View source for Bitter Edge (D I Kelly Porter) by Rachel Lynch

{{infobox1
|title=Bitter Edge (D I Kelly Porter)
|author=Rachel Lynch
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crime
|summary=It's the fourth book in the series but reads well as a standalone and is a recommended read.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=296
|publisher=Canelo
|date=February 2019
|isbn=978-1788632676
|website=https://www.canelo.co/company/blog/meet-author-rachel-lynch/
|cover=B07KTQTW1L
|aznuk=B07KTQTW1L
|aznus=B07KTQTW1L
}}

The girl had once been a promising athlete, but injury and then addiction to prescription painkillers changed her completely.  Eventually she was driven to commit suicide in the most gruesome way - by throwing herself off a cliff in the Lake District. It worried DI Kelly Porter, but she had no reason to investigate, although several of her cases keep bringing her back to the girl's school and a darker story emerged.  One of the pupils goes missing at the local fair: her best friend is the girl who has accused a teacher of luring her to his flat and then sexually assaulting her.  It seems that the teacher also has paedophilia on his computer, but the downloading eerily coincides with the girl's visit to his flat.  What is going on, but - most importantly - where is Faith?

I first met Kelly Porter when I read [[Dead End (D I Kelly Porter) by Rachel Lynch|Dead End]] just a few months ago.  I'd turned to it because I had nothing else to read but this time I couldn't wait to get my hands on the book.  Rachel Lynch has the knack of writing crime fiction which pulls you in, keeps you reading and doesn't let you go until you've turned the last page.  For the second time I finished one of her books in less than twenty-four hours.  This isn't just tricksy writing, but a combination of factors.

I liked Porter the first time I met her.  She has family values without necessarily wanting to have one herself.  Her boyfriend, Johnny - who's in Mountain Rescue - is her rock, but she has no need to be married to him.  She's developing a good relationship with his teenage daughter.  Her mother has terminal cancer and she does her best to be there for her, but at least one of her sisters believes that she puts the job before the family - but that's Nikki all over.  Then there's the matter of her father, well, both of them...  All the characters come off the page well and live in your mind.

The Lake District comes to life too.  It's winter, but not winter wonderland - it brought home to me that whilst the snow might make the scenery look quite benign it's really anything but: you'll come away with a great deal of respect for the people in Mountain Rescue.  But it's the plot you want to know about, isn't it?  I liked the way that it almost began in the middle and worked outwards in all directions as one fact impacted upon another and finally built into something compelling.  It's not a whodunnit as such as you know about that from quite early on: it's about why and how the villains are tracked down and justice is achieved.

It was a good read and I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

The book reads perfectly well as a standalone, but if you'd like to start at the beginning, there's a list [[Rachel Lynch's DI Kelly Porter Novels in Chronological Order|here]].  If this book appeals then you might also enjoy [[Angela Marsons' D I Kim Stone Novels in Chronological Order|Angela Marsons' D I Kim Stone novels]].

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