Today I’m pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for Geraldine. My review is written with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book via the publisher.

Blurb:

Hatred is such a nasty thing – we all deplore it in others but do not necessarily recognise it in ourselves. At what point does resentment, jealousy, betrayal or humiliation turn into anger and then grow to an all consuming hatred? Hatred can be slow, taking years to fester, or can explode in seconds – it can linger for a lifetime or wither in seconds of its conception. Inspector Matthew Merry and Sergeant Julie Lukula have to deal with the consequences of violence and murder on a daily basis and in the case of Geraldine Driver they both see that hatred is the prime motive. But is it, as Julie thinks, one of a series of hate crimes that has led to this killing? Or, is Matthew right in saying, `Driver’s death is undoubtedly a hate filled crime but I’m just not convinced that there are sufficient links to suggest it is part of a pattern of hate crimes’? Only time and their investigation will tell…

Review:

Having enjoyed The Fourth Victim last year, I was eager to catch up with Detective Inspector Matthew Merry and Detective Sergeant Julie Lukula. Once again, I enjoyed the dynamic in the team and the relationships between them makes Geraldine a truly interesting read. In this second instalment, we learn even more about the detectives’ personal lives and this adds an extra layer to the novel.

Geraldine is full of intrigue, which is only increased by the lack of leads the detectives had. Geraldine’s murder is so unusual that I was keen to find out what had happened and was on tenterhooks until the very end.

In Geraldine, Mead explores a number of themes including prejudice (in all its different guises) and rape. I was particularly fascinated to be given a glimpse into the world of the transvestite as this is not a lifestyle I know much about. It has been researched well and explored sensitively and I definitely feel much more knowledgeable about the subject now. Rape is also an issue which is important in today’s society and I am pleased that it was drawn with honesty and understanding.

Geraldine is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: