A woman's mutilated body is discovered outside a church in the Lake District. DI Kelly Porter is in charge of the team investigating the crime, when another body turns up . The killer is escalating and DI Kelly is determined to bring the killer to justice before more bodies start turning up.

Deep Fear is the second book in the DI Kelly Porter series. A well-written, gritty police procedural crime thriller this made for an entertaining read . Cannot wait to read the next one in the series.

I would like to thank Canelo & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I hadn't read Book 1 in the series and didn't see that this was a Book 2. But nevertheless, I really enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for a good Detective/DI read and I will definitely want to continue on to Book 3.

I was so engrossed in these books that I read all 3 one after the other. DI Porter was wonderful and she deserved to be respected for what she was doing. The way the books carried on from each other was very well written and the story lines were very easy to become totally absorbed in. I will continue to look for these and carry on reading more of her stories. Can’t wait to see what happens with Johnny.

“Deep Fear” is the second novel in the D.I. Kelly Porter police procedural mystery series. The first in the series, “Dark Game” was a solid 5-star read for me and the second novel in the series maintains the quality. There is nothing quite so satisfying to me as reading a British police procedural crime thriller. When it has an engaging protagonist, a Lake District setting, and a compelling and well rendered plot, then it is for me, reading bliss.

The thing I like most about this series is that Rachel Lynch has found that perfect balance between the protagonist’s personal life and the murder investigation. Just the right amount of attention to each makes for compelling reading. The police procedural aspects of the story were very realistic as they displayed how tedious some of the work is and how results are not instantaneous like they are on television crime drama. I also enjoyed the relationships between Kelly and her team, between Kelly and the pathologist, and between Kelly and her boyfriend, Johnny.

Rest assured that I will be reading every installment in the DI Kelly Porter series. A must-read for those who enjoy well-written, grittily realistic crime novels. Highly recommended!

Another spot on book from Rachel Lynch about my favourite female detective, Kelly Porter!

Someone is killing women for their sins and Kelly needs to find the killer before it hits home and somebody very important to her gets caught up in the crossfire.

The second book definitely lives up to the first and I can't wait to keep reading more about Kelly, she is such an admirable and hard working character who I have grown to idolise. Whilst she is a rather stubborn woman and prioritises her work more than anything - she also has the biggest heart and will do anything for her family, especially when they're used as bait.

What makes this book all the more exciting is the fact that you will think you have this clear image of who the killer is, for there to be a complete plot twist that will blow your mind. Fantastic read as always!

An enjoyable thriller, one that will give you shivers as the imagery is so well described, that it make the savagery of the killing satand out all the more. Scary fun!

I received a digital ARC of #DeepFear from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will start off by saying that this book has very detailed and graphic descriptions of tortured dead bodies, injuries inflicted to them, and autopsies being carried out. If you can't handle graphic things like this then this won't be the book for you. I only just managed it! You can't skim past these parts as they are all the way through the book (each time a body is discovered). They are vital to the police investigation and also aid us as a reader to work out who the murderer is and what their motive is. That said, I hadn't worked out who it was!

This was a very fast paced gripping book. It has short chapters which make it easy to read and very difficult to put down! I just wanted to read more and more and find out if my suspicions were right - they weren't! When the murderer was revealed, they hadn't even been on my radar for the majority of the book!!! There was a slightly unanswered question left hanging though - what happened to Brian Leith? Numerous times the police made a point of saying they had to find him, but nothing ever came of that. It can be assumed what happened to him though, based on what is told to us.

I had expected a certain massive twist at the end, which never materialised. Not that it makes the story any less great, but it would have made it even better (I won't say what as I don't want to spoil it)!!! The ending was a little strange for me. It wasn't a cliffhanger - though it would definitely have been nice to find out what the punishment was for the murderer. It just seemed a slightly strange way to end. But overall this was a great book, and on the basis of this I would read the others in the Kelly Porter series.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC of this great read. This is the second book in the DI Kelly Porter series, and once again, Ms Lynch has exceeded my expectations. The book was gripping from beginning to end, and honestly, I did not see the ending coming!!!
Highly recommended!

I read the first in the series and it blew me away, could not put it down. DI Porter seems to have settled down now, she's still got the issues, but they are left behind when life gets very busy!
The writing again was very precise and descriptive, I feel that Rachel has described the Lakes beautifully and even with all the grisly findings I would still visit there tomorrow.

Once again the Lake District and it's heavenly valleys and hills are shattered by murder, in this second book in the DI Porter series. Porter is highly relatable- she's moved back home, has a dysfunctional relationship with her sister, her mother is gravely ill, and she's still trying to find her footings in her new department. In this roller coaster book, what seems to be the mystery at hand, really isn't. As the case unfolds, and comes too close to her family, she wonders if she should continue. You won't be able to put this book down, so save it for a LONG day at the beach, or at the pool, so you won't have to leave it!

I love this series. It’s set in the area I live so even better. Well written and exciting. Kept me guessing until the end! Can’t wait for the next one

Excellent story line which was gripping from start to finish. Great characters. I would highly recommend this book.

Author interview at https://bookslifeandeverything.blogspot.com/2018/05/deep-fear-by-rachel-lynch-author.html

A very worthy follow-up to Dark Game, the 1st Detective Kelly Porter novel.

This book is a 'police procedural plus', and follows Kelly Porter and her team as they try to track down a serial killer in Cumbria. As with the first book, both the beautiful scenery of the Lake District and Kelly's family / personal life play a large part in the narrative. Again, there is no holding back on the descriptions of death and mutilation of the victims, who have each had a hand-written poetry quote shoved inside their dead or dying body. The identity of the perpetrator came as a surprise, although with hindsight (and the kindle search facility!) there was at least one minor clue that I didn't spot earlier on.

There is a lot more I'd like to say about this book but really can't without giving too much away! You'll just have to read it for yourself.

At the beginning of the year the first book in the DI Porter series was released by Canelo and I was lucky enough to be on the blog tour for it, you’ll find a link to it down below. I really fell in love with DI Kelly Porter so I cannot begin to explain how excited I was when I saw Deep Fear appear on Netgalley!

Following an early morning swim Conrad Walker heads for the local village church to spend a moment at his wife’s grave as he does every day, but the day is not a normal day, rather than waiting with him, his dog Nugget races across the road and into the graveyard, as Conrad follows the reason for Nugget’s unusual behaviour becomes clear, under the oak tree is the naked body of a dead woman.

DI Kelly Porter is the detective in charge of the case and as the post-mortem is completed a calling card found suggests that this may not be a straightforward case, Kelly begins to feel the pressure as more bodies are found, and before Kelly can solve the case it takes a deeply personal turn.

I found the case which formed the main plot to be absolutely fascinating. From the moment Nugget found that first body Rachel had me hooked. Taking in each twist and turn, from the first post-mortem to the discovery of each subsequent body I was frantically turning the pages eager to find out what was coming next, wracking my brain for any clues I might have missed and to try to work out what linked the victims together. The plot built wonderfully to an incredibly exciting climax and ending.

Alongside the case we were also treated to further development of Kelly’s character, while she is still not getting on with her sister, we see her dealing with a mother who is sick, and at the same time setting down her own roots back in the Lake District and buying her own home. I also enjoyed the development of Kelly’s relationships with others around her, especially Johnny. We also learnt a little more about some of Kelly’s team, I felt her DS really came into her own towards the end of the book, and her DC Emma also shone, able to bring some expertise from her days studying to an English degree to the case.

Would I Recommend?
Like the first book in the series, Deep Fear doesn’t shy away from graphic descriptions of the victims’ bodies and post-mortems, while Deep Fear has a beautiful backdrop in its Lake setting a cosy crime it is not! Parts are dark, not all the characters are likable but this story was right up my street! I think when you start a series and really love the novel you’re always a little worried that the second book might not live up to the first. I’m pleased to say there are no such issues with Deep Fear, if anything it’s slightly better than Dark Game, I can’t recommend it enough and I’m already looking forward to my next adventure with DI Kelly Porter!

This is a really good series. Kelly is an interesting character who I definitely want to read more about. This case is gruesome but wonderfully written. It is a spine chilling page turner. It is set in the beautiful Lake District which seems such a picturesque place for a sadistic killer. I hope there is another book in the series soon.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A beautiful setting, a heinous crime, and a cop with troubles of her own…

The second book to feature DI Kelly Porter, Deep Fear is a cracking read. It moves along well and keeps you thoroughly involved in the story from page one right until the very end.

You don’t need to have read the previous book to enjoy this one but it does make the experience better if you have.

I really like the character of Porter, she’s tough and needs to be given everything she has on her plate, family wise. There’s an awful lot going on outside of the workplace.

I really enjoyed this one, although I have to say I liked the first one a little bit more. The author delivered a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller. I am a huge fan of police procedural and I loved, loved, loved the focus on the autopsy of the girls. I felt like the introduction of that aspect was intriguing. My favorite character surprisingly was Jonny. I started the series hating him and thinking he was a huge jerk, but was happy that we were able to see more of his personality this time around. I didn’t like Nikki’s chararacter at all and I hope that the next book focuses on the sisters relationship after the end of this book. I absolutely dislike cliff hanger endings so my lack of enthusiasm stems from the fact that now I have to wait until the next book is released in order figure out what happens. One thing I noticed was that the author used “keen” way too often and it got quite annoying. Other than that, I was happy with how everything came together. This is a huge book for English teachers and lovers of poetry. I really enjoyed the tour guide’s section of the book and the interest given to the author of The Lakes.

Rachel Lynch is a fascinatingly great crime writer. She understands the rules of the genre and how to break them to turn an average crime series into something interesting and different. Deep Fear, while not following Dark Game in its complete 180 from generic crime structure, struck me as unique in its form; Lynch has written a typical crime novel with some great elements to make it spectacular and almost beautiful in ways.

The Story
We are back with DI Kelly Porter as she attempts to solve the murder of a woman who has been left in a beautiful location with poetry within her body to symbolise why she was killed. As more turn up with similar symbolic elements, Porter realises that she is on to a serial killing psychopath. Looking for 'The Teacher' will be no easy feat. As Kelly embarks on this adventure, exploring a variety of literary-connected parts of the lake district, she gains insights into her own family life and what she could and would do if faced with a loved one in a bad situation.
What I liked...
I love Lynch's narrative style; she understands her characters and their motives through and through; she is concise withe her descriptions, yet leaves sections to the imagination. No one character within her novels is ever one-dimensional. Kelly is as tough as ever in this tale, finding out what it means to be strong and fearless, as well as truly putting others before her. What struck me most, however, was the way Lynch seamlessly integrates the poetry, including must-see poet and author locations within the lakes which she has made me want to go and visit. 
The use of the traditional crime structure made it easier for Lynch to develop the characters further, including Kelly's family and their relationships. I found the story eerily credible and understood that the motivations of a psychotic killer are often contingent on a variety of factors. If Lynch had attempted to subvert as much as she did throughout Dark Game, it would not have worked. I feel that this story will pull in readers of Ian Rankin for that familiar criminal novel, then shock them with its many reveals.
What I didn't like...
Honestly, I only didn't like the pace at times. Yes, it is the epitome of a fast-paced crime novel. However, I struggled at times with some of the lengthy conversations and repetitiveness of the information, although I understand that this is how great crime novels are built.
Overall, I would recommend this series to anybody who loves crime, thriller and suspense fiction. You will need to have a good grasp on the first novel to understand what's going on in this one. I believe that fans of great crime writers have a new series to get on board with with a sassy strong female in the lead. Thank you Ellie Pilcher at Canelo and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.