Below is the complete list of J.D. Kirk’s DCI Logan Crime Thrillers books in publication order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
DCI Logan Crime Thrillers Books in Publication Order
- A Litter of Bones (2019)
- Thicker than Water (2019)
- The Killing Code (2019)
- Blood and Treachery (2019)
- The Last Bloody Straw (2020)
- A Whisper of Sorrows (2020)
- The Big Man Upstairs (2020)
- A Death Most Monumental (2020)
- A Snowball’s Chance in Hell (2020)
- Ahead of the Game (2021)
- An Isolated Incident (2021)
- Colder than the Grave (2021)
- Come Hell or High Water (2021)
- City of Scars (2022)
- Here Lie the Dead (2022)
- One For the Ages (2023)
- In Service of Death (2023)
- A Dead Man Walking (2023)
- Where the Pieces Lie (2024)
- A Killer of Influence (2024)
- A Rock and a Hard Place (2025)
- Better the Devil (2026)
About DCI Logan Crime Thrillers
J.D. Kirk’s DCI Logan books are a long-running Scottish crime series set in the Highlands, and that setting is far more than scenery. From the beginning, the novels use the north of Scotland as part of their identity: isolated communities, harsh weather, old loyalties, dark humour, and the constant sense that even beautiful places can hide ugly histories. Kirk’s own series page leans into exactly that mixture, describing a run of books packed with murder, mystery, and a distinctly Highland flavour, while also noting how central Jack Logan and his team are to the series’ appeal.
Jack Logan himself is one of the main reasons the books hold together over such a long run. He is not written as a glamorous genius detective or as a cold procedural machine. He is sharp, stubborn, often sarcastic, and clearly shaped by the place he works. That matters, because the series is strongest when it treats investigation as something personal as well as professional. Logan is dealing with killers, missing people, and long-buried violence, but he is also moving through communities where reputation, memory, and local ties matter almost as much as evidence. The books gain a lot from that balance. They are crime novels with pace, but they are also novels about a particular kind of place and the people who have to keep working inside it.
The first novel, A Litter of Bones, establishes the series clearly and effectively. From there, the run expands quickly through titles like Thicker than Water, The Killing Code, Blood and Treachery, and The Last Bloody Straw, building a body of work that is substantial without losing its sense of momentum. Major series listings show that the books continue well beyond those early entries, with at least twenty published or announced installments in the main Logan line, including later titles such as Where the Pieces Lie and Better the Devil. That scale tells you something important about the series: this is not a loose trilogy or a brief detective experiment. It is an established crime world with enough confidence to keep returning to Logan and his team year after year.
What helps the series avoid feeling mechanical is tone. Kirk’s books are plainly crime thrillers, often brutal in subject matter, but they are also known for their wit. The humour is not there to turn the murders into something light. It works more as pressure release, a dry and often very Scottish counterpoint to the darkness of the cases. That combination gives the series a recognisable voice. Many police procedurals can become interchangeable after enough installments, but Logan’s world seems to work because it refuses to flatten itself into pure gloom or pure puzzle-solving. The tension, the banter, and the Highland atmosphere all do different jobs at once.
Another strength is that the books are built as a true series without becoming impenetrable. The order matters because the recurring team, Logan’s personal history, and the emotional aftereffects of earlier cases accumulate over time. At the same time, the individual novels still revolve around their own investigations, so the line does not depend entirely on one giant unresolved master plot. That makes it rewarding for regular readers while still keeping the focus where it belongs: on the current case, the group dynamics, and the way the Highlands setting keeps shaping the mood of the books.
Within contemporary British and Scottish crime fiction, the DCI Logan books sit in a satisfying middle ground. They are not austere literary crime novels, and they are not throwaway action thrillers either. They offer a recurring detective, a vividly regional setting, a strong ensemble feel, and a tone that can move from grim to funny without breaking the series’ identity. That is probably why the line has grown so large and loyal. The draw is not just Jack Logan on his own, but the whole texture of the series: Highland murders, a team you want to spend time with, and a voice that knows crime fiction can be dark without becoming dull.