A well done effort from Rachel Lynch.  I enjoyed much of Dark Game.  The few things I didn't would be spoilers so I won't delve into these.  Suffice it to say the problems are in certain actions that seem to affect many police procedurals.

Kelly Porter is a CI for a small town having come from London after being thrown under the bus by her partner.  She has been assigned a cold case of a murdered child.  She is also given a new case which begins to share names with the cold case.  This is a police procedural so things can seem like they aren't moving quickly enough.  As Kelly begins to piece the puzzle together the tone and tempo of the book increases.

Rachel Lynches style of writing kept me engaged throughout.  New evidence is presented as it might be in a real life investigation.  Kelly's character has a bit of flesh on her to make her an intriguing protagonist.  The strain in her relationship with her sister is relateable as is her mothers concern over her choice of profession.  Her love interest is little more than a shadow but he is so,ething that can be built in further books.   I can see a bright future in for her in new novels.  Other characters are not fleshed out nearly as well.  Darren the junkie, Marko the boss, Curtis his hired muscle are all stereotypes.  This doesn't work against the book since we know more than Kelly Porter does.  There are loose ends but they didn't necessarily need to be tied off.

Not sure how the title and book cover fit the story but once you start reading it becomes a moot point.

The best praise I can offer is wanting more.

I'd like to thank the publisher, Canelo, Rachel Lynch, and NetGalley for my free revoew copy in exchange for my honest review.

Dark Game     Rachel Lynch

2017 has seen the publication of some fantastic psychological thrillers, and if this book is anything to go by 2018 is going to see even more.

Kelly Porter is a 36-year-old DI in Cumbria; but that was not where she started her Police career, she has recently moved home from the Met, and she brings with her all the experience of an officer who has served time on an MIT in London.

However; she is not like most protagonists in this situation, she actively tries to not come across as the big-city-girl and is very easy to like. She is struggling with living at home with mom, and having an over-bearing sister living nearby, but as far as her job goes, she’s good and she just lets her professionalism speak for itself.

To start with she is given cold cases to review whilst she is mentored by her predecessor before he moves on to his new job. So, when she digs into the case of a girl who was murdered after being kidnapped during a family outing, and there appears to be a link to a current crime, she is soon thrown into the thick of a serious investigation and takes over as the SIO.

Amongst the small towns of the Lake District there is a growing community of immigrant workers. Amongst these workers are a community of illegal workers held against their will and forced into prostitution and drug abuse.

When one of the local businessmen dies whilst engaging the services of one of these sex workers it starts a chain reaction that uncovers layers of evil that unfortunately do not only exist in fiction.

The young girls forced into working as prostitutes; the human trafficking that gets them into the country, the vicious gangs that are responsible for the trafficking. Then there’s the other crimes that the gangs bring with them. Dog fighting, humans forced into fighting, rape and murder.

This book holds no punches, and certainly has no filters, as it follows Kelly Porters investigation into an ever increasingly serious criminal investigation.

Each new chapter holds another revelation, some of which I didn’t see coming; each of which seems to get more violent as the higher ranking criminals realise that Porter is working her way up the food-chain and is getting close to them.

People who read this blog regularly will know that I place a lot on reality. Rachel Lynch has done her research. The story is frighteningly realistic; the crimes, as they take place are described brilliantly. The crime scenes, and the effect they have on the Police, are stunningly written. The chain of events that transcribe the investigation are logical with no big leaps of faith. In fact, the way the investigation opens up, and the processes the officers go through, are perfectly written.

I hope this is the first of a series. If it is, the next one can’t come soon enough.

Published by Canelo
Publishing date: 29th January 2018.

A rare 5* review from me.
A fast paced, complex and absorbing storyline with intriguing characters and solid conclusion.
I look forward to the next instalment.