I am a huge fan of The Lewis Trilogy and remember reading all three books in quick succession. It’s a real treat therefore to be able to return to the Isle of Lewis and catch up, once again, with Fin Macleod, the character who featured so strongly in the trilogy. Returning to Lewis some ten years later we finds Fin to be an altogether different character, older certainly, but seemingly with more of life’s struggles pressing down upon him, especially as his return to Lewis has been somewhat forced due to his married son, Fionnlagh, being accused of murder.

Expertly described by an author who is passionate about the area, the brooding presence of the Black Loch, with all its bitter memories comes alive and Fin, in his desperate attempt to help clear his son’s name, must confront his own particular demons from the past. There is always a shadowy sense of danger lurking just beyond reach and with so many unanswered questions apparent from the start, this is one murder mystery which has a myriad of possibilities.

The Black Loch was every bit as good as I expected it to be with, at its core, a taut and tight murder mystery however, there is also a definite sense of loose ends being tightened and of old adversaries seeking revenge. Will we catch up again with Fin Macleod, I rather hope we will, but if not, this is a fitting end to a strong story, well told.

Firstly, there is no requirement to have read the original 3 books to be able to enjoy this one. You could do so if you wanted but there isn't anything of particular importance in this story where a bit of background isn't given.

This is an excellent story and is up to the high standards set by the author in his previous works. The descriptions of island life when our main character was a boy and those of the present day are so well presented that you can picture them. Essentially this a big whodunnit with a twist at the end followed by another which will keep the reader guessing. Well worthy of investing some hours in reading (or listening if that's your thing).

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my copy for review.

Peter May’s ‘The Black Loch‘ is a gripping and atmospheric mystery set against the hauntingly beautiful backdrop of the Isle of Lewis. May weaves a compelling narrative of murder, family secrets, and the burden of past tragedies, all while capturing the wild and remote beauty of the Scottish landscape.

The discovery of 18-year-old TV personality Caitlin’s body on a desolate beach near An Loch Dubh sends shockwaves through the small island community. Caitlin, a strong swimmer and canoeist, leaves behind a mystery, how could someone so adept in the water have drowned? Fin Macleod, who fled the island a decade ago to escape painful memories, learns his estranged son Fionnlagh was romantically involved with the victim and is now a prime suspect feels the need to return to clear his name.

As Fin delves deeper into Caitlin’s life and the tangled web of relationships surrounding her, he is forced to confront a past he had hoped to leave behind and the tragedy at the salmon farm on East Loch Roag, which appears to be key in unlocking the truth.

The book is well written as I expected having already read the previous books and lots of atmosphere and excellent characters. Fin Macleod especially is a fascinating character, haunted by his own past and yet determined to protect his son and uncover the real killer. The location of the Isle of Lewis is so well described I almost felt I had been there previously, its rugged beauty and isolation set a really good atmosphere adding to the tension as deeply buried secrets begin to surface.

“The Black Loch” is an enjoyable read, with a good mix of mystery as well as family guilt, and redemption. I would like to thank both Netgalley and Quercus Books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The Black Loch is the fourth book in The Lewis Trilogy. It is many years since I read the previous three books and had forgotten many of the specifics. There is enough, without too much, detail of the back story to make it an enjoyable read as a stand alone novel.

The body of eighteen year old TV personality Caitlin, is discovered on a remote beach on the Isle of Lewis. A strong swimmer, canoeist and activist it is difficult to believe she drowned. Fin Macleod, ex police, and his wife Marsaili return to Lewis after hearing their son Fionnlagh was having an affair with Caitlin and has been arrested on suspicion of her murder. Fin desperately tries to find evidence to the contrary. With time against him, Fin begins to understand the answers may lie in the secrets of the past. Fin's childhood and teenage years are cleverly woven into the narrative. It becomes clear the secrets and shocking events of years gone by are relevant to the events of today. Old loyalties are questioned.

Whilst the reader is swept along, as Fin only has a limited time to clear his son's name, the writing also allows time to absorb the evocative descriptions of the wild and often bleak landscape. Environmental issues are covered, leaving me wondering if I will ever eat farmed salmon again. Secondary to the main plot is the devastating story of a pod of whales, based on a real life event.

This is a brilliant, absorbing and difficult to put down read, however I made myself take it more slowly, allowing the tension to build up to the shocking, and yet satisfying, conclusion, making for an even more enjoyable read.

With many thanks to NetGalley and Quercus books for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy is return for my honest and unbiased review.

This is the third brilliant book I have read by Peter May. What a talent. I’ll be reading the first three in this series without a doubt as I loved Fin, now ex police, and I want to get to know him as he was in his earlier life as a police officer.

Fin returns to his roots on the Isle of Lewis when his son is arrested for murder. Using his skills as an ex policeman, he begins to investigate the death of Caitlin whose body was found on the beach. Clearly this is a small island where everyone knows everyone else’s business and he reacquaints himself with some of his childhood friends. Not all of them are particularly friendly now and resent his presence as father of the murderer.

This is a story of secrets, lies, family bonds, friendships, bullying, and of course murder. Everything in the mix to produce an addictive thriller. There is also the addition of environmental issues which Peter has thoroughly researched and which add more depth to this story. He has cleverly woven these into the plotline. There is the heartbreaking beaching of a pod of whales, based on an actual event, and an unsettling delve into the huge business of salmon farming. Having read a few years ago about how bad the conditions are at salmon farms I eat wild salmon now, and so will you after reading this!

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the characters, and the flashbacks to the relevant events in their youth which have have made them the adults they are today. The relationships. The young boys who think they are invincible. The mothers looking back on their lives and wondering what they would have done differently.

A superb fast paced thriller by a hugely talented man.

A truly atmospheric, dark and thrilling read. Shocking and gloomy, May manages to weave the past and present so seamlessly as we explore the tragedies, secrets, and unforgiving lives of those living near the Black Loch.

This is one for your autumn and spooky season reading pile!!

The Black Loch is set ten years after the events of Peter May’s popular Lewis Trilogy. Ex-Detective, Fin Macleod and his wife Marsaili, left Lewis to escape the memories of those events. Settling in Glasgow, Fin retrained to become a civilian IT consultant to the police, but recently it’s a job he’s come to hate. Fin and Marsaili’s son Fionnlagh, now thirty and a science teacher, married with a young daughter, recently returned to Lewis to teach at the Nicolson Institute, the secondary school Fin and Marsaili both attended.

When the body of an eighteen year old student at the school, Caitlin Black, is found washed up on the beach of An Loch Dubh (the Black Lake), Fionnlagh is charged with her murder. If the rumours are true, Fionnlagh and Caitlin were having an affair. Devastated, Fin and Marsaili reluctantly return to Lewis where Fionnlagh admits he was indeed having an affair with Caitlin but did not kill her. However, the police are satisfied they have their killer so Fin must work hard if he is to find the truth.

Caitlin was popular on the island as she and her friend Iseabail were involved in filming a programme for the BBC called Canoe and Ocean, exploring little visited areas of the coastline of the islands by canoe. Both excellent swimmers and ecowarriers, they would find hidden coves and film the local marine and bird life. Naturally most of the islanders are disgusted by Fionnlagh’s affair with his student and are ready to see him convicted of her murder.

Fin’s return is also not popular with the islanders and events and relationships from his childhood also colour his feelings about Lewis. In particular, he recalls the death of his friend Iain Murray, the summer after they finished school, while they helped their friend, Niall Black, steal fish from his father’s salmon farm to sell to a poacher. Inheriting the salmon farm, Niall has modernised it to be one of the biggest in the world and he and his son live on Cyprus to avoid taxes. Awkwardly for Fin, Niall is also Caitlin’s father, although she lived with her mother after her parents divorced and was not close to her father or brother.

May has created a dark and haunting atmosphere in the novel, perfectly evoking the rugged but beautiful island, where life is harsh and unforgiving for many. There is a strong environmental theme, championed by Caitlin and Iseabail who favour protection of the species living on the coast above the greed of large-scale commercial fishing. As the plot builds gradually, multiple layers invoking past history emerge setting the scene. The depth of background detail may seem unnecessary for those who have recently read the Lewis Trilogy, but will be useful for those of us who read it a while ago.

Fin is superbly drawn as a flawed character. Essentially a good man who has made many mistakes in his life, with some unresolved business rooted in his past. As the tension builds inexorably, the past and the present will collide in a stunning and suspenseful climax. While fans of Peter May’s will surely welcome this excellent addition to the series, it will also work well as a stand-alone for those new to his books.

EXCERPT: It was early. The exceptional spell of warm, still weather had brought tourists and midges in almost equal numbers to this island off an island on the north-west coast of the most north-westerly outpost of the European continent. The voices of children rang out in the bright, clear morning, tiny footprints left in wet sand. A shouted warning rose above the rush of the sea, as parents laden with folding chairs and rugs and a hamper hurried down the tiny single-track road towards the shore. But a solitary, sharp scream sent fear back like an arrow, and everything was dropped, sand flying in the wake of swift feet as they sprinted towards the water's edge.
The children were standing either side of a human shape lifting and falling only slightly on the ebb and flow of the sea, hair fanned out like seaweed in the sand. The young woman stared up into a sky reflected in the blue of her wide-open eyes. A pretty face, but bruised on the left side, the blood leached from a gash on her cheek by seawater. Her t-shirt was torn, ripped away at the neck, one breast exposed. She was barefoot, white panties shredded in bloodstained ribbons.
One of the children turned a pale face towards her parents, the death of innocence already apparent in her dark eyes. And in a tiny voice said, 'Will she be alright?'

ABOUT 'THE BLACK LOCH': A MURDER
The body of eighteen-year-old TV personality Caitlin is found abandoned on a remote beach at the head of An Loch Dubh - the Black Loch - on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. A swimmer and canoeist, it is inconceivable that she could have drowned.

A SECRET
Fin Macleod left the island ten years earlier to escape its memories. When he learns that his married son Fionnlagh had been having a clandestine affair with the dead girl and is suspected of her murder, he and Marsaili return to try and clear his name.

A TRAP
But nothing is as it seems, and the truth of the murder lies in a past that Fin would rather forget, and a tragedy at the cages of a salmon farm on East Loch Roag, where the tense climax of the story finds its resolution.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a sad story in many ways, laced with lies, secrets, death and the perils of infidelity.

These Hebrideans are a passionate lot - there doesn't seem to be one person on this island who hasn't sinned, many multiple times. Historical sins. Current sins. They all bleed together to form a maelstrom of mistrust and resentment. Old friendships appear to be rekindled but, really, do they count for anything when one friend's son is accused of murdering another friend's daughter? Fin finds himself examining everything - his past relationships and his current - as his life is shattered by the accusations against his son, accusations his son refuses to refute.

The Black Loch is a dark and brooding read, unsettling and, at times, violent and shocking, but one that I consumed in less than twenty-four hours, unable to put it down. Atmospheric, thrilling and suspenseful, it ticks all my boxes.

Will we see more of Fin MacLeod? I hope so.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#TheBlackLoch #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Peter May started his writing career as a journalist, winning a national award at the age of 21. Still in his twenties, he switched to writing drama for UK television. He created three major drama serials in the UK and has credits for scriptwriting or producing more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping shows. He quit TV in the 1990s to concentrate on his first love, writing books.
Peter May is a Scot living in France.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus Books via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Black Loch by Peter May for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

The Black Loch by Peter May was published 12 September, 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley and riverrun for my copy of The Black Loch by Peter May.
It is many years since I read the original three in the series and as I read this one it kept bringing back memories.
The story kept switching between the past and present and I must admit it took a while for my memory to catch up with what had happened before.
Fin had never wanted to return to the Island and it was only his sons arrest for murder that had brought him back. Although he's now retired Fin will always be a policeman and he will find the truth, no matter if it condemns his son.
A great author and a good read.

I read the Lewis trilogy many years ago and absolutely loved it so I was excited to see that Peter May had decided to write another book in the series featuring the same characters. Of course they are much older - Fin has a grown up son who is married with a child.
No longer working for the Police on Lewis, Fin is now a civilian doing IT research for the force in Glasgow, a job that he is not enjoying. Married to Marsaili the couple live a quiet life with little joy as their son, Fionnlagh, has moved back to Lewis with his wife and daughter.
When they hear that Fionnlagh has been accused of the murder of an 18: year old girl, a pupil in the school where he teaches , Fin and Marsaili rush back to the island so that they can see what has happened. Fin starts to investigate and this brings up all sorts of memories from his teenage years as he encounters many characters involved in his son’s predicament.
As ever the descriptions of the island were very evocative and the characters were well developed. As it had been a while since I’d read the earlier books it was good that the author provided the necessary background.
That being said I did not find The Black Loch as compelling as the previous novels. It was very slow moving with many flash backs to Fin and Marsaili’s earlier life which tended to slow down the narrative.
I really liked the sections set in the present and the last third of the book was very good and I raced through it.
It is difficult to revisit a favourite series so many years later and I think this book suffered a bit from that.
However overall it was a reasonably enjoyable read, just not this author’s best. Of couse this is only my opinion and others who have more recently read the trilogy might feel differently.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

The Black Loch is a return to the Lewis Trilogy which made such a mark when first published. The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen were remarkably successful and now Peter May has returned to Lewis and brought Fin MacLeod back to face his past and to consider his future.

It’s not necessary to have read the trilogy in order to read this novel, but if you do, the experience will be that much richer.

Fin MacLeod is living a harsh life in Glasgow. He’s doing a civilian job for the Police that is stressful and that he hates and his marriage is stale, yet he hasn’t the urge or the energy to fix it.

Fin Macleod hasn’t been back to Lewis for a decade; it holds bad memories for him. But when his son, Fionnlagh is suspected of the murder of 18-year-old Caitlin Black with whom he had been having an extra marital affair, Fin and Marsaili return to support him.

It’s a sad story and at best it looks tawdry. Attractive and athletic, Caitlin had gained some fame as a co-presenter of a nature documentary series set on Lewis. Fionnlagh is a teacher and Caitlin was one of his pupils. Not only has Fionnlagh betrayed his wife, but he has also left his child to suffer the gossip, scandal and tittle tattle that can make schoolchildren’s lives such a misery.

Caitlin was found on the shores of the Black Loch, murdered and, it is suspected, raped. Fionnlagh is the only suspect but Fin is determined to do what he can to get to the truth, even although he is no longer a policeman. For Fin it is a quest that takes him back to his own youth, and to his history and dark deeds at the Black Loch; a history that rises up to face him as he fights for his son’s freedom.

Peter May’s writing absorbs the reader into the landscape and the weather of Lewis; he makes us understand the importance of the land and the sea to these islanders and from the traditions of guga catching to making a living from the water, his writing is full of the heart of the Gàidhealtachd. He writes with pace and gets to the heart of his characters in a thrilling plotline that that covers some of today’s farming crimes.

Investigating what happened to Caitlin inevitably brings Fin close to the sins of his own past; sins which have had an emotional impact that he has never fully recognised and which he has never shared with anyone, not even Marsaili.

As Peter May leads us through some of the truly despicable things that are now happening in the farming of lochs of the Hebrides and elsewhere in Scotland, the true depravity of some exploiters is exposed. May’s own environmental passions prove a fertile breeding ground to lay bare a horrendous practice which should surely be outlawed.

When Fin finds out about these practices and lays them against what he remembers of his own past, so many secrets, so many buried lies rise to the surface. Again and again, Fin finds himself regretting his past; understanding perhaps for the first time the impact of some of his actions, and looking to find some truths that have eluded him for years. Old friendships are re-examined and uncomfortable home truths are told. The hypocritical position of the Church is exposed by its Minister as the tension rises and Fin is attacked by those who want to see him fail.

Atmospheric, brooding, full of family ghosts, lost desires and retribution, The Black Loch holds the scales that balance guilt and innocence with a very fine line between the two. Family secrets are uncovered; youthful crimes exposed and ultimately, Fionnlagh’s true position revealed. But all of this is in the shadow of the history and importance of the generations of families who have lived and worked on Lewis and the allegiance that they all have to an unforgiving island. An allegiance that the island repays by revealing its strength and beauty to those who come to love it and remain there.

Verdict: A pacy, tense and character driven plot that draws the reader deep into the atmosphere and characters of Lewis. Dark and unsettling, this is a sometimes shocking and emotional story that really resonates.

It’s been over ten years since Fin MacLeod has been on the Isle of Lewis, but he gets a call to say his son Fionnlagh has been arrested for the murder of a eighteen year old girl, so he knows that he has no choice but to return.
On arrival he finds out the girl is a celebrity and also a student taught by his son.
There is more bad news when he finds out that the girl is the daughter of an old friend.
This brings together old friends with pasts they’d rather forget, but the past doesn’t go away and it’s not long before their history and their current lives come together in the most incredible and explosive way.
This fourth instalment from the Isle of Lewis by Peter May shows what a high quality writer he is.
I love his ability to mix the past and the present to bring a story to life, whilst keeping the reader guessing what the end result will be.
I am a great admirer of his work and highly recommend it, and this current book is incredible in its entirety.

This is the 4th book in this trilogy! Yes, to get the very best from it, you could do yourself a favour and start from the beginning and read in order.
So...we start with the body of a 18 year old Caitlin washing up on a remote beach. As a strong swimmer and canoeist it is strange that she could have drowned, especially as a TV conservationist, she knows the area like the back of her hand. It appears though that she was having an affair with Fionnlagh, a teacher, who is considerably older than her and married with a child. He is the son of Fin Macleod, former police, who left the island years since to escape some rather bad memories, but with his son accused of Caitlin's murder, he, along with wife Marsaili, return to support their son and try and clear his name.
Told in the present, with flashbacks to the recent and distant pasts, we follow as Fin battles with his own past to save the future of his son. We learn about some shady things he did with his friends when just a child. Things that shaped the man he became, and which still haunt him. But, if Fionnlagh is innocent, which he still hasn't himself professed, what did happen to Caitlin and who, if anyone, is responsible?
I love this series, I love the characters and the setting and I have always felt like there was more to tell. So I was very excited when I heard about this book. So much so that when I actually managed to get my hands on it, I was a little scared to crack on with it in case I wanted it too much and it disappointed. I had nothing to fear... Even given the circumstance, it was great to reconnect with old friends, although, by the end, realisation dawned that I would soon be having to say goodbye to them once again. Hopefully it might only be farewell...
The plot is tight and very well executed. The setting adds atmosphere and could be considered a character in its own right, the incident with the whales is harrowing, and the salmon add the yuck factor that you didn't know you needed! I was a bit worried about ever eating salmon again, but I had it yesterday and... so far so good!
All in all, a cracking addition to the trilogy! I wonder if there will be a fifth book... I hope so! My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

When Fin Macleod and his wife Marsaili were called to the Isle of Lewis, where a young woman by the name of Caitlin had died, they had no idea of what was ahead. Their son, Fionnlagh, had been arrested for her murder and they needed to do all they could to clear her name. As an ex-cop, Fin knew the ins and outs, but also knew he wouldn't be kept updated with the investigation. George Gunn, a local policeman, and Fin's good friend, helped on the quiet, knowing he could lose his job if discovered.

Thirty years prior, when Fin was a teenager, he and his friends would get up to mischief - as teens do - and stealing salmon from one of his friends' fathers cages earned them some pocket money. It was a great lark - until it no longer was. The more Fin learned, the more he worried that the past was connected to the current day. Could Fin clear his son's name before he was taken from the island and charged?

The Black Loch is the 4th in the Lewis Trilogy by Peter May and it was packed with intrigue, menace and danger. This one could easily be read as a standalone as it's ages since I read the 3rd in the series, but reading from the beginning would obviously work well. Fin is a wonderful character, and reading about the tangled web of the past made me wonder how he actually reached adulthood!! I wonder if there will be a #5 in this captivating series? Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for my digital ARC to read and review.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the original Lewis trilogy I was excited to read a fourth instalment and I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. Peter May has the ability to evoke the feeling of places like no other author. I really felt that I was back on the cold bleak island of Lewis in the Hebrides. This story sees Fin MacLeod return to the place he came from as a civilian, having left the police force. However, the reason for his return forces him to become an investigator again as his son is accused of murdering one of his students. The visit reawakens memories of Fin's teenage years and exposes the strains within his relationship with his partner, Marsaili, the mother of his son. To solve the case, he is forced to face some of the wrongs of the past and we learn a great deal about the demons he carries with him. The characters in the story are made more believable by their flaws. None are whiter than white and all have things they would prefer to keep hidden. When the solution comes, it answers questions from the past as well as the present. An extremely satisfying read.

I read the first book as part of my book club and as I enjoyed it, I went on to read the next two. The 4th installment didn't disappoint, although I found I couldn't entirely remember what happened in the last book, due to it being a while ago, however this isn't the books fault and didn't make a difference, once I started to remember.
It's just as good as the other 3 books, only Fin is no longer a police officer. I enjoyed reading it and solving the mystery with him.
It had twists and turns and a further look into island life.
I would read a 5th, although I wonder if it's a good point to stop.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Over a decade after the publication of the final book in the then-Lewis trilogy, The Black Loch returns the reader to the Outer Hebrides and to the characters of Fin Macleod and his family, who are again central to the plot. This fourth book begins with the arrest for murder of Fin's son, Fionnlagh, and Fin's return to the island to attempt to clear Fionnlagh's name.

The events of Fin's teen years once again cast long shadows over the present, and any reader who is familiar with the previous books could reasonably wonder how much trauma and tragedy one family can endure.

Once again, the spectacular scenery of the island serves almost as an extra character, and the heart-stopping final chapters more than make up for the somewhat slow start to the story.

Peter May is one of my absolutely favourite authors! The Lewis trilogy getting a fourth book was just fantastic news! It did not disappoint me! The characters in the book are so vivid and massively flawed, and I love this combination! This story is uncomfortably personal to Fin, because this time it is not only about his childhood and what happened to him and his friends back in the days, but his son is accused of murder. Safe to say Fin is on the case, but this case is far from an easy case to solve.

This book is fantastic, but poignant. It was great being back on the island after all these years and getting answers to many unsolved things from the past. The characters are believable, oh so human, and because we are talking about a small island, there is so much history between the characters that it almost feels like I know them all. So much time has passed, so many repressed memories, and yet somehow people regress to who they were in olden days.

It is hard, if not impossible to beat this series, and I urge everyone to read this book!

An atmospheric page turner set in the far north of the Scottish islands - the writing is so good that the reader is transported there in all the wild glory of the area, with wind, rain, turbulent seas and a rare hot summer. The story begins with the discovery of a body on a beach, and ex police and Fin McLeod becomes intimately involved with the search for the culprit - no spoilers here! The Gaelic language used at times throughout the book is fascinating and adds even more atmosphere, and each of the characters is so well drawn that they become vivid pictures in the reader’s mind. This is a pretty dark example of Scottish Noir, but is no less riveting for it - in fact the pacing of the story is excellent and the ending surprising and dramatic - perhaps not entirely plausible in places, but this is a really excellent read.

The Black Loch by Peter May

Readers probably won’t believe this but this is my first Peter May novel. I’ve seen his books and had them on my ‘authors to explore’ list for when I’m second hand book shopping, but something always gets in the way of me reading them. So, when I was offered this blog tour I jumped at the chance to read one. I love books, particularly crime and mystery novels, set in Scotland and I was immediately drawn into the incredible scenery and atmosphere of the Isle of Lewis. This is the fourth in a trilogy, so I’ve definitely got some catching up to do where Fin McLeod is concerned. Once a detective and now retired, Fin is drawn back to Lewis when Caitlin Black’s body is discovered on a remote beach. Only eighteen years old, Caitlin was a student at the Nicholson Institute. It emerges that she was having an illicit affair with Fionnlagh McLeod, her teacher and a married man twenty years her senior. Fionnlagh soon becomes the prime suspect and is arrested on suspicion of her rape and murder. He is also Finn’s son. Finn knows he must return to Lewis to support his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. He also knows, despite the evidence against him, that he must try to clear his son’s name. As Fin travels around the island, he is drawn into past memories and soon realises this crime has echoes back into his own teenage past on the island. A terrible accident at a salmon farm caused two deaths, just as the industry started to expand on the island and become a multi-million pound industry. This is a journey of family ties, secret relationships and a bleak and unforgiving landscape, where violence, revenge and relegations converge.

Fin and his wife Marsaili both grew up on the island, so it holds echoes of their relationship over the years. It’s strange for them to be back on Lewis after a ten year absence and awkward to turn up on Fionnlagh’s doorstep where his wife Donna is devastated by the possibility that her husband has killed his teenage lover. Their daughter Eilidh is happy to see her grandparents and currently oblivious about her father’s fate, but it’s clear to see the damage Fionnlagh’s exploits have had on Donna. These early chapters felt like being sucked down into a whirlpool of memories. There’s such an incredible sense of place and the use of Gaelic words and names feels foreign, strange and somehow magical at the same time. There are tourists enjoying the white sandy beaches, but we’re taken down below the surface to the realities of living somewhere so remote and bleak. Then further down to the horrors underneath where salmon are eaten alive by lice in their cages, where beached whales gasp their last agonising breath on the sand and a beautiful girl with her whole life ahead of her can be thrown over a cliff like rubbish. PUT IN A QUOTE ABIUT LANDSCAPE

Peter May has portrayed the environment, whilst also showing the extent to which climate change and the eco- industry have impacted the surroundings he’s known for his whole life. The old cottages are damp and battered, some being refurbed by incomers with money either as family homes or holiday cottages. New houses are squat, one-storey dwellings built to blend with the sand and the heather with large windows giving uninterrupted views of the landscape. Younger islanders are focused on eco-activism with Caitlin Black and her friend Isobel starring in a programme about the island’s ecology. They care about salmon farming practices that prevent wild salmon from swimming up river to spawn. Huge cages that once held a few hundred salmon now hold a hundred thousand, with such a high mortality rate they’re having to take them from the cages and dump them into rock crevices formed from by the tide. They lay there rotting until the sea washes them away.

Finn’s narrative takes us on his investigations around the island, trying to find evidence to disprove the police’s theory that his son is a killer. A task made much more difficult when his DNA matches samples taken from Caitlin’s body. Why would he rape someone he’s been sleeping with for months according to locals who’d noticed their clandestine comings and goings from a derelict cottage by the sea. Yet Finn is also pulled inexorably into the past and we go with him because this island has a huge hold and power. I felt centuries of history in the island, it’s people and their relationships. This is sometimes positive, as Finn remembers beach parties where he first met Masaili as a teenager and they make love on the beach in the present, grasping a tiny moment of happiness and connection in the hurt and devastation. The most terrible memories involve a scheme to steal fish from the fish farm and pass them off as wild salmon, for a ghillie from the estate to sell on. Finn goes along with it despite his misgivings, but the scheme is suggested by Niall. A group of teenagers meet and drive to the fish farm several times, but one night there’s an awful storm and a sense of foreboding. This enterprise leads to two deaths and creates a suspicion in Finn about his friend Niall. If he is willing to steal from his own family and brush aside the death of a friend, is he capable of murder? Niall’s surname is Black.

It feels as if the island has a consciousness. It sees your past and your future as clearly as the present, almost as if they’re happening simultaneously. I felt it when Finn walked across the very place he stood with Masaili when they were first meeting at six years old and she had two pigtails. She also called him Finn for the first time, christening him with a nickname he still uses. This is a thin place, unchanged for centuries. It said something about how we experience the world. We are rarely solidly who we are in the present, with past and future forgotten? We are simultaneously all the selves we’ve ever been. So, Fionnlagh can be a good father, a talented teacher and a suspect in a murder.

Masaili has a secret about the night in Glasgow when she found Finn in bed with another girl in their student flat? It’s one of the only times she narrates so it’s important. It makes us realise that Finn isn’t the upstanding man we think he is, he was also the cause of so much hurt, rather like his son. There’s a sense in which this trauma is generational, not just in individual families but in the island itself. The environment has always been harsh and people have found it to survive. It’s a hunting and fishing community and other nearby islands, like St.Kilda, became uninhabitable in the early Twentieth Century due to the difficulty of growing and catching enough food for the islanders. Fin takes us back to a conversation he had with his grandfather about the whaling industry, brutal tales of harpooning these majestic creatures and turning the sea red. It links to the beached whales in the bay, possibly drawn off course by one of them being unwell and in distress. As the vet assesses these giant creatures and people desperately try to save them he talks about a tradition in the Faroe Islands where they draw whales to the shore then hack them to pieces. Fin has violent memories of being forced to join a seasonal slaughter. In his last summer before university, Fin felt like a black cloud had descended because he and his friend Artair had been chosen to join the guga hunters. This was a four hundred year old tradition where twelve men would travel to An Sgeir, an island no more than a rock in the middle of the ocean. A guga was a young gannet, once hunted in a desperate need for food, their slaughter was now a rite of passage. Hunters killed two thousand birds in a fortnight, then they would be plucked and salted. Fin felt disgusted by the idea, but it seemed unavoidable and it would be dishonourable to give up your place.

This was a tense and complex case with so many possible suspects, and Peter May also keeps us guessing about Fionnlagh. Perhaps he could be the killer, after all he does confess. In a way this created a crime novel that didn’t revolve completely on whodunnit, but on the tensions between different characters and also their environment. He also creates a compelling picture of the beautiful and intelligent victim, Caitlin Black. A girl as embedded in the island as Fin, with a deep passion for the island’s environment and it’s flora and fauna. She epitomises the gap between generations, but also between those who want to protect the island and those who are making a generous living by exploiting and polluting it. I loved how deep the island and it’s history ran in these people, something I can understand having lived right next to the River Trent for most of my life. In fact the first thing I did when moving into my last village twelve years ago was go to the river bank and take off my sandals to feel the river bank under my feet. The river and it’s daily tidal bore, the smell of fresh cut hay, the cool of the forest, the crunch of dry pine needles underfoot as well as the smell of straw bales in the sun and freshly turned earth are all in my soul. They make up part of who I am and although I moved away for study, I have returned and unknowingly into the same village where my great-great grandmother is buried. Our ancestors call to us and this is definitely what Fin and Marsaili are feeling, as well as need to be close to Fionnlagh, Donna and Eilidh. This is something he couldn’t have imagined ten years ago, but now he wonders if it’s where they belong. Perhaps this means future additions to the series and on the basis of this novel, I’ll be the first in the queue if it does.