Cover Image: Little Doubt

Little Doubt

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Excellent book, well written, a great cast of characters, absolutely loved it. Police procedural is probably my favourite genre of book and this definitely did not disappoint. Thank you Net Galley for my preview copy it was excellent.

Was this review helpful?

The stories surrounding DI Kelly Porter never disappoint. There is always something new that is going on and keeps you hooked in from the moment you start.

This one has been no exception and having completed it, I cannot wait for the next book!!!!

Was this review helpful?

I have followed this series and each one has had its action and story that entices you to continue.
I think that this one has been more about the social impact of youth crime and how it can spiral out of control and the effects on people's lives.

An excellent read with heart stopping moments and gasps of surprise as the story goes deeper and deeper into the depths of depravity and corruption.

A brilliant read!

Was this review helpful?

Having read all the previous books in this series I could not wait to read this one, it definitely did not disappoint. I was hooked from the opening chapter and couldn’t put it down. Definitely worth a read!

Was this review helpful?

The DI Kelly Porter novels by Rachel Lynch are always excellent to read, with a great mix of suspense, police procedure and strong characters.

For me, Little Doubt was a move away from the precedent, but in a more than positive way. The story starts with the seemingly random murder of a yummy mummy jogging in a local park. The narrative of how the family reacts to the news is beautifully written and really pulls at your heart strings. The story then moves to the polar opposite location of a 'sink estate' where another woman is murdered, in view of her friends and in pretty graphic detail. It is here that the differences to the previous books becomes more evident.

The police investigation and identification of those responsible almost takes a back seat as the narrative focuses on the characters left behind from both murders. It is a starkly written description of gang life in our towns and cities today, and the contrasts between that life and the privileged lives of others. There is no way that you won't get pulled in, and blimey, does it make you think. Even if you have no exposure to gangs locally, as a parent it is a scary future for our children.

I was pleased to find that the stories of the main characters do still progress in this book, and it certainly doesn't feel that this element is lost with the change of format. Fans of Rachel Lynch will not be disappointed, and new readers will enjoy a fantastically written thriller.

Was this review helpful?

Another fantastic read by Rachel Lynch!
The book starts out wit a grisly murder, that has DI Kelly Porter and her team on a case that crosses economic and social divides across the town. Very intense and emotionally charged, the book will have you hooked from the first chapter.
This is one of my very favorite series, and with each new addition the writing and plotlines intensify. If you are looking for realistic, captivating police procedurals definitely try this series!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book.
#netgalley #littledoubt

Was this review helpful?

After the rather dark events of Blood Rites (number 6 in the series), which I really enjoyed, I was pleased to see that Rachel Lynch doesn't take the obvious route of continuing immediately with the Teacher storyline, but has Kelly dealing with 2 seemingly unrelated deaths that will have massive effects on her career and her team. The storyline looks at how victims are treated and reported on depending on their social class, police corruption, gang crime and community spirit. It's another cracker of a case which I raced through.
Kelly and Johnny's relationship seems to be back on a more even keel after the events of the last book and her relationship with Ted is a delight to read about. There is a huge cliff hanger at the end of the book that has been hinted at for a while now. I am eagerly awaiting the next bok so I can read about what happens next.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I’m really enjoying this new series of police procedural with DI Kelly Porter although this one has made me think twice about going for a run on my own...

Ella Watson has it all: happy marriage, a couple of teenage children and enough money to never have to worry in life yet she is brutally stabbed while out for a run with no obvious reason why. When a second woman with a lifestyle the polar opposite is also stabbed and killed the same day no one seems to care; that is u TIL DI Kelly Porter is put in charge of both cases.

Realistically portraying life on a housing estate where the police are no longer in control and drugs are easier to get hold of than a take-away this is a fantastically gripping novel.

Was this review helpful?

I’d like to thank Canelo and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Little Doubt’ the seventh in the DI Kelly Porter series written by Rachel Lynch, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Ella Watson is jogging in Potton Park when she’s stabbed to death in broad daylight by two men. Later than day Kiera Bradley living on the infamous Beacon Estate is also stabbed. Despite both women coming from different backgrounds, Ella being married to a wealthy man and Keira living in poverty, DI Kelly Porter intends to work both cases simultaneously as she believes the Lake District’s local gangsters the Cotton brothers are involved. Her job is made harder by having to report to Superintendent Ormond who makes it clear he doubts Rachel’s abilities. Ella’s son Jordan wants retribution from those who killed his mother and has disappeared. Can Kelly find him before he takes matters into his own hands?

Rachel Lynch has written a brilliant further instalment in the career and personal life of Kelly Porter and to my mind it’s the best one yet. ‘Little Doubt’ is hugely exciting with a tense and gripping plot, interesting characters good and bad, and is packed with drama, intrigue and action. The description of the street gangs is completely credible and gives depth to an already great story. The conclusion is so shocking that I couldn’t stop reading and the cliffhanger leaves us guessing what’s going to happen to Kelly now. My thanks go to Ms Lynch who has excelled herself with this latest thriller and I can’t wait for the next one.

Was this review helpful?

This is the 7th book in a series that I've followed from the beginning. It features DI Kelly Porter and her division -- Serious Crime in Cumbria's Lake District. The cases are usually quite complicated and the setting is spotlighted in most of the books although not so much in this one. It's always nice to revisit characters that you've come to know from previous installments.

In this police procedural/crime thriller, Kelly and her team are focused on solving two fatal knife attacks. The first victim, Ella Watson (married to Thomas with 2 teenaged children) was an upper middle class homemaker out on a run in the park when she was attacked. The second murder was Keira Bradley, from a lawless area known as Beacon Estate. The two murders committed in the same 24-hour time period couldn't possibly be related, could they? The first issue for Kelly is that one of the deaths is considered a higher priority than the other. NO SPOILERS.

The main themes here are class differences and the rising problem of knife violence. These topics were extensively explored in the narrative and at times I felt that the underlying message overpowered the story line. I really have liked DI Kelly Porter and most of her team members in previous books, but in this one she comes off as almost too perfect -- as a cop, as a woman, as a human being -- and I guess I like my characters with a few flaws and not someone who everyone just adores. I don't need head cases here, but just a little bit less than Wonder Woman would be more believable?! I wasn't all that engaged with this plot as much as the others probably because it didn't seem as much about police work as it was about the social message and corruption in the police department there. I'm sure I'll still want to follow this crime thriller series and definitely will read the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Was this review helpful?

Rachel Lynch back to her best with this one! From the opening chapter I was gripped and really enjoyed the different approach where you knew from the beginning who had committed the crimes but it was more about the links between the two and the hunt for the culprits as well as the corruption storyline running alongside. Can’t wait for the next instalment to find out where Johnny and Kelly’s relationship goes next. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Canelo for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This is the seventh book featuring DI Kelly Porter. A woman who is ballsy, never gives up, thinks out the the box and has been known to slightly bend the rules. A gripping police procedural dealing with knife crime and how a group of people get together and decide to do something about it. Gripping, action packed and stacked with tension and suspense. Corruption in the force, if you like the series Line of Duty then this is the book for you. An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended. Another addition to a great police procedural and addictive series.
Thanks to Canelo and Netgalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

I can’t believe we’re at book 7 already. There was quite a different feel to this one with the plot highlighting knife crime and gang affiliation. I did find it hard to imagine it in the Lake District setting rather than an inner city. Kelly certainly had a few challenges in this one. The ending was enough to have me searching for reassurance that the author is working on book 8. She is, and rest assured I want to read it.

Was this review helpful?

I love these books featuring DI Kelly Porter!

This book is seventh in the series and whilst it can be read as stand alone there are some personal threads which I think read easier if previous books have been read.

Ella Watson lives in a beautiful house with her wealthy husband and two children, she goes for a run on a chilly November day and within moments is stabbed to death, robbery wasn't the motive as her wallet, phone and jewellery were not taken.

In another part of town, on the Beacon Estate which the police rarely visit there is another stabbing, Kiera Bradley has been found, but no one saw a thing, too scared to talk as the estate is in the clutches of a criminal gang.

Who will get the most attention from the media, and effort by the police.

A great read and highly recommended. So looking forward to the next book in the series, please let it be soon.

Was this review helpful?

Another brilliant instalment in the Kelly Porter series. Plenty of twists and turns and edge of your seat stuff, I couldn’t put it down. The main character Kelly is so normal and likeable so it makes for great easy reading. I have read all of the series so far and for me it just keeps getting better and better. I can’t wait for the next instalment, hope we don’t have to wait too long!!

Was this review helpful?

Another excellent addition to the Kelly Porter series. To be read at pace to maintain the sense of urgency that you feel for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.. Realistically-crafted characters -both good and bad - and finishes with a nice lead-in to the next book.

Was this review helpful?

This one didn’t quite hang together for me, although I loved the premise. A woman is stabbed while out jogging in the park, and there’s no obvious motive. The following day, another woman is stabbed on a local estate. There’s much in here about the injustice of how murders are treated based on who the victim was, and in particular their social class, but the plot for me didn’t quite work.

This does work as a standalone book but I think it reads better if you’ve read previous books - it refers back to past storylines. I really like the characters in this series, but for me this one slightly missed the mark.

Was this review helpful?

This is the seventh in the Kelly Porter crime series set in the Lake District. i've read a couple in the series before this one and enjoyed them very much. This one, less so.

Two women are murdered in Penrith within the space of a day. One is a very respectable well off woman, the other is a girl from the local sink estate. Kelly is the senior investigating officer in both cases and is dismayed when a much senior officer starts meddling. Worse, he seems to be implying that one victim is 'innocent' whereas the other got what was coming to her. No prizes for guessing who fell into what category.. Porter however is determined to see that justice is attained for both women. But soon she finds herself up against the senior officer and also suspecting that someone in her team has betrayed her.

Despite its beautiful setting in the Lake District this is no cosy walk in the park kind of novel. It is as gritty as anything set in the inner city. There are similar themes throughout: drugs, knife crime, sexual abuse. It's all very dark.

My main problem was that there was an awful lot of exposition going on. Far too much of the book was spent explaining what had happened in previous books or who a particular character was and this really slowed down the momentum of the story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

I love the Kelly Porter series and all its characters. Very well written. Plenty of suspense to keep me enthralled. The only downside for me was the storyline of gangs which personally I do not usually read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Was this review helpful?

This is a smashing addition to Rachel Lynch's great series featuring DI Kelly Porter, set in the Lake District but don't expect it to be the beautiful parts of the area, it is far more gritty, focusing on the notorious Beacon Estate. It is run by the Cotton brothers with their county line drugs operations, with a community that does not report crime or grass on others, it is far too dangerous. For the police, it is a no go area and the establishment have given up on the lawless enclave of illicit trades and delinquency. The author focuses on the rise of knife crime, with London the prime focus in the media, but its rise in other towns and cities has largely been ignored. Two women get stabbed to death, the wealthy Ella Watson whilst she is jogging in a park, and Keira Bradley on the Beacon Estate, it is Ella's death that gets the media focus and treated seriously by Superintendent Neil Ormond, who knew the Watson family.

Kelly is unhappy that the murder of Keira is not receiving equal attention, and uncomfortable with Ormond ignoring the conflict of interest that should have meant he could not interfere in her investigations. However, rank is everything with Ormond rampaging like a crazed bull in a china shop, feeling free to threaten Kelly and order a police operation on the estate that turns out to be a spectacular failure. The Watson family, Thomas Watson and his teenage children, Jordan and Millie, are drowning in grief and rage at the loss of Ella. Sharon Bradley, mother of Keira, is not going to let the loss of Keira go without challenging the grip of the Cotton brothers, and the estate culture of not talking to the police. She wants justice for Keira and nothing is going to stop her. With the Watsons and Sharon, two distinctly different social and economic worlds surprisingly begin to connect, is it possible sparks of hope can arise from the ashes of tragedy?

Lynch writes a well plotted and intense crime story, with a charismatic protagonist in DI Kelly Porter, with her supportive partner, Johnny, and his daughter, Josie, and she has developed a close and richly rewarding close relationship with her real father, Ted, a coroner. She has a great police team that she is justifiably proud of, with the likes of DS Kate Umshaw, DS Will Phillips, and DCs Rob Shawcross and Emma Hide, but in a case where police corruption rears its ugly head, can she trust everyone on her team? This is a brilliant crime read, and I have no hesitation in recommending this addition to what is a fabulous series. Many thanks to Canelo for an ARC.

Was this review helpful?