Cover Image: Dark Game

Dark Game

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Exciting police procedural. Connecting a cold case to a present case involving a major crime operation -step by step. The heroine was all business with little time for romance. Great start to a new series.

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Dark Game from Rachel Lynch is her first Crime Novel and I enjoyed it very much.
D I Kelly Porter after leaving the Met, transferred back to her old home town in Cumbria. Where her father served in the force all his life. So, she has a lot to live up too. She returns, to live temporarily with her Mother and also to support her after her dad passing. And back to her sister Nikki.
She is first given a cold case of a child abducted and murdered years ago. When a new case comes in that has some connections to the cold case that she is working on. Where a child is abandoned in the Dales. They eventually find the mother and it turns out that she is an illegal immigrant. The case develops into one of people trafficking, money laundering and prostitution.
This story gripped me from the start, starting from a simmer to a boil. I thought that the characters in the story where very well developed. Not only how she described the traffickers Marko and Curtis and Darren well but, the characters of her Mother and her sister Nikki and the sibling rivalry between them. I thought the police procedures was well researched too. I will be looking forward to see what Rachel Lynch as next in store.
Thank you Netgalley and Canelo for a copy of this book.

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DI Kelly Foster leaves the Met for a position in the Cumbria constabulary in her home town where her father had served his whole career. The move is not so much by choice but of necessity. Her old boss and lover didn’t support her in a controversial case and she’s pretty much being frozen out by her former colleagues. She ends up moving in with her sick mother who has been looked after by Kelly’s older sister. Kelly starts reading up on cold cases to familiarize herself with her new job. She becomes fascinated by a case where a young girl was abducted and consequently killed but it has been years and the case has grown cold a long time ago. The more DI Foster learns about the case the more involved it gets and she and her team soon find themselves embroiled in money laundering, trafficking of people who are just trying to find a place to live far away from their native countries. The book seems to have been greatly researched and you find yourself caring very much for the victims. There are several gruesome scenes such as people being iincited to fight to the death for their survival. I sincerely loved the book and received it from #NetGalley for my unbiased review. I would strongly recommend this book and would gladly have paid for it. I can’t wait for more books from Rachel Lynch.

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A well done effort from Rachel Lynch. I enjoyed much of Dark Game. The few things I didn't would be spoilers so I won't delve into these. Suffice it to say the problems are in certain actions that seem to affect many police procedurals.

Kelly Porter is a CI for a small town having come from London after being thrown under the bus by her partner. She has been assigned a cold case of a murdered child. She is also given a new case which begins to share names with the cold case. This is a police procedural so things can seem like they aren't moving quickly enough. As Kelly begins to piece the puzzle together the tone and tempo of the book increases.

Rachel Lynches style of writing kept me engaged throughout. New evidence is presented as it might be in a real life investigation. Kelly's character has a bit of flesh on her to make her an intriguing protagonist. The strain in her relationship with her sister is relateable as is her mothers concern over her choice of profession. Her love interest is little more than a shadow but he is so,ething that can be built in further books. I can see a bright future in for her in new novels. Other characters are not fleshed out nearly as well. Darren the junkie, Marko the boss, Curtis his hired muscle are all stereotypes. This doesn't work against the book since we know more than Kelly Porter does. There are loose ends but they didn't necessarily need to be tied off.

Not sure how the title and book cover fit the story but once you start reading it becomes a moot point.

The best praise I can offer is wanting more.

I'd like to thank the publisher, Canelo, Rachel Lynch, and NetGalley for my free revoew copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Dark Game Rachel Lynch

2017 has seen the publication of some fantastic psychological thrillers, and if this book is anything to go by 2018 is going to see even more.

Kelly Porter is a 36-year-old DI in Cumbria; but that was not where she started her Police career, she has recently moved home from the Met, and she brings with her all the experience of an officer who has served time on an MIT in London.

However; she is not like most protagonists in this situation, she actively tries to not come across as the big-city-girl and is very easy to like. She is struggling with living at home with mom, and having an over-bearing sister living nearby, but as far as her job goes, she’s good and she just lets her professionalism speak for itself.

To start with she is given cold cases to review whilst she is mentored by her predecessor before he moves on to his new job. So, when she digs into the case of a girl who was murdered after being kidnapped during a family outing, and there appears to be a link to a current crime, she is soon thrown into the thick of a serious investigation and takes over as the SIO.

Amongst the small towns of the Lake District there is a growing community of immigrant workers. Amongst these workers are a community of illegal workers held against their will and forced into prostitution and drug abuse.

When one of the local businessmen dies whilst engaging the services of one of these sex workers it starts a chain reaction that uncovers layers of evil that unfortunately do not only exist in fiction.

The young girls forced into working as prostitutes; the human trafficking that gets them into the country, the vicious gangs that are responsible for the trafficking. Then there’s the other crimes that the gangs bring with them. Dog fighting, humans forced into fighting, rape and murder.

This book holds no punches, and certainly has no filters, as it follows Kelly Porters investigation into an ever increasingly serious criminal investigation.

Each new chapter holds another revelation, some of which I didn’t see coming; each of which seems to get more violent as the higher ranking criminals realise that Porter is working her way up the food-chain and is getting close to them.

People who read this blog regularly will know that I place a lot on reality. Rachel Lynch has done her research. The story is frighteningly realistic; the crimes, as they take place are described brilliantly. The crime scenes, and the effect they have on the Police, are stunningly written. The chain of events that transcribe the investigation are logical with no big leaps of faith. In fact, the way the investigation opens up, and the processes the officers go through, are perfectly written.

I hope this is the first of a series. If it is, the next one can’t come soon enough.

Published by Canelo
Publishing date: 29th January 2018.

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A rare 5* review from me.
A fast paced, complex and absorbing storyline with intriguing characters and solid conclusion.
I look forward to the next instalment.

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