Book Review: Big Fat F@!k-Up by Lawrence Allan (Jimmy Cooper #1)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Jimmy, interesting mystery

Cons: Nothing that the title doesn’t warn you about

The Bottom Line:

Actor turned PI

Some laughs in this mystery

Loved the characters

You’ll Be Glad You Met Jimmy Cooper

When I was at Bouchercon in 2023, I went to the comedic mysteries panel.  As expected, I enjoyed it, and one of the standouts was Lawrence Allan.  But I hesitated to get his book based on the title – Big Fat F@!k-Up.  Yeah, that’s a title that screams “Not a Mark book.”  But I decided to buy it.  I just now got around to reading it, and I’m glad I got it because it was a delight.

Jimmy Cooper followed all those child star cliches.  His career tanked thanks to his addictions, but he’s now sober and working as a PI, at least some of his cases coming from his mother’s law firm, where he works as the investigator.  But one of his freelance cases lands him on the news again when he becomes part of a chase through downtown LA.

And with his increased public profile comes more interesting cases.  For example, there’s Alicia Crowley, who is set to inherit a large part of her family’s beer company when she turns twenty-five in a week.  However, she thinks her uncle, who currently runs the company, is trying to kill her, and she wants Jimmy to prove it while keeping her safe.  But it’s the uncle who turns up dead with Alicia as the prime suspect.  Can Jimmy figure out what really happened?

So, let’s get the obvious out of the way first.  Yes, the title is a clue as to what kind of language you’ll find in the book.  I’ll admit, I was afraid there might be more than we got.  I know I’ve often talked about authors being lazy when using curse words in their books.  I have to hand it to Lawrence Allan – I didn’t feel he did that.  The cursing was effective and appropriate to the scenes and not so overdone that it was laughable.  Would I have preferred a book without it?  Yes.  But I’m still glad I read the book.  And before I move on completely, there is some other content as well, but it is in keeping with the rest of the book.

The book takes a little time setting up Jimmy, his world, and the case at hand.  But it is entertaining the entire way through act 1 of the story.  It never feels like it is dragging, and we don’t get a complete data dump.  There are a couple of times the book does show us a bit more of Jimmy’s past, but it is important to the character development we are getting at that moment.

Things do step up once the murder has happened.  There are quite a few viable suspects, yes, even Alicia.  Watching Jimmy try to navigate it all is entertaining.  The ending was logical and answered all my questions.

Jimmy himself is a sympathetic main character.  He’s got some issues to work through, but he isn’t a typical depressing PI.  And he is working hard to get his life back on track, which I appreciated.  We meet some other interesting supporting players, and I look forward to getting to know them better as the series progresses.

And yes, I did laugh.  Jimmy is often cracking jokes, or trying to crack jokes, as a way to defuse the situations he finds himself in.  He’s also got some great observations about LA or life in general that we get thanks to the first-person narration.  Yet, the book is also serious when it needs to be, which made some of the character stuff that comes late in the book hit even more.

I had a hard time putting the book down, finishing it in two days instead of my typical three.

I will definitely be back to visit Jimmy again.  If the title gives you pause, you might not care for this book, but if you can move past it, you’ll find yourself getting caught up in Big Fat F@!k-Up.