The Blackhouse by Peter May

The Blackhouse by Peter May is an excellent crime story takes place on the Isle of Lewis, the most northerly island of the Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. Detective Sergeant Finlay “Fin” Macleod of the Edinburgh Police Department grew up in the village of Crobost on the island, but he left at the age of 18 and had not been back in 18 years. When he was 18, like so many other boys his age, he just wanted off the island. His family was dead, so he had no one to return for, and he definitely had memories of his early life that he wanted to avoid. When he flunked out of college in Glasgow, he wound up on the police force in Edinburgh and being smarter than most cops, worked his way up to be a detective. Soon after investigating a gruesome and widely publicized murder in Edinburgh, Fin’s wife and 8-year-old son were run over by hit-and-run driver which killed the boy, and badly damaged their marriage since Fin blamed her the death of their son.

After a month of mourning for Fin, there was a second nearly identical murder in Crobost and the victim was one of Fin’s childhood tormentors, a brute of a man, Angel Macritchie. Because Fin spoke the Gaelic lingo of the islands and since he knew the locals and their customs, Fin’s boss gave him a choice to get back to work on the new murder or leave the force. Fin chose to go home and face his haunting memories, as well as take the opportunity to get some time away from his wife.

This story is an artful one which interwove the crime investigation and Fin’s complicated back story. The character development, especially of the protagonist, was masterful. The novel also gave more than a glimpse into the life in Scotland, especially the islands, where the people were viewed as being unsophisticated hicks by the city folks. Given that the weather is nearly always awful, nearly every paragraph in the book seemed to make reference to the weather. I thought that accurately reflected what life is like in Scotland where the weather is a constant issue and is always a part of every conversation.

This is the first book of The Lewis Trilogy, and I’ll definitely read the next one, The Lewis Man, at least I will if it finds its way to Kindle or if I can find it in an old book shop. This is the first novel in the blog for Peter May, and he was suggested to me by my lifelong friend Linda, but I was looking for his series called “The China Thrillers.” Linda lived in China for eight years and knew of his work when she was there. When I could not find those on Kindle, I checked out his only available novel, The Blackhouse and was not disappointed. Perhaps I was drawn to this because, in my travels, I got to know a cop from one of the northern Scottish islands, and he was a most interesting character. I’ll keep Peter May on my list of worthy authors. Thanks Linda.