Bitter Edge - Rachel Lynch

DI Kelly Porter is back, but so is an old foe and this time he won’t back down...

When a teenage girl flings herself off a cliff in pursuit of a gruesome death, DI Kelly Porter is left asking why. Ruled a suicide, there’s no official reason for Kelly to chase answers, but as several of her team’s cases converge on the girl’s school, a new, darker story emerges. One which will bring Kelly face-to-face with an old foe determined to take back what is rightfully his – no matter the cost.

Mired in her pursuit of justice for the growing list of victims, Kelly finds security in Johnny, her family and the father she has only just discovered. But just as she draws close to unearthing the dark truth at the heart of her investigation, a single moment on a cold winter’s night shatters the notion that anything in Kelly’s world can ever truly be safe.

Rachel Lynch is slowly working her way up my list of favorite authors. This is the 4th book in the Kelly Porter series, the 4th one I've read, and the 4th one I've reviewed! I'll link to the others either during or after my review.

Once again, several seemingly separate strands are woven together, forming one fantastically written story. Bitter Edge opens with Kelly living in her new home, her relationship with Johnny from Mountain rescue progressing well (even with the addition of his teenage daughter), her sister has taken a back seat despite all her issues, and Kelly's mother is desperately ill but doing her best to hide it. Certain revelations were made at the end of the last book, Dead End, which Kelly is still unsure how to deal with. As it involves someone she works with she's finding it harder than usual to keep her personal and work relationships separate.

The story starts with a teenage runner committing suicide, Kelly is not convinced and wants it to be murder but the postmortem conclusively proves it was suicide. There's also a situation with a teacher at the dead girl's former school, another missing pupil whose friends may or may not be more involved than they're willing to admit to, and the unwelcome reappearance of a character from a previous story.

As always, the spectre of the Lakes is always hanging over everything and everyone, it may be a delightful place in summer and a fabulous place to visit, but it has its dark side as Kelly and her team know all too well. The fact that it's Christmas and it's snowing adds to the urgency to find the missing girl, time is really running short and it's up to the team at Eden House to solve the all the strands of this once simple case. Thanks to DI Porter's tenacity she doesn't give up on the fact there were also two other suicides at the Derwent Academy and pushes hard to uncover just exactly is going on with the teenagers involved in the case of missing Faith, the connection to the teacher currently suspended and under investigation for child pornography, the kidnapping of a toddler, and the return of a very unpleasant chap who everyone thought had disappeared for good.

Bitter Edge makes excellent use of the very current cyber-bullying of young people and the pressure to conform thanks to sites like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. It's more hard-hitting than the previous books but no less readable. In fact, it was harder to put down than my previous favorite in the series, Deep End, and I was absorbed from start to finish. I had no clue how things tied together until an extremely large hint was dropped and from then on it was so easy to see how it worked. Well done to Rachel for writing another fabulous page-turner and I'm now sitting here (im)patiently waiting for the next installment!!!

Previous books in the series -

Dark Game
Deep Fear
Dead End

Bitter Edge (DI Kelly Porter #4) - Rachel Lynch

Publisher - Canelo 

Release date - February 25th, 2019

Find - Goodreads | Amazon UK 

About The Author

Rachel Lynch grew up in Cumbria and the lakes and fells are never far away from her. London pulled her away to teach History and marry an Army Officer, whom she followed around the globe for thirteen years. A change of career after children led to personal training and sports therapy, but writing was always the overwhelming force driving the future. The human capacity for compassion as well as its descent into the brutal and murky world of crime are fundamental to her work.

Find Rachel on Twitter