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First Act
A DI Kelly Porter prequel from the million-copy bestselling author (Detective Kelly Porter)
Series: Detective Kelly Porter
Brief Description
Old betrayals, new revenge… It’s 2008, and London is a frenzy of activity as the capital demolishes and rebuilds, ready to host the Olympics. Detective Kelly Porter has landed her dream job in the Met’s Major Investigation Team – the murder squad. Human remains are unearthed...
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London, 2008. Met cop Kelly Porter joins the Major Incident Team. Old human remains are linked to gruesome recent killings in this exhilarating prequel to Lynch’s million-copy bestselling crime series.
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Description
Old betrayals, new revenge…
It’s 2008, and London is a frenzy of activity as the capital demolishes and rebuilds, ready to host the Olympics.
Detective Kelly Porter has landed her dream job in the Met’s Major Investigation Team – the murder squad.
Human remains are unearthed by a bulldozer. The corpse was laid recently enough to warrant investigation. Kelly does some digging of her own and is led to the Museum of Childhood.
But this is only the start. A fresh murder scene bearing a mutilated corpse soon follows. A legacy of horror and a killer determined to punish their victim awaits. They’re setting the stage for a grand finale.
Kelly’s choices will make her a spectator to the gruesome theatre, or even a puppet under the command of another, unless her instinct for the truth can get her one step ahead.
More than one million readers have become hooked on Rachel Lynch’s Detective Kelly Porter novels. Read the story that started it all.
Series: Detective Kelly Porter
View all-
First Act
A new detective. Tested like never before. London, 2008. Kelly Porter has been in London for six years. She’s 28 years old and has passed her detective exams, working for Bethnal Green CID. Now she’s landed her dream job in the Met’s Major Investigation Team – the murder squad. And she is immediately thrown into the deep end. Work on...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Blood Rites
The nights are dark in the Lake District. But the crimes can be even darker. A young woman is found naked, cold, and alone at an ancient stone circle but refuses to tell DI Kelly Porter her identity. Before Kelly can find a lead, their Jane Doe flees the hospital and disappears. Soon after, Kelly is called to a brutal...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Bold Lies
Time is running out for DI Kelly Porter to catch a team of cold-hearted killers... When a badly decomposing body is found by Derwent Water, it doesn’t take DI Kelly Porter long to link this professional hit job with the deaths of two scientists in London who worked with the victim. Their secret lab has been emptied and wiped down;...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Little Doubt
What happens when a police officer goes outside the law? When wealthy housewife Ella Watson is brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight, it sends shockwaves through the Lake District community. Later that day, Keira Bradley meets the same fate but on the notoriously rough Beacon Estate. DI Kelly Porter must run two simultaneous investigations, hampered by a boss always...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Lost Cause
A missing woman is easily forgotten. Until she turns up dead. One icy cold morning, the butchered remains of a woman are discovered stuffed into a bin. DI Kelly Porter knows this is the work of a deranged and dedicated killer. One who has struck before and will again. Kevin Flint is an odd young man. He explores the hidden...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Lying Ways
Locked up with the enemy and there's no way out. When two former inmates of Highton prison turn up dead, DI Kelly Porter is tasked with finding out why. As Kelly digs into their life behind bars, she finds more questions than answers. A tangled web of corruption and deceit emerges within the prison walls. As Kelly gets closer to...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Bitter Edge
Someone has a score to settle with DI Kelly Porter. When a teenage girl throws herself off a cliff, DI Kelly Porter is left asking why. A once champion runner, Jenna Fraser had the world at her feet until she spiralled into drug use. It’s a closed case, but as charges are brought against a teacher at Jenna’s school for...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Cruel Truth
Even beauty has a dark side. It's a stunning summer evening in the Lake District. The day has been hot and long, and tourists are only just leaving Rydal Water. One solitary rowing boat remains; face-down in the reeds. Underneath is the body of a young woman. DI Kelly Porter heads to the scene but when she arrives she gets...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Dark Game
DI Kelly Porter knows some people will risk everything to get ahead. But when the truth comes out, deadly prices are paid... After a scandal forces DI Kelly Porter out of the Met, she returns to her home turf in the Lake District. Crimes in the Cumbrian constabulary tend to be of the minor sort, but Kelly begins work on...Paperback$2299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Dead End
A family destroyed by a legacy of lies… When the elderly Earl of Lowesdale is found hanging from the rafters at Wasdale Hall, it’s assumed he ended his own life. But the coroner finds signs of foul play and DI Kelly Porter unpicks a tangled story of privilege and deceit. Meanwhile, two young female hikers go missing around the Lakes...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Deep Fear
A case so shocking it will push DI Kelly Porter to her very limits. On a peaceful summer's morning in the Lake District, a woman's body is discovered outside a church. Left naked and exposed to the elements, her fingertips have been removed and her mouth stuffed with soil. A methodical but unhinged killer has arranged symbolic clues in the...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Shared Remains
DI Kelly Porter knows his death was no accident. The body of a man is found at the bottom of a quarry. His appearance, and physical evidence, rule out the chance he travelled there unaided: he was put there. DI Kelly Porter is tasked to investigate and soon digs up a bitter history between the two brothers who own the...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781835981184
Publisher: Canelo
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 10 September 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Canelo Crime
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 9.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 352
About the Author
Rachel Lynch is a million-copy bestselling author of crime fiction, best known for her gripping DI Kelly Porter series as well as several standalones and the Major Helen Scott military police thrillers. Born and raised in Cumbria, the haunting beauty of the Lake District seeps into every story she tells. After teaching history in London and living across the globe as an army wife, Rachel eventually returned to her greatest passion: writing. Travel and the shared human experience comprise the fabric of her work. She explores the darkest corners of humanity with empathy and edge, weaving gritty realism with unforgettable characters. Alongside multiple standalone novels, she now brings her stories to life in a whole new way, through her podcast The Killer Storyteller: A Podcast with Rachel Lynch, where she unpacks every twist and turn, book by book.
Also by Rachel Lynch
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The Famous
Everyone knows Gloria White. Or at least they think they do. She’s on your TV screen every morning. Her brand is elegance, charm and power. You wouldn’t believe the things she did to reach the top. But someone knows and now they’re taking retribution into their own hands. A gripping psychological thriller about the dark side of fame. For fans...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Blood Rites
The nights are dark in the Lake District. But the crimes can be even darker. A young woman is found naked, cold, and alone at an ancient stone circle but refuses to tell DI Kelly Porter her identity. Before Kelly can find a lead, their Jane Doe flees the hospital and disappears. Soon after, Kelly is called to a brutal...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
First Act
A new detective. Tested like never before. London, 2008. Kelly Porter has been in London for six years. She’s 28 years old and has passed her detective exams, working for Bethnal Green CID. Now she’s landed her dream job in the Met’s Major Investigation Team – the murder squad. And she is immediately thrown into the deep end. Work on...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Rich
They can buy everything except the truth. Each week, they come to lie on her couch. Carrie, Henry, and Grace. They don’t know one another, but Dr Alex knows them all too well. She listens as they reveal their dirtiest little secrets. Then a murderer strikes in their elite neighbourhood. Could her clients hold the answers? As a psychologist, she...Paperback$2299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Bold Lies
Time is running out for DI Kelly Porter to catch a team of cold-hearted killers... When a badly decomposing body is found by Derwent Water, it doesn’t take DI Kelly Porter long to link this professional hit job with the deaths of two scientists in London who worked with the victim. Their secret lab has been emptied and wiped down;...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Little Doubt
What happens when a police officer goes outside the law? When wealthy housewife Ella Watson is brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight, it sends shockwaves through the Lake District community. Later that day, Keira Bradley meets the same fate but on the notoriously rough Beacon Estate. DI Kelly Porter must run two simultaneous investigations, hampered by a boss always...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Lost Cause
A missing woman is easily forgotten. Until she turns up dead. One icy cold morning, the butchered remains of a woman are discovered stuffed into a bin. DI Kelly Porter knows this is the work of a deranged and dedicated killer. One who has struck before and will again. Kevin Flint is an odd young man. He explores the hidden...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Lying Ways
Locked up with the enemy and there's no way out. When two former inmates of Highton prison turn up dead, DI Kelly Porter is tasked with finding out why. As Kelly digs into their life behind bars, she finds more questions than answers. A tangled web of corruption and deceit emerges within the prison walls. As Kelly gets closer to...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Bitter Edge
Someone has a score to settle with DI Kelly Porter. When a teenage girl throws herself off a cliff, DI Kelly Porter is left asking why. A once champion runner, Jenna Fraser had the world at her feet until she spiralled into drug use. It’s a closed case, but as charges are brought against a teacher at Jenna’s school for...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Cruel Truth
Even beauty has a dark side. It's a stunning summer evening in the Lake District. The day has been hot and long, and tourists are only just leaving Rydal Water. One solitary rowing boat remains; face-down in the reeds. Underneath is the body of a young woman. DI Kelly Porter heads to the scene but when she arrives she gets...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Dark Game
DI Kelly Porter knows some people will risk everything to get ahead. But when the truth comes out, deadly prices are paid... After a scandal forces DI Kelly Porter out of the Met, she returns to her home turf in the Lake District. Crimes in the Cumbrian constabulary tend to be of the minor sort, but Kelly begins work on...Paperback$2299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Dead End
A family destroyed by a legacy of lies… When the elderly Earl of Lowesdale is found hanging from the rafters at Wasdale Hall, it’s assumed he ended his own life. But the coroner finds signs of foul play and DI Kelly Porter unpicks a tangled story of privilege and deceit. Meanwhile, two young female hikers go missing around the Lakes...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
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