What do you think?
Rate this book
The dark web can satisfy any perversion, but two detectives might just pull the plug…
Taylor never felt the blade pressed to her scalp. She wakes frightened and alone in an unfamiliar hotel room with a near shaved head and a warning… tell no one.
As detectives Amanda Lacey and Jack Rutherford investigate, they venture deep into the fetish-fueled underbelly of the dark web. The traumatized woman is only the latest victim in a decade-long string of disturbing—and intensely personal—thefts.
To take down a perverted black market, they’ll go undercover. But just when justice seems within reach, an unexpected event sends their sting operation spiraling out of control. Their only chance at catching the culprits lies with a local reporter… and a sex scandal that could ruin them all.
Dark Service is the skin-crawling fourth novel in the Detective Amanda Lacey mystery series. If you like sexual intrigue, modern-day suspense, and exploring technology’s dark side, then you’ll love this cutting edge thriller from international bestselling author Linda Coles.
346 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 8, 2018
166 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Linda Coles
34 books65 followersHi, I'm Linda Coles and I write British crime novels. #GreatBritishCrime. #BritishCrimeDrama
An English woman myself, I now reside in New Zealand with my husband, 1 cat and 6 wonderful goats. Google Earth and two UK based editors ensure I keep my stories and language, accurate. I’m the author of 17 books including four non-fiction and two of a very different genre published under a pen name.
I currently have three different series published:
Detectives Jack Rutherford and Amanda Lacey set in Croydon, south London.
Private investigator Chrissy Livingstone set in the upmarket areas of Surrey.
Amateur sleuth, mini-cab driver and part-time grave digger Will Peters, set in the Midlands.
There’s something for everyone!
A #1 Amazon bestselling author, I’ve been writing since 2011
A full-time writer, I also write newsletter content for accountants across the country, something to ‘cleanse my palette on’ and the polar opposite of dead bodies on the other side of the world. My claims to fame include having a cuddle with Lee Child, sharing a New York cab with Heather Graham, and interviewing Karen Slaughter as a podcast guest.
My latest book and series, Where There’s a Will is the first in a trilogy and sees Will Peters insert himself into the investigation of a young homeless man found dead in the woods. There’s a message written on his chest: Your Move. With the help of some of his elderly mini-cab customers, the unlikely group endeavor to solve the case, any way they can. With a serious message, it’s often amusing. Think Man on the Street and Thursday Murder Club rolled into one. I know you’ll enjoy it.
You can find out more of my work at lindacoles.com and all the usual social channels.
Drop me a line and say hello.
An English woman myself, I now reside in New Zealand with my husband, 1 cat and 6 wonderful goats. Google Earth and two UK based editors ensure I keep my stories and language, accurate. I’m the author of 17 books including four non-fiction and two of a very different genre published under a pen name.
I currently have three different series published:
Detectives Jack Rutherford and Amanda Lacey set in Croydon, south London.
Private investigator Chrissy Livingstone set in the upmarket areas of Surrey.
Amateur sleuth, mini-cab driver and part-time grave digger Will Peters, set in the Midlands.
There’s something for everyone!
A #1 Amazon bestselling author, I’ve been writing since 2011
A full-time writer, I also write newsletter content for accountants across the country, something to ‘cleanse my palette on’ and the polar opposite of dead bodies on the other side of the world. My claims to fame include having a cuddle with Lee Child, sharing a New York cab with Heather Graham, and interviewing Karen Slaughter as a podcast guest.
My latest book and series, Where There’s a Will is the first in a trilogy and sees Will Peters insert himself into the investigation of a young homeless man found dead in the woods. There’s a message written on his chest: Your Move. With the help of some of his elderly mini-cab customers, the unlikely group endeavor to solve the case, any way they can. With a serious message, it’s often amusing. Think Man on the Street and Thursday Murder Club rolled into one. I know you’ll enjoy it.
You can find out more of my work at lindacoles.com and all the usual social channels.
Drop me a line and say hello.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Want to read
September 30, 2018💝FREE on Amazon today (9/30/18)!💝
Blurb
The dark web can satisfy any perversion, but two detectives might just pull the plug…
Taylor never felt the blade pressed to her scalp. She wakes frightened and alone in an unfamiliar hotel room with a near shaved head and a warning… tell no one.
As detectives Amanda Lacey and Jack Rutherford investigate, they venture deep into the fetish-fueled underbelly of the dark web. The traumatized woman is only the latest victim in a decade-long string of disturbing—and intensely personal—thefts.
To take down a perverted black market, they’ll go undercover. But just when justice seems within reach, an unexpected event sends their sting operation spiraling out of control. Their only chance at catching the culprits lies with a local reporter… and a sex scandal that could ruin them all.
Dark Service is the skin-crawling fourth novel in the Detective Amanda Lacey mystery series. If you like sexual intrigue, modern-day suspense, and exploring technology’s dark side, then you’ll love this cutting edge thriller from international bestselling author Linda Coles.
Blurb
The dark web can satisfy any perversion, but two detectives might just pull the plug…
Taylor never felt the blade pressed to her scalp. She wakes frightened and alone in an unfamiliar hotel room with a near shaved head and a warning… tell no one.
As detectives Amanda Lacey and Jack Rutherford investigate, they venture deep into the fetish-fueled underbelly of the dark web. The traumatized woman is only the latest victim in a decade-long string of disturbing—and intensely personal—thefts.
To take down a perverted black market, they’ll go undercover. But just when justice seems within reach, an unexpected event sends their sting operation spiraling out of control. Their only chance at catching the culprits lies with a local reporter… and a sex scandal that could ruin them all.
Dark Service is the skin-crawling fourth novel in the Detective Amanda Lacey mystery series. If you like sexual intrigue, modern-day suspense, and exploring technology’s dark side, then you’ll love this cutting edge thriller from international bestselling author Linda Coles.
July 19, 2019
A combined review of DARK SERVICE, and ONE LAST HIT, the 4th and 5th books in the Detective Amanda Lacey series from NZ based author Linda Coles, set in the United Kingdom where Lacey and her investigative partner Jack Rutherford are confronted by a very odd scenario the first outing DARK SERVICE; and Lacey and another investigative partner, Duncan Riley, deal with a threat that comes much closer to home in the second ONE LAST HIT.
DARK SERVICE first then. This was my first encounter with Detective Amanda Lacey and DCI Jack Rutherford (who has his own series starting out with HEY YOU, PRETTY FACE). It's based around an unusual crime, a perpetrator who stalks women, captures them, and then steals their hair. The threat is very real, and the outcome is very very odd. In order to pursue this weirdest of crimes Lacey and Rutherfod find themselves deep in the fetish-fueled areas of the dark web.
Now I will admit I've spent a bit of time peaking around the edges of the dark web and it's definitely a place for a lot of odd goings on. Luckily I seemed to miss the fetish area completely, but it doesn't take a lot of imagination to think that followers of all sorts of weird goings on will be lurking about there. In this novel, on the one hand you could say, well it's only hair, but on the other, one perversion can lead to another, and Lacey and Rutherford find themselves with a sting operation that goes wrong in a big way and gets very dangerous indeed.
Given that this is the fourth book in the series there's a chance there's a lot of backstory missing here, or perhaps it was what rapidly became a cast of 1,000's that came and went in a blink, but you'll need to have your concentration switched onto max for this novel. There were a few points at which I got hopelessly confused by some byways and sub-character plots that sort of went nowhere. Perhaps that's my biggest concern with the entire book - a bit of judicious editing of some of the side stories would have contributed to some focus for the central plot, and a heap of improvement in pace and maintenance of tension. Because of that lack of tension there were points where things felt a little uncomfortably voyeuristic, which is always a tricky balance when you're heading into what's mucky sexual territory for a lot of people.
When it comes to the second book ONE LAST HIT we are in, for want of a better description, less squeamish territory with prescription drug epidemics being a very up to the moment plot element. This time it's also bought very close to home with DS Riley's own wife being involved. Again you may find, as I did, that the by-ways and ancillary threads got in the road of the central plot points, creating a meandering narrative that kept dragging me away from the central elements, which was a pity as that idea - the collision of crime and a cop's home life - was particularly intriguing when it had the focus.
All in all, points to this author for exploring some really interesting plot elements in both these books, telegraphing potential for a really good police series if a tighter focus on those ideas could be achieved and the dialogue allowed to flow a little more naturally, giving good central characters some room to really hit their investigative and personal straps.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
DARK SERVICE first then. This was my first encounter with Detective Amanda Lacey and DCI Jack Rutherford (who has his own series starting out with HEY YOU, PRETTY FACE). It's based around an unusual crime, a perpetrator who stalks women, captures them, and then steals their hair. The threat is very real, and the outcome is very very odd. In order to pursue this weirdest of crimes Lacey and Rutherfod find themselves deep in the fetish-fueled areas of the dark web.
Now I will admit I've spent a bit of time peaking around the edges of the dark web and it's definitely a place for a lot of odd goings on. Luckily I seemed to miss the fetish area completely, but it doesn't take a lot of imagination to think that followers of all sorts of weird goings on will be lurking about there. In this novel, on the one hand you could say, well it's only hair, but on the other, one perversion can lead to another, and Lacey and Rutherford find themselves with a sting operation that goes wrong in a big way and gets very dangerous indeed.
Given that this is the fourth book in the series there's a chance there's a lot of backstory missing here, or perhaps it was what rapidly became a cast of 1,000's that came and went in a blink, but you'll need to have your concentration switched onto max for this novel. There were a few points at which I got hopelessly confused by some byways and sub-character plots that sort of went nowhere. Perhaps that's my biggest concern with the entire book - a bit of judicious editing of some of the side stories would have contributed to some focus for the central plot, and a heap of improvement in pace and maintenance of tension. Because of that lack of tension there were points where things felt a little uncomfortably voyeuristic, which is always a tricky balance when you're heading into what's mucky sexual territory for a lot of people.
When it comes to the second book ONE LAST HIT we are in, for want of a better description, less squeamish territory with prescription drug epidemics being a very up to the moment plot element. This time it's also bought very close to home with DS Riley's own wife being involved. Again you may find, as I did, that the by-ways and ancillary threads got in the road of the central plot points, creating a meandering narrative that kept dragging me away from the central elements, which was a pity as that idea - the collision of crime and a cop's home life - was particularly intriguing when it had the focus.
All in all, points to this author for exploring some really interesting plot elements in both these books, telegraphing potential for a really good police series if a tighter focus on those ideas could be achieved and the dialogue allowed to flow a little more naturally, giving good central characters some room to really hit their investigative and personal straps.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
Read
July 8, 2018The story starts with Taylor, an attractive woman receiving a mysterious and unexpected surprise. It leads deeper into the story and the realms of the Dark Web. As one not versed in this, it opened my eyes to what one could find there. From Taylor, events turn to Griffon, a man with a dark secret, with the police becoming involved after several strange coincidences occurred. I found the story most interesting, with the answers found in the last few chapters. As for Griffon and his dark secret, one has to wait until the end of the final chapter before all is revealed.. In general, I thought the book enlightening and well worth reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2022
I really enjoyed this set of books and enjoyed getting to know the main characters. However the last book should have been the first as it is earlier in time than the others
December 4, 2022
The Dark Web and fetishism are connected and have been over many years,. Now DS Amanda Lacey and DC Jack Rutherford investigate when events in the past connect to the present.
An entertaining modern mystery.
An entertaining modern mystery.
October 7, 2018
I liked it.
Characters developed so you know what they are like. Good plot except some details about the fetishes, a good read.
Characters developed so you know what they are like. Good plot except some details about the fetishes, a good read.
October 5, 2018
A Wonderful Book!
I loved the story! I liked the interaction between the characters. I really felt like I was part of the scenario. The author describes the story whereas you love the characters. The plot was different and great. The author is very talented. I will be reading more of her books.
I loved the story! I liked the interaction between the characters. I really felt like I was part of the scenario. The author describes the story whereas you love the characters. The plot was different and great. The author is very talented. I will be reading more of her books.
July 26, 2018
A great story but for a book written by a British author, which features all British characters and set in Britain it seems very odd when there are so many Americanisms in the actual book. Does the author use American editors? Spoiled it for me I'm afraid.
August 28, 2018
Excellent and entertaining book. Loved the characters. Their funny yet serious, kind and thoughtful to each other yet have a desire to "find the bad" without a lot of foul language and killing. Thank you.
April 11, 2018
A great read
Linda has a good habit of finding different ideas to use in her novels, she is always consistent and her writing style is easy and enjoyable, well worth the effort
Linda has a good habit of finding different ideas to use in her novels, she is always consistent and her writing style is easy and enjoyable, well worth the effort
June 1, 2018
Interesting and absorbing - a good read!
June 6, 2018
Well written, sharply developed situations, characters dark and fascinating, a really good read, walk on the wild side. Suspense and danger, loved the book. Recommended!
February 28, 2019
Linda Coles, ‘Dark Service’, a detective Amanda Lacey series.
As a Hidden Gem ARC reader I received this book for free. And promised an honest review. Here it is.
English isn’t my first language. Sorry for errors.
Rating: 3 stars (of 5).
In general: A chaotic story about an original crime.
The book starts with several chapters about Taylor Palmer (26) who worked for a year in New York and travels by plane back to London to meet her parents and to start looking for another job. On the plane she meets Terrance Dubonnet (about 70 years old). He has since his youth a fetish for female hair.
Both, Taylor and Terrance, are described in detail in the first, ca 20 chapters of the book, but are hardly mentioned in the rest of the story.
Their meeting results in a crime, the first told in the novel. Tis part is followed by a few more detailed descriptions of fetish crimes.
All those crimes are organized by the same organisation which deals - for a lot of money - in fullfilling the needs of clients with(sometimes) bizarre fetishes.
I had a few doubts about the seriousness of the crimes. Yes, loosing your hair against your wish is privacy violation. But a serious crime? The hair will grow again. Sometimes I had a feeling of ‘much ado about nothing’.
The main characters are:
- Detective Sergeant Amanda Lacey (early 40-ies).
Living in Croydon, near London. Her fiancée is Ruth, an IT technician,
sometimes - in her free time - a hacker.
- Detective Constable Jack Rutherford. An older man, widower and Amanda’s assistent.
There are many other characters in the book. Among whom: Griffin Stokes (25).
A sport journalist and in his free time a ‘self-confessed nerd’, very interested in the dark web. His girlfriend is Vera (Vee) Dobbs (25). Still living with her parents but saving hard to get her own flat. Also working in the IT sector. The development of their relationship (described in quite a few chapters) is well told and is nice reading, but is hardly of relevance for understanding the plot. Vee is only used for info about the dark web (Amanda knew others - Ruth - who could have given her that info) and Griffin is the journalist who publises the leaks of Amanda’s investigation. Did the author need so many chapters for people with such a little role in the investigation?
Then the main character, Amanda. She’s introduced for the first time in the book in ch. 25 (after 24% of the book). At first - for me - it wasn’t clear if she was a private investigator or a cop, for she seemed able to choose her own cases. But she appears to be a police officer. DI (Detective Inspector?) Laurence Dupin, her boss, is introduced in the book when I’d read 89% of it. That’s a bit late.
So it goes on and on. A lot of (mostly) interesting characters, described in detail but never mentioned again in the progress of the story. A bit disappointing for this reader.
R.Huiszoon.
As a Hidden Gem ARC reader I received this book for free. And promised an honest review. Here it is.
English isn’t my first language. Sorry for errors.
Rating: 3 stars (of 5).
In general: A chaotic story about an original crime.
The book starts with several chapters about Taylor Palmer (26) who worked for a year in New York and travels by plane back to London to meet her parents and to start looking for another job. On the plane she meets Terrance Dubonnet (about 70 years old). He has since his youth a fetish for female hair.
Both, Taylor and Terrance, are described in detail in the first, ca 20 chapters of the book, but are hardly mentioned in the rest of the story.
Their meeting results in a crime, the first told in the novel. Tis part is followed by a few more detailed descriptions of fetish crimes.
All those crimes are organized by the same organisation which deals - for a lot of money - in fullfilling the needs of clients with(sometimes) bizarre fetishes.
I had a few doubts about the seriousness of the crimes. Yes, loosing your hair against your wish is privacy violation. But a serious crime? The hair will grow again. Sometimes I had a feeling of ‘much ado about nothing’.
The main characters are:
- Detective Sergeant Amanda Lacey (early 40-ies).
Living in Croydon, near London. Her fiancée is Ruth, an IT technician,
sometimes - in her free time - a hacker.
- Detective Constable Jack Rutherford. An older man, widower and Amanda’s assistent.
There are many other characters in the book. Among whom: Griffin Stokes (25).
A sport journalist and in his free time a ‘self-confessed nerd’, very interested in the dark web. His girlfriend is Vera (Vee) Dobbs (25). Still living with her parents but saving hard to get her own flat. Also working in the IT sector. The development of their relationship (described in quite a few chapters) is well told and is nice reading, but is hardly of relevance for understanding the plot. Vee is only used for info about the dark web (Amanda knew others - Ruth - who could have given her that info) and Griffin is the journalist who publises the leaks of Amanda’s investigation. Did the author need so many chapters for people with such a little role in the investigation?
Then the main character, Amanda. She’s introduced for the first time in the book in ch. 25 (after 24% of the book). At first - for me - it wasn’t clear if she was a private investigator or a cop, for she seemed able to choose her own cases. But she appears to be a police officer. DI (Detective Inspector?) Laurence Dupin, her boss, is introduced in the book when I’d read 89% of it. That’s a bit late.
So it goes on and on. A lot of (mostly) interesting characters, described in detail but never mentioned again in the progress of the story. A bit disappointing for this reader.
R.Huiszoon.
March 13, 2019
This is the fourth book in the Jack Rutherford and Amanda Lacey series, but is the first book I have come across by this author. It catches your attention from the very first pages as a young woman awakes in a strange hotel room to find her long hair has been removed, leaving her almost scalped. She believes she must have been drugged and finds a note with her name on, telling her to say nothing to anyone and that her ‘debt’ has been paid in full.
Although her parents obviously notice the savage haircut and help her to handle what remains, the manner in which the story gets to the ears of a police officer is very random and totally believable. What is even more alarming, is that attacks like this have been happening for years. It seems a group of rich people with weird fetishes, have bought into a service provided on the dark web, to fulfil their deepest wants and desires.
The person who created this service doesn’t take on anyone that would wish to physically harm these fetish subjects, and has measures in hand to keep their clients as well as the victims quiet. This part of the story is very well thought out and it is amazing, but also disturbing, how much can be found out about a perfect stranger through the magic of modern day internet, cctv and hacking skills. This service has been running for well over a decade and never been discovered until now.
Now detectives Lacey and Rutherford have to investigate, while also dealing with their actual cases, as they cannot reveal anything to their boss, without more evidence and victims willing to give statements, of what happened to them. Add in a model agency ad some fetish clubs and they have an interesting case to work on. Undercover work has to be taken in hand and a local reporter and a sex scandal could ruin their investigation and allow the perpetrators to escape scot free.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and is was easy to read as a standalone, never having read any of the other books by this author or in this series. I enjoyed it thoroughly and had to stay up until I finished it all in one go! It grabs your attention and draws you into some of the perverted ways in which crime is being perpetuated against people using modern technology, yet with a weird twist. I can’t wait to go back and catch up with some of the other books by this author. I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Although her parents obviously notice the savage haircut and help her to handle what remains, the manner in which the story gets to the ears of a police officer is very random and totally believable. What is even more alarming, is that attacks like this have been happening for years. It seems a group of rich people with weird fetishes, have bought into a service provided on the dark web, to fulfil their deepest wants and desires.
The person who created this service doesn’t take on anyone that would wish to physically harm these fetish subjects, and has measures in hand to keep their clients as well as the victims quiet. This part of the story is very well thought out and it is amazing, but also disturbing, how much can be found out about a perfect stranger through the magic of modern day internet, cctv and hacking skills. This service has been running for well over a decade and never been discovered until now.
Now detectives Lacey and Rutherford have to investigate, while also dealing with their actual cases, as they cannot reveal anything to their boss, without more evidence and victims willing to give statements, of what happened to them. Add in a model agency ad some fetish clubs and they have an interesting case to work on. Undercover work has to be taken in hand and a local reporter and a sex scandal could ruin their investigation and allow the perpetrators to escape scot free.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and is was easy to read as a standalone, never having read any of the other books by this author or in this series. I enjoyed it thoroughly and had to stay up until I finished it all in one go! It grabs your attention and draws you into some of the perverted ways in which crime is being perpetuated against people using modern technology, yet with a weird twist. I can’t wait to go back and catch up with some of the other books by this author. I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
June 21, 2019
Yet again Linda Coles has written another hard to put down read. The twists and turns alone make turning the page a must and keep reading. Such a bazaar theft. Unreported by sheer fear. But what makes this theft different from many? The dark web is out there and so many many illegal thefts take place by hired hands and the like. So many things people want to buy and need that cant normally be obtained just by asking or purchasing. This is a crazy theft, but rest asure Det. Amanda Lacey is at the top of her game and will find the perp whom seems to think of the item stolen as a chershed memory of some sorts from back in childhood from a nannie. Not sure if that made since without giving away spoilers. But I totally recommend this read!!! You wont be disappointed. Recieved as an ARC and I voluntarily leave my review. Look forward to the next in series, yet cant come quick enough.
December 1, 2023
A cleverly written story!
And another unique subject! Amanda Lacey and Jack Rutherford find themselves delving deeper into the dark web to track down thieves that steal from innocent trusting people to satisfy their fetish behaviors. Will they be able to trace and find the perpetrator in this British crime story with so many edges? Linda Coles is always surprising me on her unique storylines, so if you love ‘different’ and mixed with British Crime thriller then I highly recommend! I’m happy to be an ARC for Linda Coles and this is my honest review. 4.5 stars
And another unique subject! Amanda Lacey and Jack Rutherford find themselves delving deeper into the dark web to track down thieves that steal from innocent trusting people to satisfy their fetish behaviors. Will they be able to trace and find the perpetrator in this British crime story with so many edges? Linda Coles is always surprising me on her unique storylines, so if you love ‘different’ and mixed with British Crime thriller then I highly recommend! I’m happy to be an ARC for Linda Coles and this is my honest review. 4.5 stars
November 22, 2022
A vicious but lucrative service provides victims to wealthy customers with fetishes. The victims are befuddled, frightened and violated. A chance comment by a hairdresser plunges Amanda and her partner into a twisted hunt.
Good book though the police are not really the ones that save the day. Interesting presentation of the dark web. Different than the usual police procedural but entertaining.
Good book though the police are not really the ones that save the day. Interesting presentation of the dark web. Different than the usual police procedural but entertaining.
February 16, 2023
Very clever story.
Amazing what can go on in the Dark Web and this novel cleverly incorporates it. Again we get a perspective from the victims and more involvement from Jack and Amanda.
The personal life of these two along with Ruth draws us in and has us becoming a part of their lives.
Thoroughly enjoying these books from Linda Coles.
Amazing what can go on in the Dark Web and this novel cleverly incorporates it. Again we get a perspective from the victims and more involvement from Jack and Amanda.
The personal life of these two along with Ruth draws us in and has us becoming a part of their lives.
Thoroughly enjoying these books from Linda Coles.
March 11, 2020
Good storyline
Enjoying this series and the characters.
A woman wakes up dazed in a room, with only stubble where her once glorious mane of hair was. Ashamed and warned to tell no one, the card also mentions that her debt is paid. But she tells her ma...
Enjoying this series and the characters.
A woman wakes up dazed in a room, with only stubble where her once glorious mane of hair was. Ashamed and warned to tell no one, the card also mentions that her debt is paid. But she tells her ma...
May 29, 2019
Linda is a great writer, it's the third book of hers I have enjoyed! Definitely a commuters read, ideal for the beach too.
Read
July 30, 2019Recieved a free copy which I volunteered to review but couldn't finish. Not my cup of tea
September 25, 2019
A light cozy mystery. No murders but lots of trauma.
The author does a good job developing characters and in producing a compelling story.
The author does a good job developing characters and in producing a compelling story.
November 21, 2019
I guess you really can get whatever you want on the internet---legal or not.
This story brings you through cases that gave me the creeps.
This story brings you through cases that gave me the creeps.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews