A gripping Scottish crime read
by messyreader
Spoiler free I picked up The Big Man Upstairs by JD Kirk completely by accident, thanks to a Blind Date with a Book blunder, and only realised after starting that it was the seventh book in the DCI Jack Logan series. But honestly? That didn't matter after a couple of chapters. The writing is fast-paced, the characters are instantly likeable and the mystery had me guessing right to the end. It's not often a whodunnit manages to keep me on my toes, but this one did!
Despite jumping in mid-series, I rarely felt lost, which is a credit to Kirk's writing. There's a great balance of dark humour, compelling character dynamics and a well-structured investigation that keeps the pages turning. That said, I'm docking a star simply because I didn't feel as emotionally invested as I wanted to be, perhaps because I wasn't as familiar with the recurring characters as long-time readers would be. Some moments that might have hit harder for others didn't land quite as strongly for me.
Still, this was a gripping read, and now I definitely want to go back and read the earlier books in the series. If you love Scottish crime fiction with a great mix of grit and humour, this one's worth picking up. An added bonus is the 20/21 of the series are on Kindle Unlimited.
Rating: 4/5
