DI Kelly Porter is back. 
But will this new case push her beyond her limits?
On a peaceful summer’s morning in the Lake District, a woman’s body is discovered outside a church. She’s been murdered and a brutal, symbolic act performed on her corpse. 
DI Kelly Porter is in charge of the team investigating the crime, and is determined to bring the killer to justice. But as more deaths occur it is clear this is the work of a disturbed, dangerous and determined individual. Can Kelly put the puzzle pieces together before the danger comes closer to home?

We meet up again with DI Kelly Porter as she is tasked with a murder investigation. A well-to-do, middle-aged woman is found dead in a churchyard. Naked, mutilated, and staged, it is clear that the woman is the victim of homicide.  Mere days later, Kelly lands another murder investigation. This time the victim is a young, poor, and drug addicted teenager. She was left in a remote area of the Lakes in Aira Force.

Aira Force – Lake District

Certain aspects of the cases link them incontrovertibly. Kelly, her newly qualified DC Rob Shawcross, and the rest of the ‘team’ have their work cut out…

A poem has been left in the body of both slain women. A poem by the Lakeland poets, famous for their knowledge of the Lake District. (William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Robert Southey). Because of the literary link, journalists have coined the murderer “The Teacher”.

Pooley Bridge, Cumbria

On the home front, Kelly is still living with her ailing mother. A situation she is finally remedying by her purchase of a riverfront house in Pooley Bridge. Her mother’s failing health does nothing to cure the antagonistic relationship between Kelly and her sister, Nikki.

Two cases become four and the pressure is on Kelly Porter to produce results. Not only are her higher-ups pressuring her, the press is having a field day, and the lucrative tourist trade in the beautiful Lake District is suffering as a result of the murders.

Then, Kelly’s sister, Nikki goes missing…

“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!

I received a digital ARC of this novel, FREE at my request, from the publisher Canelo via NetGalley. In return I have written this candid review.

I was happy to read that Canelo signed the first three books in the DI Kelly Porter series and Rachel is currently writing the fourth. Be assured I will be reading them all.

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.

You can follow Rachel Lynch on Twitter.