This is the second book I have read by this author, and it didn't disappoint.

It's a couple of weeks before Christmas, DI Kelly Porter and her partner are decorating the tree and planning their Christmas.

However, she is called to the scene of a suicide, 16 year old Jenna has jumped or fallen from a cliff and her body is found in a tree by a runner. Being the season of goodwill, it disturbs Kelly and she tries to untangle what made Jenna kill herself,

Their seems to be dark secrets at the local high school, Derwent, then another case appears parallel but enables an closer investigation at what is happening there.

A really good story line, different threads which are never dropped and weave nicely together, is written with empathy towards teenagers and the pressures they are under in this social media/digital age.

Really well written and flowed at just the right pace.

Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Canelo for an eARC via NetGalley of Rachel Lynch’s ‘Bitter Edge’, the fourth in her DI Kelly Porter series of police procedurals set in the Lake District.

‘Bitter Edge’ opens with a teenage girl throwing herself off a cliff. A very shocking start. While ruled a suicide, DI Kelly Porter remains unsettled about the ‘why’ of the girl’s death. When a number of current cases converge on the school that the dead girl attended, including the disappearance of another teenager, Porter and her team have multiple challenges to overcome.

While I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series, Lynch provided enough background to make me feel at home with the characters. I also immediately was impressed by the way that she powerfully evoked the Cumbrian setting. It’s sometimes hard to realise that there areas in the U.K. where the landscape is so wild and potentially dangerous.

I loved the complexity of the interlinked cases and how well Lynch weaved them together. It takes real skill to work with so many strands and keep the story on track. In addition, there was also aspects of Kelly’s personal life that were coming to crises.

I found this an excellent police procedural with just the right amount of space given to the characters personal lives. It also tackles the subject of teenage drug addiction and the effects of social media in terms of increasing peer pressure and self confidence issues.

I have now purchased the earlier books in the series as well as put Rachel Lynch on my radar for her future projects..

Set in the beautiful Lake District, DI Kelly Porter is decorating her home for Christmas, supported as always by her partner Johnny. They are both planning a nice family Christmas in a few days, as they off duty, albeit on-call.

However, a 16 year old girls body is found after a fall......was she pushed or did she jump? After examination it is deemed a suicide and that young Jenna was a drug user.

There are then links to another missing girl....Faith....last seen at the local fairground.....

Kelly visits the young girls school, The Derwent Academy and meets Faith’s, so called friends and her teachers, where she feels there is more to their stories than meets the eye....and so the investigation begins in earnest..

There is so much going on in this tale, but it flows so well, due to Rachel Lynch’s clever writing, that it’s easy to follow right to shocking end....

There’s kidnap, bullying, drugs, sexual assault, murder and suicide and can be a bleak read at times but it’s a gripping, heart rending and twisted book with a satisfying end. I love the characterisation and I really like Kelly, who is such a dedicated and determined police officer, totally relentless in her search for the truth and justice for all affected. A brilliant read and I can thoroughly recommend it.

Thank you to Canelo for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and for the promotional materials and a free copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

As always with this series, there are some awesome descriptions of the Lakeland fells, in all their glory and danger. The more we read about the burgeoning relationship between DI Kelly Porter and Johnny, the more realistic the characters become. This book also explores Kelly's newfound relationship with her father, as usual set against some horrific killings. The drug scene portrayed within schools is sadly all too common and made me hold my son just a little tighter. It's a marvellous read, raw at times but the fact it's so hard-hitting is also its strength.

Rachel Lynch never fails. It took me almost two weeks to read this but not for lack of trying. I’ve had a baby so time to read is limited! But every spare second I have had I’ve picked this up. Love seeing Johnny and Kelly’s relationship progressing and it feels so organic and natural and love seeing her get to know Ted on a different level. These human relationship aspects of the series are what make it so relatable and engaging in my opinion. Loved it. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Canelo for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Although this isn’t the first book, I’m new to this author and this one be the last one I read - I’ll be ordering the previous ones asap!

Set in the Lake District, the environment both compliments the main story and adds a great deal, I could really imagine the story unfolding.

Loved it

This was my first book by this author and I found it really absorbing. I particularly liked the Lake District setting and in an area I have visited myself, so I was able to appreciate the scenery and the communities described. The female detective, DI Porter, is an interesting character who has her own backstory and unconventional family life to throw into the mix. The crimes seem rather heavy for the rural constabulary although they start off in a fairly innocuous way through the suicide of a young girl. The serious circumstances which led up to the death have to be ferreted out by DI Porter and her team, who soon discover a web of interlinked crimes and coercion which prove to be intriguing and troubling. A well plotted detective novel with developing and enfolding twists which keep the reader gripped throughout.

A good thriller, though one that probably benefits from reading the previous in the series.

The story is very atmospheric and I can picture myself in the lakes. Characters are very well drawn, though I struggled to fully empathise with Kelly, though she was very realistic.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

"Bitter Edge" by Rachel Lynch.

My first time reading that author, my first DI Kelly Porter book.

4 stars. I loved it!
Well written, not boring, good from the start! It starts right away, no need to wait half the book for something to happen! I love how the characters and different stories are connected, the details, the pace, the way we get to know the characters, what's happening, who's done what, who's being framed... it keeps you guessing!

Between an apparent suicide, missing teens, sexual abuse, a lot of drugs... it never stops!

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own!

DI Kelly Porter is investigating the death of a teenage girl who flung herself off a cliff, and then a teenage girl goes missing after attending a local fair, and in freezing conditions.

This is the 4th book in the series, but it is the first that I have read and it does read ok as a standalone. It is a tense and gripping police procedural which kept me reading way past my bedtime. There are lots of different strands to the story which are all brought together to give a satisfying conclusion. The location of the story, the Lake District, is fantastic. The descriptions of the locations, beautiful but also dangerous in the middle of winter, really bring them to life. The book deals with some difficult themes – drug use, sexual assault and suicide – but they are handled well. I loved the character of Kelly, a dedicated police officer who is also dealing with several personal problems.

I really enjoyed this book and I will now read the first three books in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in return for an unbiased review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2725483454?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I broke the habit of a lifetime in reading this book by beginning partway through a detective series. My only regret is that I didn’t read Lynch’s earlier novels first because there are plenty of references to the first three books in the series which are now partially spoilt because I will definitely go back and read them.

This was the perfect half-term read because it meant I could completely immerse myself in the story for three days and I would have struggled to have gone back to anything else in between because I was totally gripped. There is a large cast of characters which makes it complex but that’s fine; I managed to keep them all straight in my head.

I’m delighted to have discovered this new thriller writer and will definitely work my way through the rest of the series.

Top quality detective story set in the beautifully described Lake District. DI Kelly Porter is a brilliantly written character chasing drug dealing murders in this page Turner.

Bitter Edge is the fourth novel in the DCI Kelly Porter series, set in beautifully scenic Cumbrian surroundings, and although it's a little difficult to follow the ever-changing points-of-view at the beginning and it has you wondering how they can all possibly be relevant you soon get into the swing of things. It's cleverly written with some excellent twisty surprises and reveals, but this is much more of a slow-burn than a fast and frenetic action-fest, and I enjoyed that aspect of it. Ms Lynch certainly keeps you guessing with endless possibilities and suspects and when she brings each of the various threads of the plot together for the denouement it's both a shocking and wholly satisfying experience.

This is one of the few series' where the subplot concerning Kelly's personal life is just as compelling as the ongoing investigation, and although it isn't essential to have read the previous books in the series it certainly helps to get a feel for the characters and their motivations. The author adds depth to the story by exploring a variety of themes that heavily impact teenagers: the need to belong, drugs, alcohol, bullying, celebrity obsessions. It makes for depressing reading but I admired the book addressing such important issues. Kelly is a dogged investigator who puts everything she has in her mission to get justice for victims, and her evolving private life is happier than ever.

Many thanks to Canelo for an ARC.

Enjoying the Kelly Porter series. This book hits the mark. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. Fast paced and good characters are all you need for an enthralling story. Look forward to her next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

I have read the previous books in this series and this one is as good as the others before. Based in the lake disctrict.

This is a really good series. This book was full of action with a great plot. It was an enjoyable read that had me gripped the whole way through.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I really enjoyed this brilliant series featuring DCI Kelly Porter of the Cumbrian Police Force and set in the beautiful Lake District .The story begins with a teenager throwing herself off a cliff .Kelly starts to investigate shocked a young girl would do this ,she digs deeper and finds more teenage suicides and they all seem to have the local school in common .The book races along ,it is so well written and all the characters are believable .The story is twists and turns incorporating another Police Force until the enjoyable and satisfying ends .A very enjoyable book .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return for an honest review .

It's almost Christmas in Cumbria in the frigid Lake District. But there's nothing colder than murder.

A 16-year-old girl throws herself off a cliff. The death is classified as a suicide. But what demons could drive someone that young to such a horrible end? Another young teen goes missing after attending the local fair. Her friends claim she went off to the loo and never came back. A shifty gypsy working with the traveling fair really likes young girls -- has he taken this one? A popular teacher is accused of pedophilia when incriminating photos are found on his home computer. Has he been set up? And the teenagers in town keep on using and taking the seemingly endless supply of drugs that are being pumped into the area. Meanwhile, the two-year-old son of a wanted criminal from Sarajevo is taken from his foster mother. DI Kelly Porter and her team at the Cumbria Police HQ are frantically trying to unravel all the pieces of this complicated web. NO SPOILERS.

Drug use, teenage suicide, bullying, social media and the insurgence of the criminal element into the Lake District contribute to a volatile conflagration as the noose tightens around those responsible. It takes everything Kelly has to handle the case and manage her hard-working team. It doesn't help that she is also dealing with some personal issues but at least her new romance seems rock solid. Porter has a gut feeling about the suicide cases but trying to get any information out of the self-absorbed and drug-addled teenagers is tough.

I really like this series, and suggest that the books be read from the beginning, in order, for a reader to really appreciate the story line and to see the changes and developments in Kelly's personal and professional life. The setting is very well described so that the reader can see the beauty and the menace of the Lake District and it seems a very fitting background for the chilling tale. I like the character of Kelly Porter and can't wait to see what happens next after the way this one ended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo Publishing for the e-book ARC to read and review.

To get the most out of this book, then I'd recommend starting at the beginning as this is book four in the D.I. Kelly Porter series. I really enjoy the setting of the Lakes, as it's an area I love and I can really imagine the action and characters within that environment.
As always from Lynch, great plotting, although it felt a little disjointed at the start, but this soon settled.
Kelly's work takes her to a school in this book, called the Derwent Academy and it's here that she has to deal with the 'inmates', a bunch of teenagers that she has to quickly adjust to, and the environment is rife with crime (bullying and centrally drug problems) and narcissist personalities.

I also enjoy crime novels that have a focus on the personal lives of the officers, so it's great seeing how this is all developing.

Well written, strong character led narrative drive and great plotting make this a book I'd recommend, but I'd certainly advise you to start at the beginning with 'Dark Game' (the first in the series) for a richer read, but it would work as a stand-alone too. Great stuff!

This is an excellent police procedural, head and shoulders above the rest. The book addresses many modern problems in society, whist having solid, likeable police officers solving the crimes. I look forward to reading the earlier books in this series.