exposes a dangerous criminal network and forces her to confront unsettling truths about her own family history.
Deadly Alibi
by Leigh Russell
2016
Two people are murdered in quick succession and a single suspect’s alibi begins to crumble under scrutiny. With her newly discovered twin sister complicating her personal life, Geraldine has to decide whether to trust the forensics or her instincts before the killer strikes again.
Killer Plan
by Leigh Russell
2014
A businessman is beaten to death and all eyes turn to his widow and her secret lover. When the couple’s young son is kidnapped, Geraldine must decide how much of her own closely guarded secrets she is willing to risk to bring a manipulative killer to justice.
Fatal Act
by Leigh Russell
2013
A glamorous soap actress dies in a violent car crash and the driver of the other vehicle disappears. When another young star is killed in eerily similar circumstances, Geraldine begins to suspect a calculated pattern, even as the hunt puts her own sergeant’s life on the line.
Stop Dead
by Leigh Russell
2012
A wealthy businessman is hacked to death and suspicion falls on his wife and her younger lover. When other men die in similar fashion and the only solid lead is DNA linking two women, one dead and one in prison, Geraldine fears a serial killer is at work.
Death Bed
by Leigh Russell
2011
Two young Black women are found murdered in North London, their teeth removed in the same disturbing way. Under media pressure and rising community tensions, Geraldine follows a trail of forensic clues that point toward a predator the press call the Dentist.
Dead End
by Leigh Russell
2011
Headmistress Abigail Kirby is found mutilated in woodland and her teenage daughter vanishes, apparently with a friend she met online. As bodies mount and the missing girl’s trail grows cold, Geraldine faces a serial killer whose brutality is becoming personal.
Road Closed
by Leigh Russell
2010
After a man dies in a gas explosion, Geraldine’s team suspect arson, but the case darkens when a local criminal is savagely beaten and a key witness dies in a hit and run. She must untangle arson, revenge and lies before more people die.
Cut Short
by Leigh Russell
2009
Newly arrived in the supposedly quiet town of Woolsmarsh, DI Geraldine Steel is thrown into a hunt for a killer stalking young women in the local park. When a terrified witness draws the murderer’s attention, Geraldine races to stop another attack.
Series background & context
DI Geraldine Steel anchors Leigh Russell’s long running police procedural series. She first appears in Cut Short, newly transferred to the supposedly quiet town of Woolsmarsh, expecting a slower pace and instead confronting a serial killer stalking young women in the local park.
As the books progress, Geraldine’s work takes her from rural towns to London and later to York. Each move brings a fresh team, new bosses and shifting loyalties, and the series follows both her professional successes and painful setbacks as she tries to hold on to her sense of justice.
Geraldine is highly capable but never superhuman. She struggles with loneliness, complicated relationships and the long shadow of her own past. Over time, family secrets about her adoption and birth parents surface, forcing her to question who she is even as she hunts people who prey on others.
The investigations themselves range from serial predators and organised crime to missing persons and cold cases. Russell combines careful police procedure with psychological tension, paying attention to victims, suspects and officers caught up in the violence. Moral grey areas, the cost of obsession and the pressures of modern policing run through the series.
Early on, Geraldine works closely with sergeant Ian Peterson, whose diligence and quiet humour balance her intensity. As the books move north, new colleagues and adversaries arrive, while characters like Peterson spin off into series of their own, expanding the sense of a shared world.
Later titles and novellas such as Killer Christmas, Without Trace, Revenge Killing, Deadly Will and Cold Justice show Geraldine juggling motherhood with frontline detective work and mentoring younger officers. The overall tone is gritty but accessible, with each book offering a complete mystery while feeding into Geraldine’s ongoing, messy, very human story.
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