It’s no secret that I love DI Kelly Porter so a new book from Rachel Lynch is always a treat. This is the ninth in the series – a great series that I’ve followed since the start.
This book is centered on HMP Highton, a prison in a remote bit of the already pretty remote Lake District. When a newly released convict is found tortured and killed shortly after leaving Highton, DI Kelly Porter and her team are horrified at the brutality of the crime. When a second ex-convict is killed in similar circumstances, it seems that there is a dangerous killer on the loose…but the leads keep taking the team back within the prison walls.
This is another solid instalment in the series – it was great to see some of my favourite characters back and playing a larger role in the story, for example Ted the pathologist and Kelly’s second in command, Kate Umshaw. The fact that there are some strong women on the police team adds to the appeal for me – and Kelly’s team are tough but also realistic and engaging as characters.
As with the other books, Kelly’s personal life is part of the story; in this novel she has just had a baby and is juggling working motherhood and a tricky relationship. I liked that this didn’t intrude too much into the main police procedural plot but did enjoy the portrayal of a guilty working mum (as I totally empathise!)
As always, the plotting is clever and the race to the finale genuinely tense – this is probably one of the more dramatic final acts in the series and I loved it!
The image of life inside HMP Highton was interesting and clearly well-researched; prison life does, however, seem utterly grim and the trading in contraband quite eye-opening. Lynch has done a lot of work to present the prison realistically (I assume – I can’t claim to have personal experience!) but does occasionally drift into philosophical discussions between characters about the rights and wrongs of incarceration which is sometimes a bit distracting.
Overall, this was a good addition to the DI Kelly Porter series. For readers new to Lynch’s Lake District series, I’d recommend you start earlier on to really appreciate the relationships between the characters, but there is nothing to stop you jumping into the series here and enjoying a pacy, lively crime novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo Crime for my copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
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Header photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash
