JD Kirk is a Scottish writer of crime fiction. I have reviewed some of his books before – see here and here. I enjoy them, as they are quite funny but written with real warmth. Northwind is the first in a new series featuring Bob Hoon who is an ongoing character in some of the other novels.
Bob is a foul mouthed, unscrupulous ex-police officer whose life is a mess. His ex-colleagues are not speaking to him because he was found to be corrupt, although Bob is sure that the ends justified the means. At present he is living from one glass of whisky to another with no real idea what to do in the future – he is completely disillusioned with life. At this low point he is asked by an old friend, from his days in the army, to find a missing teenaged daughter.
This turns out to need all of Bob’s skills including his predilection for casual violence and threatening behaviour. Bob travels from the Highlands of Scotland to London and finds people untrustworthy in both places. People lie to him, he is attacked and the environment is sordid. By the time that you are well into the book you are beginning to look on the world with the same Jaundiced eye as Bob and to expect the worst of everyone.
Yet, this book is compelling. It engages the reader firstly because it is written with a sly humour and many of Bob’s outrageous comments are ones that you wish that you had had the courage to make. It is well plotted and people act in a believable way. Bob isn’t as soft hearted as some of the characters in other books but he has a strict sense of integrity and knows what is right. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did some of this author’s other books but I did enjoy it and shall now read others in the same series featuring Bob Hoon.
Anne Is Reading 