Beth is back and what a case to be working on! The story starts off with a shocking and very disturbing scene that sent shivers down my spine. The author knows how to set the scene in the readers mind, which made it even more chilling.

Whilst the investigation is obviously at the forefront of this story, I like how the author gives it a heart humanising the team. He touches on topics like Alzheimer’s and sexual harassment in the work place. Things that may not directly affect us all but is very much real and happening in the world.

Beth, I just love. The combination of her work and her battling her own demons makes this an even more riveting read. I was just as invested in the case as I was in what was going on with Beth personally.

Fear In The Lakes is another great read in the series that kept me guessing all the way through. It is a dark and chilling story that had me hooked and yet again leaving me desperate for more. The author knows how to get the reader hanging off every word he writes waiting to see what each page holds in store and for the thrills and chills to keep on coming. Now just the agonising wait for the next book.

This was a good atmospheric mystery that has engaging characters and fast paced plot .
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

This is a really good series. I like the characters and I thought the plot and the writing were really good.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I was looking to reading this book and I wasn't disappointed. I was drawn in from the start and on the edge of my seat throughout. Beth Young is a brilliant character and can't wait to read more. Huge 5 stars.

Saved by the Bell!
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc.
I loved the second book, so I then read the first book, both of these were excellent and possibly up for inclusion in my books of the year. So I was eagerly anticipating this the third book. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed with it. However I advise you to read the earlier books, before this as Beth's back story and history run through this one as a fairly strong secondary story line.

The start was great, well up to the previous standard, but personally I felt the pace dropped a bit after the initial scenes. DC Beth Young is as great as ever, but the other members of the team seemed to lack something this time. Fortunately the pace picked up towards the end and had a fantastic conclusion, which saved the book for me and brought my rating back up.

There are a couple of very well written and emotional scenes (for me anyway). One when more is discovered about events surrounding her scar, and one after the villain has been apprehended.

I am looking forward to visiting the setting of this book on Solway in a few weeks, hope it’s safe!
I will definitely read a fourth book in the series if there is one, as I feel there is a lot more to be written about Beth.

This series has really gripped me with tenacious lead character Detective Beth Young on the case following another horrific crime in beautiful Cumbria. (As a Cumbrian native I'm not even being biased.)

Someone has been tortured and left for dead and then another badly beaten body appears whilst Beth is still investigating, I love her puzzle-solving brain that helps her investigate these hideous crimes and I can almost feel the cogs working as I'm reading about her ideas and next steps. This time it ends with Beth in real danger and I thought the ending was brilliant as she tried to work her way frantically out of trouble.

There has been a sideline to Beth's story in that she was glassed in the face when she was younger and still bears the scar. She is always on the lookout for the perpetrator of this and I really enjoyed the sideline in this story particularly because it made Beth take her eye off the ball on the case and it was interesting to see her response to this as someone's life could have been in danger and I wondered how she would cope or if she'd feel overwhelming guilt.

Another really enjoyable read that I raced through and I will never tire of hearing about my local area even if some of the content is a bit gruesome at times!

My many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

All the basics are here: Solid police procedural, well-developed characters (most of whom have flaws), a couple of twists and near-death misses and an easy-to-follow plot. Perfect, IMHO, for on-the-beach or way-to-work reading you'll enjoy but that won't seriously challenge your brain or scare you half to death.

This is, for the record, the third in a series featuring Detective Beth Young, who works in and around Cumbria in England. I've not read the others, but that wasn't a problem - this one stands on its own just fine. Beth has a few issues from her past - most notably that she's trying to find the person who started a fight years earlier that ended with her being hit with a broken bottle, leaving her with a nasty scar on her face. She's also got a relatively serious boyfriend, Ethan, a paramedic who understands her dedication to work and unpredictable hours.

As this story begins, Beth is called in to investigate the near-murder of James Sinclair. His wife found him clinging to life, with virtually every single bone in his body shattered in methodical fashion. His wife insists he's an extremely mild-mannered guy, but Beth and her team become suspicious when his squeaky-clean background ends around age 18 (before that, there's no evidence that he ever even existed). Needless to say, Beth is convinced that James and his gruesome attacker share a connection somewhere in that past. But what is it, and how can it be found?

Then two more bodies turn up with similar injuries; this time, they're dead, but it appears the damage done matches what was done to James so well that they must have been inflicted by the same person (now thought to be a serial killer known as the "Sculptor" because the weapon of choice appears to be a chisel).

From then on, it's mostly a matter of following clues and Beth's listening to her own inner voice that's just a bit off-center (one of the reasons her talents are appreciated in her department). But the closer Beth gets to identifying the killer, the closer the killer gets to choosing Beth as his next victim. Oops!

Entertaining and easy to read, this one definitely whets my appetite for the next one. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

When DC Beth Young is assigned to the case of a local chef who has been almost beaten to death she has no idea it will test her and her team to their limits. When two bodies are found and it becomes a murder enquiry the detectives realise they are facing a serial killer who leaves very little in the way of clues.

I have to admit, of the four members of her team, Beth is my least favourite. She was a bit more of a team player this time but she is still portrayed as a little too superior to those around her for me to really root for her. I do enjoy the fact that there are, for the most part, just four detectives working together and the brief excursions into their private lives is very entertaining.

There is a heartbreaking scene in this book, but no spoilers, which was beautifully written and gave such insight into a medical condition that I can only regretfully assume the author has first hand experience to draw on.

The ending was tense in all the right places and I really hope I can like Beth better because that is the only problem I have with this series. The storyline was original and quite horrific in places and the main antagonist was brilliantly awful.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed the previous books or likes British fiction.  There are also no spoilers for the previous books which is always a plus.

In this third book featuring Detective Beth Young she an Odowd find themselves investigating a truly grisly case.
They are called in when Laura a young woman arrives home to discover her husband James barely clinging to life.
He has been brutally attacked resulting in every bone in his legs and arms being broken, even if he survives he has life changing injuries.
Two mens bodies are pulled out of Lake Windemere with patterns chiselled into their skulls, is there a connection?
To all intents and purposes there seems to be no reason why anyone would have targetted James in his own home. He is known to all as a quiet man without enemies.
Beth looks into all avenues of his life and thinks she has found something hidden in his emails.
A series of emails, between James and two others, all in code.
Right up Beth`s street, her love of puzzles set her on the trail of the attacker/ killer.
When another man turns up attacked with damaged limbs to match James, Beth and Odowd are in a race against time to save the third correspondent in the email trail.
Fear in the Lakes is an exciting read, a dark and grisly tale and I loved it.
This series just keeps getting better and better.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the chance to read this as an ARC.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. I’ve read this series from the start and have come to love Beth. I love the series as I live in Cumbria and like to read about familiar places. Especially this one as it had a lot about where I live now! Fast paced and exciting I read this quickly sitting up till the early hours to finish! Someone called “The sculptor” has attacked and left for dead a man who seemingly has no enemies. The victims soon start piling up and Beth needs to find the culprit before it’s too late!

Can’t wait for the next one in the series!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc.

I really enjoyed the previous book in this series and backed up to read the first Beth Young book. Fear in the Lakes is the third in this series and I was a little disappointed with it. I do think the earlier books should be read first as Beth's back story and history play through this one as a fairly strong secondary story line.

This was a fairly fast and easy read, but not particularly compelling as it seemed to be a lot more tell than show. I just find it harder to care about the characters and the story when it seems like it's just a news report. My other complaint was it seemed like Beth's maturity level was "devolving". I realize she's a young and relativity inexperienced DC, but more than once I was surprised with her sanctimoniousness. The rest of her team members seemed to be flatter in this book as compared to the earlier books. The "big reveal" left me with more questions than answers. All in all, this was just not as satisfactory as the earlier books of this series.

2.5 stars

This is the third in the series and I have read and enjoyed all of them. This one was a solid police procedural full of intensity and grit. It's nice to see how the characters are developing throughout the series and I am always looking forward to the next instalment.

Another great read involving Detective Beth Young.... When a wife returns home to find her husbands badly beaten and broken body in the bedroom little does she realise that while her husband knows all about her she is to discover she does not really know him.
When 2 bodies are pulled from the river and another badly beaten body is discovered Beth Young and the rest of the team come top realise that there killer has an agenda on their hands

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Fear in the Lakes by Graham Smith. This is a UK book so there is some language that I am not familiar with, but our friends across the pond will defintely like!
Police procedureal, with good strong characters.
A man is injured severely - this man has no known enemies, he is married, and lives a calm lifestyle, yet he has been beaten so badly that something is off from the start.
Beth is a young officer who is assigned to this case and she is determined to get to the bottom of it. Other murders have occurred and they have a similar MO. The killer is called the Sculpter and he is ruthless.
The police are not making progress, but Beth is a strong and smart police woman. She takes the clues and starts cracking the case, but will she be the next victim by going above and beyond in her crimer work?
Will she ever bring this killer to justice?
I was not aware that this is a series book, and it is very good. UK Readers will love it..US readers will have to get with the lingo.
3 stars.

This is a part 3 of series. I enjoyed the book. LOTS of twist and turns and you rush to guess the who and why.
Now I have to read the other two. A mystery/thriller. full of grit.

Thanks, NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

This was the first book I have read by Graham Smith although I have purchased the previous book to this which I think introduces Beth Young. The plot and storyline are really well written set in the Lake
District Beth Young is tasked with finding the person responsible for breaking 200 bones in two men’s bodies without causing hardly any bleeding. Also the murders of two other men who have had symbols etched into there skulls after being murdered.

I struggled to read this book for some reason. I just didn’t feel the main character there was nothing that endeared me to her or any of the other characters I’m not sure what it was that I found missing because the story and writing is good as I have said earlier. If I had been hooked from the beginning I would have read this in a day as it was I had to push myself to finish it in a week but I continued in the hope that I would feel something but it just didn’t happen which is why I only give this book 3 out of 5. Others may find this a great read.

This is an honest review given on an ARC from #netgalley and the publishers.

This book is up there with my best crime thriller reads of the year and the series just gets better. In-between trying to solve a brutal attack and two murders DC Beth Young is still trying to track down the persons responsible for her horrific facial injuries, she keeps this search to herself but it could lead her into trouble at work and also with her boyfriend Ethan. I can't recommend this book highly enough, it's just brilliant.

The third in a strong series where I find that the character Beth just keeps getting better.

The series is great this book started the skowburn style and at first I wasn't sure just what was going to happen.

After halfway I found that the book was really getting better and that the story was becoming more of what I wanted and expected.

I really think this series is great and has so much to offer the readers and its not like his other series.

This is another cracking book from Graham, thoroughly enjoyable, although Bt with an excellent storyline and the beautiful Lake District.

I have read all of the series and they get better all the time. This one is more about Beth and she shines throughout the book as a good detective and mucks in well.

The story is a good one, but it is easy to see what was going on from the start, but the ending is superb.

I hope Graham continues with these characters as they are developing nicely throughout the series.

My thanks to Netgalley, Graham and the publishers for the ARC.

I read Fear in the Lakes in one sitting, it pulled me into its pages and nothing was going to make me put it down. Dark creepy and twisted...I loved it!