Hello! Those of you who have been following SWB for a little while will know that I absolutely love the DI Kelly Porter series by Rachel Lynch and you’ll find reviews of six of her books currently in the archives and there will be a link you can follow further in the blog to find those . I fell slightly behind in reading the series and I’m sharing my review of this 7th book in the series after the 8th has been published!
Title: Little Doubt
Author: Rachel Lynch
Publisher: Canelo
Publication Date: 5th March 2020
Format: eARC
This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review
About The Book…
Some places make their own laws…
When Ella Watson, a woman of wealth and status, is brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight it sends a shockwave through the Lake District community. Later that day, Keira Bradley meets the same fate. But whereas Ella’s murder is a tragedy, Keira’s death on the notorious Beacon Estate is just another statistic in a dangerous place.
DI Kelly Porter has the unenviable job of running simultaneous investigations. Her efforts aren’t helped by a boss driven by protecting his reputation and a housing estate where fear rules and no one dare speak out. Kelly knows the answers can only be found by winning the trust of the residents at Beacon Estate. A task so hard it may be impossible.
Kelly puts everything she has into finding justice for both victims. The only thing she hadn’t anticipated was a traitor in the ranks. When the evidence points to someone in her team, Kelly has to put feelings aside and work the case – no matter where it leads. By the time it is over, nothing in her world will ever be the same…
Ella Watson filled the drum of the washing machine to bursting.
Little Doubt by Rachel Lynch
A woman is out jogging in the park when she is brutally stabbed and killed, before long a second murder takes place and DI Kelly Porter is responsible for trying to find justice for both the victims. However, there are many more things at play and it’s not just the criminals that Kelly is working against.
Like the rest of the DI Kelly Porter series this book was absolutely fantastic, and I was hooked by the time I was about 1/3 of the way through. I did find this book was quite hard to read at points, I think when I first starting reading this in June there were parts of the storyline that just felt a little bit too close to home, a little bit too real for right now and some of the things that featured in the book made me quite angry. I think the injustice that Rachel portrays in the story is very real and I think that is what got me so angry, especially recently with the Black Lives Matter movement the idea that the rich ‘proper’ woman’s death was worth more time more resources and is somehow more important to solve than that of the young girl from the dodgy estate just fills me with rage quite honestly, and disappointment in the human race I would go as far as saying it hurts me to think that there are people in positions of power whojudge which life is worth the manpower, the resource and the expense of investigating what happened to them versus another person.That someone is somehow more worthy of justice than another based on the colour of their skin or their background.
That said as always Rachel’s writing is gripping to read as always. The plot grabbed me with both hands and wasn’t prepared to let it go definitely as I reached probably the final third of the book the tension Definitely racked up a few levels I think that one of the few things that kept me relatively relaxed about everything was the fact that I’m reading this book little later than I’ve read most of Rachel’s Kelly Porter books in terms of their release and I already knew that an eighth book was written and on its way.
One of the things I love most about Kelly character is that she is always very determined to do the right thing even when she has superior officers threatening her into prioritising Ella’s case she is still determined to find justice for Kira even when she’s not entirely sure what that determination will mean for her career. One of the other things I loved most about this book was seeing more development of the private side of her life her interaction with her father with her half-sisters and especially with Johnny and Josie. I really love how far her and Josie have come in their relationship so it was really nice to see that familial bond between all of them shown in the book it was a nice counterpoint to her a lot of the tragedy and the injustice that surrounded the main case in the story.
I don’t want to talk too much about some of the other characters within the story to avoid giving away any potential spoilers what I will say is that Superintendent Ormond is the main focus of all of my anger within this book, I know from finishing the book he had has particular reasons for wanting the focus to be on Ella’s murder but the way he treats fellow human beings and Kelly just frustrated me. Newsflash guys he’s not a very nice person.
Final Thoughts…
Once again Rachel Lynch has produced an absolutely wonderful instalment in the DI Kelly Porter series I think her writing goes from strength to strength and I really love not only the individual cases that are portrayed in each book but also the character and team growth that I’ve seen as the series has progressed. There is a fairly major development at the end of Little Doubt, and I am very excited to pick up the follow up Lost Causes and discover how that is dealt with.
The DI Kelly Porter series on Goodreads
More Rachel Lynch on SWB
About The Author…
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.
Connect With Rachel
Want To Buy It?
As always if you’ve read the book let me know what you thought! If you’ve not read it yet will my review convince you to pick it up?
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