TuesdayTips100

Conversations With Their Creations
Author Leigh Russell in conversation with DI Geraldine Steel

Today's #TuesdayTip is a very special anniversary - so how better to mark the 100th Tuesday Tip than by launching a new feature!
I am absolutely delighted that my good friend Leigh Russell has agreed to write the inaugural #ConversationsWithTheirCreations.
The premise is simple - an author conducts an interview with one of their characters. I leave it up to them how they wish to interpret that brief.

Leigh will be interviewing Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel, the main character in 17 of her best-selling novels, most recently Guilt Edged.

Presenter: Good morning, and welcome to all our listeners. Today on Radio Gitsham, we are pleased to welcome a special guest, Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel. Good afternoon, Inspector. I’m sure our listeners have all read about your latest murder investigation, which was widely reported in the press, but what can you tell us about it from behind the scenes at the police station? 
Geraldine: Hello, and thank you for inviting me to join you.  My latest case was extremely challenging for me and my team, because we were dealing with an attack that appeared to be completely motiveless. No one seemed to benefit from the victim’s death, and he appeared to have lived a quiet life, making no enemies at all. With no leads, it was down to me and my team to track down his killer. 
Presenter: That sounds tricky. So how did you go about it? 
Geraldine:  An individual’s DNA was detected on the body, and we were able to find a match for it on our database and arrest a suspect. At that point, the investigation seemed to be over, although I had my doubts as to whether we had arrested the right person. When a credible independent eye witness came forward to confirm the suspect’s alibi, I made the decision to release him. But sadly, not long after that, a second victim was murdered. 
Presenter: Were you worried that you had made the wrong decision in releasing the original suspect? 
Geraldine: It would have been a terrible injustice to keep an innocent man locked up for a crime he hadn’t committed. But since I had been responsible for the decision to let the suspect go, I spent a few sleepless nights worrying that I had made a terrible mistake, and my error of judgement had led to the death of a young woman. It isn’t my responsibility as a detective to convict anyone. My job is to establish the facts in a case so a court is able reach the right decision about who is guilty and who is innocent. But sometimes difficult choices are forced on us and we all have to live with the consequences of our decisions.
Presenter: It sounds like a complex case, but you did resolve it all in the end, didn’t you? 
Geraldine: Yes, it was a complicated investigation, but I can assure your listeners that my team succeeded in tracking down the killer in the end. We always do. That is our job. 
Presenter: I’m sure we’re all relieved to hear that. Thank you very much for joining us today.
Geraldine: It’s been a pleasure, and thank you for inviting me to the studio to talk to you.
(c) 2022 Leigh Russell

Known as a crime writer, Leigh Russell has had 27 novels published, including the million selling Geraldine Steel detective series. She has also written psychological thrillers, dystopian and historical fiction. In addition to her writing, Leigh is Chair of Judges for the CWA Debut Dagger, and a Consultant Royal Literary Fellow. She runs occasional creative writing courses in the UK and overseas, and online during lockdown.

The Geraldine Steel series features a detective inspector working on murder investigations. 
The first title in the series, CUT SHORT, was published in 2012 
The most recent is GUILT EDGED, published January 2022  

To learn more about Leigh and her writing, you can visit her website or follow her on Twitter @LeighRussell and Facebook.