Another fantastic read!!

Kelly Porter is back and she's more determined than ever to solve a case when it turns from missing persons to a murder investigation.

I read the first book in the series a while ago and absolutely loved, I wasn't aware there had been another until I stumbled across Dead End on Netgalley which is actually the third book in the series.

Having missed the second book I wondered if I'd struggle to understand this novel but luckily for me it can easily be read as a stand alone.

Fast paced with clever twists, I changed my mind constantly about who the culprits could be. With Kelly's own home life story running secondary to the case I found myself completely immersed in the pages.

The only negative, I didn't want it to end so quickly.

Hopefully there will be more books to come in this series!

Another great book from Rachel Lynch and her main heroine DI Kelly Porter who along with her team manage to come to a relatively successful and happy end to this case.

I never read the first two of her books but this did not detract from this novel. I enjoyed reading this book from the characters and backstories , it kept me enthralled and interested from the getgo until the end. I would definitely read her next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

I would like to thank Canelo and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Dead End’, third in the DI Kelly Porter series written by Rachel Lynch, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Two women, Sophie Daker and Hannah Lawson, go missing whilst walking on the Fells and when DI Kelly Porter is called in to investigate she realises their looks are similar to Freya Hamilton who disappeared in similar circumstances four months earlier. Meanwhile, the hard-living Earl of Lowesdale is found hanging in his room and suicide is suspected, but is it?
‘Dead End’ is an exciting police thriller where the beauty of the Lake District’s Fells comes through in the descriptions. I very much liked Rachel Lynch’s style of writing which made for captivating reading. I enjoyed finding out more of the growing relationship between Kelly and Johnny and also her family which added another dimension to her identity. The characters were interesting, the plot is fast-paced and gripping, with a number of possible suspects to keep me guessing, and although there were some parts of the story that were fairly predictable and maybe it didn’t have an ending that made me gasp in surprise, it was still pretty good all the same. I hope there’s going to be another in the series which I’ll look forward to.

This is the third in the Lake District set series featuring DI Kelly Porter, who has returned to the area after spending numerous years in London. I read the first book which I really enjoyed but somehow missed the second. Nevertheless, this is mostly fine to read as a standalone. In the atmospheric Dead End, Kelly has two seemingly disparate investigations that are slowly revealed to have connections with each other. The hard living and ageing seventh Earl of Lowesdale, named Xavier-Paulus II, is found hanging by the rafters in his bedroom by Zachary, his grandson. Is it suicide or is there more to it? Two young women hikers, Hannah and Sophie, have gone missing from their camp and it turns out they are not the only women to have disappeared in the area.

Kelly harbours few ambitions as she is reluctant to scale the career ladder, she has little wish to be removed from the front of end of policing which is what she enjoys. Her family life has it struggles, as with her mother and sister. As she digs deeper into her cases, Kelly uncovers the secrets and lies behind the facade of the well heeled estate of a local aristocrat. Lynch has written a well researched and well plotted storyline with plenty of twists, suspense and tension. It is the creation of the determined DI Kelly Porter and her development which holds the readers attention with ease. This is turning out to be a great series, with all the requisite parts of what makes a gripping read, a wide cast of compelling characters and an added bonus with the wonderful location. Many thanks to Canelo for an ARC.

The third in the Kelly Porter series of books but I hadn’t read the first two and I didn’t feel I’d missed out on anything. Well apart from wanting to read them now that I’ve read this one!

Oh I did like being in the LAke District. Ullswater to be precise and the fictional but highly compelling Wasdale Hall, home of the Earl of Lowesdale, Xavier-Paulus II. He’s been found hanging in his bedroom, by his grandson Zachary. That’s not the only case for DS Kelly, She’s investigating the case of two missing women. In these rural parts, there’s few witnesses and it’s hard to find people who are lost in the moors.

It was refreshing to find this female police officer with a nice family home life! She didn’t have issues, anger management problems or a drink problem which was nice! Other characters were also very strong and well developed. Brian the gardener on the estate in particular and his family were interesting to get to know. I now want to live at Wasdale Hall but well, in nicer circumstances.

On a totally separate note, Lynch is a good author name for a crime fiction author! Definately will be reading more from her!

Dead End by Rachel Lynch

The third in the Kelly Porter series of books and is set in Ullswater, the Lake District. While it’s the third in a series, it can be read as a stand-alone, as I haven’t read either of the others yet, but it didn’t feel disjointed in any way.

At Wasdale Hall, the Earl of Lowesdale, Xavier-Paulus II, is found hanging in his bedroom, by his grandson Zachary. Suicide?

2 young women, Hannah and Sophie are missing after leaving a campsite for a hike in the hills. They have been missing for a few days and concern grows for their safety.....

DS Kelly Porter is investigating both cases and wonders if there’s a link to Freya Hamilton who had been missing for a few months.

Rachel Lynch has created an original character in Kelly, she doesn’t have the usual ‘tough female cop, with a temper’ persona as is found in many novels in this genre. She has a healthy, happy relationship with Johnny, a family with the usual dramas (a couple not so usual though and a little link to Wasdale Hall), which just adds to Kelly’s character and is not the main point at all. She’s just a regular human being. The description of the area is detailed and atmospheric and Rachel Lynch clearly knows the area and breathes life into it.

Brian, is the gardener come handyman on the Wasdale estate and his partner, Linda, has been the housekeeper for the Earl for many years and has seen Zac grow up. She also has a son a little older than Zac, Dominic.

There are other characters which play a large part in the story and the suspects add up, each one is credible and it keeps you guessing to the end. Just when you think, ahhhhh it’s him, it isn’t!!!!!!

This is a book that will make you lose time.....as it’s a ‘just one more chapter’ read. I can thoroughly recommend it.


I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Really enjoyed this book. .... Twist and turns abound...More murders and mystery.... Great addition to The Kelly Porter series.

I just finished reading Dead End by Rachel Lynch. This is the third book in the series and I was fortunate enough to have already read the first two which I loved. So it doesn’t come as any surprise that I am just as crazy about the last book as the first. The book reads very quickly which is of course good and bad because you don’t want it to end. I will absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves a great mystery and I thank NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy. I unreservedly give it 5 stars and am looking forward to the next one. Absolutely love Rachel Lynch!

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for this arc.
I had seen good/great reviews of the previous Kelly Porter stories but have not read either of them and I felt I was a little behind the eight ball starting with this 3rd story as a "stand alone". I wasn't so confused that I quit reading, but I definitely think I would have enjoyed it more if I has started with book one and then book two. Kelly's back story and her relationship histories (with Johnny, her family, co-workers, etc.) were certainly a part of who she is in this 3rd book. Overall, I think these books should be read in their proper order.

I'm not all that proper, nor that orderly.... I kept reading book three. It was a very good story, fast paced with multiple crimes and criminals. A nice big nasty knot to unravel. While I had some trouble fully engaging with the characters initially because I should have started with the earlier books, by the half way point in the book, my "brain fog" had cleared up enough that the last half of the story just flew by.

I've really got to get my hands on the earlier books! A solid four stars without them and likely to go higher after I've caught up!

This is the 3rd in the DI Kelly Porter series, the books get better as the characters develop. It starts with two missing girls from a campsite and as investigations show these are not the first to disappear. Juggling her personal relationships with boyfriend and family as well as professional work as a Detective Inspector running a team Kelly has much to think about. making this quite a page turner.
The series gets better and I look forward to the next in the series.

This is the third novel in the Kelly Porter series and it was just as good as the first two. A very fast paced action filled storyline with plenty of twists and turns. Just as you think you know who the culprit is a spanner is thrown in the works and it turned out to be someone unsuspected. It is also good to get some background on Kelly and her own family life which you can then understand some of the issues she has with feeling like she doesn’t belong and finding it hard to trust people. Even though it is book 3 in a series it can just as easily be read as a stand-alone.

I loved this book it was fantastic, I cannot think of one negative thing to say. It was thrilling, fast paced, full of twists that kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me reading late into the night. I really like the characters in this series they feel real, their emotions are raw and relationships strained. This is such a well written book that kept me engaged and excited all the way through, it was an excellent read and I don’t hesitate in giving it 5 stars.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Dead End (from NetGalley). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one NEEDS to be a movie!!! (I NEVER say that, and I usually hate movies made from books that I love...however, this one is an exception!!!). There was so much action and build-up...twists abound!!! Suspicious deaths? Check. Missing girls? Check. Several monster suspects living in plain sight? Check. Family skeletons? Check. I just LOVED this book. I think it is one that would appeal to more than avid readers. (Unfortunately however, they will not take the opportunity unless it is presented in a 2 hour chunk of non-interactive entertainment.) I must admit it was a little dry until around chapter 16,(which could be done more quickly through film) when the connections between characters began to unfold, but I am so glad that I stuck with it. After that, I had a very difficult time putting this novel down! The characters felt real. Their situations seemed authentic. I am still thinking about this book a day after I finished it. The family secrets in this novel alone keep you reading! A big thanks to NetGalley and Rachel Lynch for allowing me to read and review this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book
I loved this British police procedural.
I found the main character believable and the plot good

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read and provide a honest review.

DI Kelly Porter is investigating the disappearance of two local girls, whilst at the same time managing the relationship between her mother and her sister. She's pulled between the two competing priorities and the frustrations that come with dealing with her family.

Family is also the theme of the disappearances in the area, with a local elderly Earl being found dead in his property by suicide, with some suspicious about if that was actually the case.

It's a lot of ground to cover adequately and sometimes the sheer enormity of the world that Lynch has sought to create overwhelms her writing. You can't really pull off the two threads of narrative in such a short amount of time so the missing girls and her family troubles both suffer in the competition to cover both.

It's a passable thriller, but not groundbreaking or immensely interesting.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Canelo for an advance copy of Dead End, the third novel to feature DI Kelly Lynch, set in the Lake District.

Kelly is resisting promotion, preferring the sharp end of policing, but soon she doesn't have time to think about it as she has her hands full with the apparent suicide of the Earl of Lowesdale which soon turns out to be something different and the disappearance of two female students who went fell walking and didn't come back. As time goes on with no sign of the girls Kelly starts to suspect something darker.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dead End which has a good mystery a lovely location and some interesting characters. It is mostly told from Kelly's point of view but digresses to other characters' thoughts and actions from time to time. Fortunately, from my point of view, Ms Lynch doesn't spend any time with the perpetrator and their thoughts and motivations which as a device I mostly find banal and unconvincing. I like the slow accumulation of facts and theories as Kelly tries to solve both cases, not that the read itself is slow with its timely reveals and action scenes. I also like the picture it paints of the location, beautiful but incredibly dangerous for the unwary and ill prepared. It held my attention from start to finish.

The novel is a mixture of procedural and Kelly's personal life which is fairly tumultuous. She is a loner by nature and feels like an outsider both in the area she was brought up in after many years spent working in London and in her family with whom she has a difficult relationship. The cases she is working on bring some new dimensions to these dynamics and with so much change in the air it will be interesting to see where Ms Lynch takes Kelly in future novels.

Dead End is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

DEAD END By Rachel Lynch

I have really started to enjoy British crime novels and am honored that I was given the chance to review this book by the author as well as goodreads.

The seventh Earl of Lowesdale is found deceased by hanging and no one suspects anything other than the fact that he must have committed suicide due to his lif style. However, the coroner says ithere are signs of foul play. DI Kelly Porter is called to investigate and hat she finds is nothing short of a mystery. Two hikers are now missing and while looking into their disappearance, more are found to me missing. Will this stop or will Kelly be able to find out what has happened and can stop the disappearances? This is a page turner that was well written and while it is number 3 in the dearies, itisa stand-alone novel. You should read the others but it is not necessary. Lynch has the ability to keep the reader enthralled into the story and has done adequate research on police work so that everything makes perfect sense.

5 out of 5

This is the first book I've read featuring DI Kelly Porter, although I believe that it is the third in the series. However, it did not seem to matter that I had not read the previous books - it is a good stand-alone crime novel.

In this book, DI Kelly Porter is living back in the Lake District where she grew up. Battling with her own difficult family background, she is called in to check out the apparent suicide of a local aristocrat whose unconventional family make for an interesting investigation. At the same time, two young women are reported missing from a local campsite on Lake Ullswater and there seem to be connections between the events.

This made for an engaging read, although I found the early sections a little disjointed as the story skipped between characters and time periods. I liked the character of Kelly - she's tough and appealing, having to overcome her own issues while maintaining her professional outlook. I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy police procedurals, especially those with a strong female protagonist.

#DeadEnd #NetGalley I was lucky enough to read the second novel in the DI Kelly Porter series via NetGalley so I was really excited to see the next book in this series. It did not disappoint! Rachel Lynch is a very talented crime writer who knows just how to keep her audience glued to every word! I love the character of Kelly Porter, she is tough, gritty and determined to get to the bottom of all her cases and I really enjoy hearing about her own family issues and struggles intertwined within the cases she is working. The added bonus is the setting of this series - the fabulous Lake District which makes a lovely change from the many London or southern based crime series. A fabulous 5 stars and I look forward very much to the next book in this series.