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Unintended consequences affect us in so many ways. Sometimes we realise with hindsight how significant they have been in our lives. Steve Jobs famously said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” He goes on to explain that had he not attended a calligraphy class, more or less on a whim, personal computers might never have developed the range of fonts they offer today. Such fortuitous events are not unusual. If Conan Doyle had never met Joseph Bell, a surgeon renowned for his brilliant observational skills, it’s possible Conan Doyle might never have been inspired to create the character of Sherlock Holmes.
Many years ago, my mother taught me to touch type. With my hands covered by a cardboard box, I learned to type without being able to see the keyboard. Little did I know that decades later I would make such good use of that skill. My writing career has often been called prolific, and the ability to type 70 words a minute has played a significant role in my output, with words sometimes appearing on the screen faster than I can call them to mind. In fact, I often don’t know what I’m thinking until the words appear before me on the screen. It’s a strange and mysterious process, and a great boon to a writer.
Setting so many of my books in York is the result of another unintended consequence. A few years ago, my husband was invited to attend an event in York, as an alumni of the university. Had he not studied at York University before we met, I might never have visited the city. He was keen to return and show me the haunts of his youth, and it didn’t take me long to fall in love with York. The stunning juxtaposition of medieval and modern architecture, the atmospheric cobbled streets and narrow snickelways, and the rich history that is evident wherever you look, is inspiring for a writer. It’s impossible to walk very far without finding a historic site nestled among the modern buildings in this vibrant city.
Before lockdown we used to spend several weeks in York every year, researching locations where my characters could live, and hunting for those all important sites where dead bodies might be discovered. We walked by the river and along streets evocatively named The Shambles, Micklegate, Stonegate, visited tourist spots like Clifford’s Tower, the Dungeons, Yorvik Museum, Museum Gardens, the university, the Chocolate Museum, the railway museum, and were fortunate enough to be offered a private tour of York Racecourse when I set a murder there. There always seems to be something happening in York, from morality plays to battle re-enactments, Christmas Fairs to Viking processions, and the literature festival.
Without Trace is the twentieth of my books set in York. The story begins when a missing woman is discovered, unconscious, and mysteriously encased in earth. The woman is taken straight to hospital, where she dies before the police can question her. Her boyfriend is the obvious suspect in the ensuing murder investigation. Although he is questioned several times, the detectives are unable to find any evidence to convict him. Meanwhile, several other young women have been reported missing, all of them neighbours of the dead girl. As Geraldine and her team are trying to find out what happened, another young woman is reported missing…
Everything I have experienced in York has contributed to the development and success of my series. But what has always struck me as even more important than the city’s amazing architecture and lively events, is the friendliness of the people who live there. Whenever we visit York, we meet readers. They are always pleased that the books are set in York because, like me, as well as being interested in Geraldine Steel, they are also fans of York.
In many ways, Geraldine has enjoyed a varied career so far. She began working in Kent, from where she moved to London, before ending up in York. As for the future, I cannot imagine she will ever move from York. How else would I have an excuse to keep returning to this wonderful and inspiring city?
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Without Trace by Leigh Russell (No Exit Press) Out 31 August 2023. (£9.99)
She opened her mouth to scream, but he slapped something across her lips. The gag tasted of salt and mould, rough sacking on her tongue. With a terrifying certainty, she knew she was going to die. DI Geraldine Steel knows people go missing all the time; sometimes because they don't want to be found. So when her partner Ian asks her to look into the disappearance of his football-buddy's girlfriend, her first instinct is to reassure him there's no need for concern. Until she's called to a suspected murder, and all her instincts tell her she's right about the identity of the victim. The young woman has earth and leaf mould and fragments of twigs in her long fair hair, her nose, her mouth, under her finger nails, clinging to her clothes. It's as if she'd been completely encased in earth. And yet she was found on the pavement, at the side of a suburban road, where she wasn't in contact with any soil or mud. Had she managed to escape a living grave? Without a crime scene, the investigation focuses on her boyfriend. But Ian insists his friend is incapable of murder, and Steel is torn. Without evidence, she knows their case is weak. But without evidence, can she let a possible killer go free? She needs to find out what really happened. Where did the assault occur? Why are there traces of DNA from two other unidentified sources on the body? What reason could there be to attack a popular young woman who never did anyone any harm? And why bury her body so carelessly that she was able to escape? Then another young woman is reported missing. Unless he has an accomplice, they have an innocent man in custody. And Steel is running out of time . . .
More information about Leigh Russell and her work can be found on her website where you can sign up to her newsletter. You can also follow her on X @LeighRussell, on Instagram @leighrussell2020 and on Facebook.
