Rachel Reviews: Thicker Than Water by J.D. Kirk

You find an author, one whose books you know are going to deliver and you look forward to reading them and this can be for many reasons or it can be for just one. In the case of J.D. Kirk's books they certainly fit into the many reasons category: you like the characters with dialogue which the writer uses to bring them alive and shows the relationships between them all; the plot is easy to follow and you get carried along by it, bobbing in its flow, like you're floating on a lazy river; there are moments of tension, descriptions which make you uneasy, clues dropped that make you wonder if they're significant, all to keep you hooked from start to finish; and then there's murder at the centre of it, murder most foul.

These characteristics all combine to make for an excellent read.

This particular novel, the second of the DCI Logan series, starts with Kirk's Scottish take on a Jaws' opening: two teenagers at the side of Loch Ness, one a horny teenager, the other a sheltered and inexperienced younger girl. When the boy tries to tempt the girl into the loch for a skinny dip with more than swimming on his mind, he is pulled under the water and re-emerges coughing and spluttering but so does something else - and it's not Nessie. In fact, it's the body of a local school teacher, Mairi Sinclair, wrapped in a tarpaulin with some pretty severe wounds.

The investigation into what's happened to her begins and Logan and his team's enquiries take them down many roads. Logan meets a dodgy acquaintance from his own past who may or may not be involved and there is a suggestion of the occult with Aleister Crowley's ruined house being visited as a place of interest, as well as the local climbing instructor coming under scrutiny.

Gradually, a picture of the victim's life emerges and sympathy for Mairi is created: a single mum; a loved daughter; an appreciated teacher. This makes the conclusion even more shocking and unsettling and Kirk doesn't shirk on the drama and a redemptive moment for one of Logan's team makes the ending all the more powerful.

It's a difficult thing to do - to create something which is tense and dangerous but has humour and humanity but Kirk is the master of it. Entertainment most horrid and slightly addictive.

Rachel Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐