Crime sequels: McMahon’s Inside Man & MacBride’s Dying Light

Crime sequels are pivotal. They determine whether a breakout crime lead can transform into a bestselling series. I recently enjoyed two sequels that answered ‘Yes’ to that question — the new release Inside Man by John McMahon (Head Cases #2) and the second title in Stuart MacBride‘s iconic Logan McRae series, Dying Light.

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Inside Man by John McMahon

When Head Cases landed on my radar back in early 2025 being compared to “Slow Horses,” I was in immediately — and McMahon delivered. So I’d been very much looking forward to the next action-packed crime thriller starring FBI Agent Gardner Camden and the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) Unit he now leads. That arrived in the form of McMahon’s January 2026 release Inside Man.

Head Cases did most of the heavy lifting in establishing this ensemble of expert misfits — showing us their quirks, their camaraderie, the low-grade ribbing that made them so endearing — so Inside Man gets to run with that groundwork already laid. The no-nonsense banter I loved in Book 1 is still present, though noticeably dialled back. This is a grittier, greater stakes instalment for the team. While that’s not without merit, fans of the lighter moments and dry humour that peppered Head Cases may find themselves missing that particular spark.

A parallel investigation structure fuels this thriller — a murdered informant, a militia group, and a series of buried women — with one unidentified figure the common thread. The plotting is a satisfying web of connections that’s well-explained because I never found myself lost or confused. As with Book 1, the red herrings felt credible.

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But amidst Inside Man‘s fast-pace, a couple of character actions just felt slightly out of step with the personalities we got to know in Book 1. Some of the PAR Unit team members who shone in Head Cases had their development take a back seat as the narrative focuses primarily on Agent Gardner — his efforts in navigating team leadership, office politics, and personal relationships.

I looked over at Richie, who was studying the landscape out the window. I rarely felt the need to fill an empty space, but intellectually, I knew others appreciated it. “You all right?” I asked.

Gardner’s personal growth brought depth to this series, and the scenes with his daughter and another family member were especially lovely.

Inside Man is a suspense-filled crime thriller, and a solid — albeit slightly uneven — sequel to Head Cases that signals real potential for ongoing growth in this FBI PAR Unit character ensemble.

The Story 4 / 5 , The Writing 4 / 5

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Dying Light by Stuart MacBride

Despite being first published 20 years prior, Stuart MacBride’s Cold Granite (Logan McRae, Book 1) made my top reads of 2025 list. When I came to its conclusion, I noted I would have downloaded Book 2 Dying Light immediately had another commitment not intervened. So I was excited when this long library hold finally came through..

Cold Granite established Aberdeen’s granite-grey world and introduced us to DS Logan McRae — a wonderfully world-weary, doggedly principled underdog — and Dying Light plants us firmly back in that same unflinching moral landscape, but instead of murdered children the focus this time is Aberdeen’s brutal sex and drug trade. And MacBride’s willingness to stare directly into the darkest corners of human behaviour remains.

Interestingly, Aberdeen itself, such an impactful character in Book 1, feels a little less overbearing in Dying Light, at times granting its residents some sunshine reprieves; perhaps analogous to moments of warmth McRae experiences in his personal life. But don’t mistake that for any softening of this crime story’s edges, as McBride shows us what depravity lurks in the shadows in Aberdeen’s dockside alleyways after dark.

That same efficiently evocative writing style is here in full force, delivering a detective procedural that feels genuinely messy and believable, with competing priorities pulling the team in all directions, karma conspiring against the deserving, and dark humour threading through it all like a lifeline.

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Logan didn’t know which was worse – discovering your husband was a lying, adulterous bastard, or a dismembered corpse.

Relationships seeded in Book 1 develop with authentic complexity in Dying Light, and Logan remains a compelling lead precisely because he is so thoroughly human and fallible.

The same disturbingly graphic content warning applies: MacBride does not flinch in his depictions of what violence and the elements can do to a human body. Dying Light is only for crime readers with the strongest of stomachs.

For those who found themselves enthralled by Logan McRae Book 1, certainly will not regret continuing with this bestselling series from Stuart MacBride.

The Story 4.5 / 5 , The Writing 4.5 / 5

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