I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Dead End (from NetGalley). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one NEEDS to be a movie!!! (I NEVER say that, and I usually hate movies made from books that I love...however, this one is an exception!!!). There was so much action and build-up...twists abound!!! Suspicious deaths? Check. Missing girls? Check. Several monster suspects living in plain sight? Check. Family skeletons? Check. I just LOVED this book. I think it is one that would appeal to more than avid readers. (Unfortunately however, they will not take the opportunity unless it is presented in a 2 hour chunk of non-interactive entertainment.) I must admit it was a little dry until around chapter 16,(which could be done more quickly through film) when the connections between characters began to unfold, but I am so glad that I stuck with it. After that, I had a very difficult time putting this novel down! The characters felt real. Their situations seemed authentic. I am still thinking about this book a day after I finished it. The family secrets in this novel alone keep you reading! A big thanks to NetGalley and Rachel Lynch for allowing me to read and review this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book
I loved this British police procedural.
I found the main character believable and the plot good

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read and provide a honest review.

DI Kelly Porter is investigating the disappearance of two local girls, whilst at the same time managing the relationship between her mother and her sister. She's pulled between the two competing priorities and the frustrations that come with dealing with her family.

Family is also the theme of the disappearances in the area, with a local elderly Earl being found dead in his property by suicide, with some suspicious about if that was actually the case.

It's a lot of ground to cover adequately and sometimes the sheer enormity of the world that Lynch has sought to create overwhelms her writing. You can't really pull off the two threads of narrative in such a short amount of time so the missing girls and her family troubles both suffer in the competition to cover both.

It's a passable thriller, but not groundbreaking or immensely interesting.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Canelo for an advance copy of Dead End, the third novel to feature DI Kelly Lynch, set in the Lake District.

Kelly is resisting promotion, preferring the sharp end of policing, but soon she doesn't have time to think about it as she has her hands full with the apparent suicide of the Earl of Lowesdale which soon turns out to be something different and the disappearance of two female students who went fell walking and didn't come back. As time goes on with no sign of the girls Kelly starts to suspect something darker.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dead End which has a good mystery a lovely location and some interesting characters. It is mostly told from Kelly's point of view but digresses to other characters' thoughts and actions from time to time. Fortunately, from my point of view, Ms Lynch doesn't spend any time with the perpetrator and their thoughts and motivations which as a device I mostly find banal and unconvincing. I like the slow accumulation of facts and theories as Kelly tries to solve both cases, not that the read itself is slow with its timely reveals and action scenes. I also like the picture it paints of the location, beautiful but incredibly dangerous for the unwary and ill prepared. It held my attention from start to finish.

The novel is a mixture of procedural and Kelly's personal life which is fairly tumultuous. She is a loner by nature and feels like an outsider both in the area she was brought up in after many years spent working in London and in her family with whom she has a difficult relationship. The cases she is working on bring some new dimensions to these dynamics and with so much change in the air it will be interesting to see where Ms Lynch takes Kelly in future novels.

Dead End is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

DEAD END By Rachel Lynch

I have really started to enjoy British crime novels and am honored that I was given the chance to review this book by the author as well as goodreads.

The seventh Earl of Lowesdale is found deceased by hanging and no one suspects anything other than the fact that he must have committed suicide due to his lif style. However, the coroner says ithere are signs of foul play. DI Kelly Porter is called to investigate and hat she finds is nothing short of a mystery. Two hikers are now missing and while looking into their disappearance, more are found to me missing. Will this stop or will Kelly be able to find out what has happened and can stop the disappearances? This is a page turner that was well written and while it is number 3 in the dearies, itisa stand-alone novel. You should read the others but it is not necessary. Lynch has the ability to keep the reader enthralled into the story and has done adequate research on police work so that everything makes perfect sense.

5 out of 5

This is the first book I've read featuring DI Kelly Porter, although I believe that it is the third in the series. However, it did not seem to matter that I had not read the previous books - it is a good stand-alone crime novel.

In this book, DI Kelly Porter is living back in the Lake District where she grew up. Battling with her own difficult family background, she is called in to check out the apparent suicide of a local aristocrat whose unconventional family make for an interesting investigation. At the same time, two young women are reported missing from a local campsite on Lake Ullswater and there seem to be connections between the events.

This made for an engaging read, although I found the early sections a little disjointed as the story skipped between characters and time periods. I liked the character of Kelly - she's tough and appealing, having to overcome her own issues while maintaining her professional outlook. I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy police procedurals, especially those with a strong female protagonist.

#DeadEnd #NetGalley I was lucky enough to read the second novel in the DI Kelly Porter series via NetGalley so I was really excited to see the next book in this series. It did not disappoint! Rachel Lynch is a very talented crime writer who knows just how to keep her audience glued to every word! I love the character of Kelly Porter, she is tough, gritty and determined to get to the bottom of all her cases and I really enjoy hearing about her own family issues and struggles intertwined within the cases she is working. The added bonus is the setting of this series - the fabulous Lake District which makes a lovely change from the many London or southern based crime series. A fabulous 5 stars and I look forward very much to the next book in this series.

Missing girls in the Lake District. The suicide of a wealthy, elderly man. Is everything really as it seems for DI Kelly Porter?

The third of the series, but the first for me. An excellent, compelling tale

Another decent, drama filled read in what is shaping up to be a solid crime series. Fast paced and gritty with relatable characters and enough twists to keep you guessing

Dead End by Rachel Lynch
Canelo, publisher 2018

It's hard to describe how much I loved this book. It took me by surprise; I had never read any of Rachel Lynch's other novels, and didn't know what to expect.

This is a crime mystery, a 'whodunnit' and set in the lake country of Cumbria, UK. As a crime mystery it works very well, not revealing the killer until the very end of the novel. DI Kelly Porter, an ambitious and capable investigator, is charged with solving two crimes that appear unrelated at first, but then tie together later on. An Earl hangs himself, possibly an assisted suicide, and a pair of girls goes missing, seemingly due to foul play. The book takes the reader through these crimes gradually, adding in a murder, and with great investigative detail. As the book progresses it is easy to ask how these crimes are related, and eventually they are. As a reader, the author kept me guessing as to who the culprit was. I was never really sure until the very end.

The book has some of the best characterization I have ever read. The protagonist, DI Kelly Porter, is a complex character with a rich and complicated family life, a believable boyfriend, and a multilayered relationship with friends and the community. She struggles with problems in all three of these areas, and it makes her an interesting character. Other characters: the boyfriend Johnny, the son of the Earl, Zach, and others are also written in great detail.

Lynch's knowledge of autopsy and police procedure make for pleasurable reading. It's obvious that plenty of research went into writing this book and it shows in the fascinating details that make for good setting. Lynch is a British author and her choice of words and sentence structure reflect this. I recommend a kindle if you read this book; it makes looking up British words, like rota and scarpered, much easier. I found this book utterly compelling reading, I nearly finished it in one long sitting.

Highly recommended and 5/5 stars. D. Lowrey