I loved this book. So well written and great characters, all set in the beautiful Lake District. Drugs, suicides, disjointed families, it has it all. I now want to read the others in the series.

I would truly recommend this book.

A fascinating story and a good plot to keep you absorbed until tha final page. Definitely recommended.

Bitter Edge – Rachel Lynch

I hadn’t read Rachel’s previous book The Dependants but then I was introduced to DI Kelly Porter and since then I’ve enjoyed all the others. I enjoy the accurate descriptions of the stunning Lake District, probably because I spent an amazing summer in my teens working there. This is the forth book in series and they get better and better. Every book we learn more about Kelly, Johnny her fab fella and their lives, I like that for a change the heroine of the hour isn’t carrying around angst, baggage and drama with her, although her life isn’t perfect she has issues with her sister.

It’s an awful time for the team as they have a missing teenager who was out with her friends, the kind of friends that let her walk off alone. Then the body of fifteen-year-old Jenna Fraser, an apparent suicide is found. Jenna was a competitive and seemingly successful fell walker or should I say was following a fall in which she badly damaged her knee. DI Porter goes to her school and questions her ‘friends’ and soon realises that things aren’t quite what they seem. It doesn’t take long for certain things come to light bullying and lies are just the tip of the iceberg. The case soon becomes about much more than Jenna and Kelly just can’t let it lie.

I do realise that this is a work of fiction but it’s really made me take a good look at the kids around me. If my children were teenagers and still at school I would be worried sick about them. I know that drugs etc were available but not as ‘heavy’ or as prolific as this book imples. I’ve always thought of myself as quite aware and streetwise but now I’m beginning to realise that I’m not.

This series by Rachel Lynch is well worth a read, I’ve recommended this to my friends and family.


Read for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Canelo Publishers

Really enjoyable - and the exciting additional thing is that this is the 4th in a series - so I can read stories of the police detective Kelly again - and, that said , despite the odd reference to her back story (and presumably in previous books), that's not important. Her impulse to examine a school girl's suicide is an important pursuit - and one that many police (and parents/teachers) would not have picked up ... there are the usual routes to go down to find out the truth (and Kelly has a knock out discovery in her personal life too - it's giving too much away to say what) .. but a teacher accused of assault is one! Twists and turns, deftly accomplished - this is a terrific new writer for me ... recommended!

Fast paced, multi streamed story which kept me reading...my only minus point was that it appeared to get wrapped up very quickly, with loose ends not completely tied up.

I love Lynch's work. She creates a great story, credible characters and convincing procedural detail.
The reader has to join some dots and grateful they are as being given all the links is insulting. Make us work a little and even leave a few elements unexplained as in life. This style gives "Bitter Edge" the nod of approval from me, an avid reader of the genre.

The drama begins with the first chapter and increases as the book develops. Lynch's style of writing and level of description of places, people and post-mortems ensure the reader becomes involved in the mysteries and, like the main character, wants a solution.
As the book progresses it becomes increasingly obvious that the deaths are not as straightforward as they might have appeared to be.
.This is a recommended read for fans of detective mysteries and especially fans of DI Kelly.
Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo Books for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another gritty story of death, but is it suicide or murder, set in the dark side of the Lake District. After a gruelling opening DI Kelly Porter is left wondering about the legacy of suicides which seems to have stalked young people in the lakes, and she decides to do some digging. This series of books by Rachel Lynch keep you guessing and can be read as stand alone but I like the personal thread of Kelly's life which runs through the books too.

This is the fourth book in the DI Porter series, and sadly I haven't read any of the previous books yet. However I feel that this book reads nicely as a standalone, and if there was any specific references I missed to events in the previous books, it was very subtle and didn't take anything from my enjoyment of the book.
I enjoyed the book from beginning to end and recommend it to anyone who like a good read!

I am a fan of this whole series and was tempted to write a long review but decided short was better.

It is brilliant. Buy it. Read it. Relish the style and then, I guess, you will recommend it to everyone you come in contact with; just like I am doing.

This is another great story in the series and will keep you gripped throughout. Always a good sub plot going on as well as the main crime element.

This is the first book I''ve read in the D.I..Kelly Porter series. - not quite in one sitting as I was on holiday but with just a few sessions into the 'wee small hours '.
The beginning , with the rather dramatic suicide of a teenage champion fell runner ,certainly grabbed the attention and pulled you in to what became a fairly fast moving page turner..The verdict of suicide didn't ring true with the D.I. and her suspicions were further aroused by a succession of what appeared ,at first, to be unrelated incidents but were soon proved otherwise.
A teacher accused of inappropriate behaviour , teenagers,drugs,ruthless drug dealers , a shifty fairground individual who liked young girls , a missing toddler who was in care ,an illegal immigrant from the Balkans -
sometimes it felt as if there were too many strands .
The setting and it's description was wonderful - made me want to get in the car and drive though I'd probably be one of the ones needing to be rescued by the D.I.'s boyfriend and his mountain rescue team!!
I enjoyed the glimpses of her family life too and the interaction by that set of characters..
Definitely a series I shall be looking out for..

I absolutely adore the DI Kelly Porter series of books (Bitter Edge being the fourth).
They are so well written, keep me on the edge of my seat and leave me wanting to read the next as soon as possible!
In Bitter Edge we join Kelly back in the wonderful setting of the Lake District, continuing to uphold the law. On this occasion, it is not immediately apparent whether or not any crime has been committed. But, as always I knew Kelly and her team would get to the bottom of the matter.
Alongside dealing with her professional life, Kelly has to manage her personal life, which became a lot more complicated in the third book. Rachel continues to develop Kelly’s personal life in some interesting ways.
All in all a top rated book yet again for Rachel Lynch. Highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's an open and shut case, obviously teenage suicide and the reader knows it. But when other cases DI Kelly Porter and her team are working on start to show links the investigation becomes a personal obsession.

Bitter Edge is the fourth in the Kelly Porter series but the first I've read. It was pretty harrowing and I wouldn't have tackled it if I'd known the subject matter in advance. There were also so many back references (I presume spoilers) that I wouldn't be in a hurry to read the previous books.

As always a fantastic book. I am totally hooked on this series and always look forward to the next one. I love the characters and the way the stories unfold. They always seem to have a bit of a twist that makes me think ‘of course’ when something breaks in the case. I did shed a tear for Kelly in this book and was thinking I was happy she now has Ted. Will continue to read this series for as long as it continues.

I loved this book. What a page turner! Really well written. Rounded characters not too much background information on the police team but enough. Kept me guessing til near the end. I will look out for this author and I will read more by this author.

Definitely want to read others in this series, this is the 2nd book and I am looking forward to more. I am now fully engaged with the lead character. There are twists and turns to keep reader interested and the book is quick paced, one for a rainy Sunday afternoon!

DI Kelly Porter is a hero to me. She fights for those that cannot speak for themselves and goes above and beyond to help the families find some type of closure. I have read so many books by this author that as soon as I saw her name I knew I had to request the chance to read it. Her characters always jump off the pages, like they are actually in front of you. this book did not disappoint at all. Thank you NetGalley, and Rachel Lynch for putting this book on here so that I could enjoy it.

very very good - kept me guessing all the way ! highly recommended and look forward to the next book from Rachel Lynch.

DI Kelly Porter works in the Lake District. She is bothered by the suicide of a teenager but can't investigate as it seems initially to be suicide, However it emerges that there have been previous suicides at the school and she gets to look into them. The dangers that modern teenagers are exposed to, drugs, social media, insecurity and bullying are well described. Very readable but in spite of the title lacks an edge.