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Blood Axe (DI Ian Peterson 3) – Leigh Russell

Silently dipping his oars in the water he made his escape. It was a weary journey, with few spoils to show for it. Next time he would do better. He looked back over his shoulder. The bridge had disappeared, swallowed up by the darkness. From its walkway he too had become invisible. Only the bloody body of a woman showed he had been roaming the streets that night.

D.I. Ian Peterson investigates a series of gruesome and brutal axe murders in York. As the body count mounts, the case demands all Ian’s ingenuity, because this is a killer who leaves no clues.

My thanks to No Exit Press for my review copy.

DI Ian Peterson returns in Blood Axe, the new thriller from Leigh Russell. Having enjoyed his previous outing (Race to Death) where Peterson and his wife were put through serious trials as the hunt for a murderer unfolded I was keen to see what lay ahead. Suffice to say I was not prepared for an adversary like the ‘Hunter’ that appears in Blood Axe.

I am always keen to avoid spoilers but as the book description (above) refers to ‘a series of brutal axe murders’ I am on reasonably safe ground to discuss a little bit about the murders in Blood Axe. An axe wielding killer is stalking his prey around the city streets, his victims appear random and robbery does not appear to be a motive as money is not taken from a victim’s purse. But the nature of the killings gives the police some major cause for concern – axe attacks are brutal and bloody and this killer seems to have no qualms about unleashing murderous fury on his victims.

With no real leads or clues to pursue the pressure soon descends upon the investigative team, headed up by DI Ian Peterson. We see how Peterson handles working with a younger colleague who he feels is not as committed to the job as Peterson was himself. Added friction is raised when allegations made by a young witness seem unlikely to Peterson but his colleague is more inclined to take the allegations on good faith. Conflict within the investigative team and also for Peterson further problems are arising at home as his wife struggles to adapt to life in York and becomes increasingly frustrated by Peterson’s long working days.

I believe that the success of an ongoing series depends upon a strong supporting cast to back-up the lead character and Leigh Russell is developing exactly that. The interplay between the police characters shows how they struggle to maintain morale when faced with an investigation which seems to be going nowhere. In Blood Axe we also get to ‘ride along’ with the killer as he stalks his next victim, we get an insight into the thought process of the hunt and it is a disturbing distorted reality we see.

I actually visited York a few weeks ago and this added an extra level of enjoyment to my reading of Blood Axe. I could clearly imagine the narrow York streets that the Hunter crept down as he stalked his prey, Leigh Russell captures the feeling of the city brilliantly and it let me immerse myself into the story.

Blood Axe is an entertaining murder mystery with a twist that few will see coming. Fans of Leigh’s previous books will be pleased with a cameo from Peterson’s old boss Geraldine Steel. New readers have an atmospheric read to enjoy and a cast of characters you will want to read more of.

Blood Axe is published by No Exit Press and is available in paperback and digital formats now.

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October 27

Race to Death – Leigh Russell

‘Moments before, he had been enjoying a day out at the races. Now he could be dying…. As he fell a loud wind roared past his ears, indistinguishable from the roar of the crowd. The race was over’.

A man plummets to his death during the York Races. Suicide or murder? Newly-promoted DI Ian Peterson is plunged into a complex and high-profile case, and as the body count increases, the pressure mounts for his team to solve the crimes quickly.

But the killer is following the investigation far more keenly than Ian realises and time is running out as the case suddenly gets a lot closer to home…

Leigh Russell is the author of the successful DI Geraldine Steel books. Having firmly established Steel as a strong lead character Leigh then plucked Steel’s colleague, Ian Peterson, from an underling role to the principle character in his own series of books. Peterson takes the lead for the first time in Cold Sacrifice – Race to Death is the second Peterson book.

This was actually the first time I had read one of Leigh Russell’s books – it will not be the last as I really enjoyed Race to Death. At no stage did I feel that I was disadvantaged from not knowing Peterson’s back story. His character was outlined well in the opening stages of the book and the fact he had just moved house and job made Race to Death feel like a good jumping on point.

The action kicks off during the buzz of race day at York races, however, tragedy soon strikes for one family. The opening chapters are very nicely written and you actually get to experience a murder from the viewpoint of the victim – nice twist which was very well written (even if it was a little disconcerting).

Enter Peterson, newly in role, who tasked with solving the murder. We get to share his anxiety at the challenge of proving himself and we see his obsession in puzzling the half clues and unreliable witnesses. The story also follows Peterson’s wife, she is struggling to come to terms with the move to York and we see her largely ignored by her husband while his work takes over every waking minute.

One minor irk while I was reading was that I felt Peterson should have been paying more attention to his home life and I felt annoyed with him for ignoring his wife. Why can’t he see that he is not paying her enough attention? When I get annoyed with characters it is always a good sign that I am engaging with a book!

As with any murder story I like to try and puzzle out who the killer is before the author reveals all. Race to Death was no different, my brain was wracked and I formulated my suspicions – even to the point I was beginning to think this was a random attacker story and that there was no connection between the characters in the book to the killer. But all became clear in the end with a nice twist which I certainly did not see coming.

For the uninitiated this is a great introduction to Leigh Russell’s books. It works as a stand alone novel but clearly there is also a back story to enjoy too so the returning fan will not be disappointed. As I write I should also highlight that Leigh’s books are reduced in the Kindle Store and most are available for under £1 each. On the evidence of Race to Death these should be great reads.

Race to Death gets 4 out of 5 and makes me want to read more Leigh Russell books.

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