YOUth Review: Dark Game by Rachel Lynch

The book I read is called Dark Game by Rachel Lynch. It is an adult fiction and crime fiction novel. This is the first book in the DI Kelly Porter Series, which follows Detective Inspector Kelly Porter as she investigates various criminal cases in the Lake District of England. After working in London as a detective for the last few years, DI Kelly Porter has returned home to Cumbria amid a scandal. Now working in an area with less crime, Kelly sets about working on a five-year-old cold case of ten-year-old Lottie Davies, who went missing on a family day out. Her body was eventually found brutally murdered, but no one had been charged with her death.

Not long after beginning her investigation, Kelly is called to the Thwaite Hotel where a local prominent figure has been found dead in bed. Whilst there were no suspicious circumstances, it would seem that he had been enjoying the company of a young lady before his death, and video evidence shows that she robbed him before leaving. Whilst simultaneously running the two cases, Kelly is shocked when the same name appears in both.

This is a real dark thriller containing scenes of violence and plenty of bad language, some not easy to digest. If you are sensitive to any of these, then this may not be the book for you. One personal critique I had about this book is that DI Kelly Porter was not given quite enough spotlight for this particular storyline and her original case really fizzled out.

Overall, this book was an amazing read with lots of twists that weren’t expected. I would give this book a 4/5.

This review was written by Anshul G.