Stunning through and through from the backdrop and exquisitely described landscape of Lewis to the carefully entangled tale with its twists and turns. I have friends in Lewis and feel the spirit of the place is captured beautifully from the beauty and wildness of the landscape to the fact that it’s so sparse in population that everyone knows everyone and there is a strong sense of of loyalties and that everyone pulls together against adversity but if anyone puts a step wrong then it sends ripples through the entire community. The names and Gaelic element made me feel fully immersed and part of the action myself rather than looking on as an outsider. I loved that personal loyalties were tested to the max, not least that a retired cop was suddenly facing the other side of the investigation when his son was the accused and the wrenching emotions this caused whilst trying to keep open minded under extreme time pressures. As usual old secrets rise to the surface and threaten to bubble over and opening old wounds is never going to go well. I didn’t guess the ending and there was a real frenzy of action towards the end which was totally exhilarating. Top notch writing and not one to be missed in my humble opinion.

I have read the others in this series but a long time ago. The story is centred on the communities of the Hebrides. They are insular, suspicious and everyone knows everyone. Families have a shared history even though they leave for the mainland and return as adults. In the story, the islands are characters in themselves. The police make an arrest and sit back as they believe they have an open and shut case. The father of the accused thinks otherwise and as an ex police officer he investigates on his own. The pace of the book is slow much like the islands, pondering and weighing up every nuance. Not sure what the whales really added to the story but I will be more careful when choosing salmon! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ebook ARC

‘The Black Loch’,by Peter May,(Lewis Series,#4).,makes for an atmospheric investigative journey to a remote and majestic but sometimes unforgiving part of Scotland,namely the Outer Hebrides.There is a realistic sense of the rugged landscape and a vivid portrayal of the scenery underlying this fraught journey for the lead characters.In this story Fin and Marsaili return somewhat reluctantly to Lewis to face the traumatic circumstances which led to the arrest of their son,and make for difficult encounters with friends,family,and old foes.
In a sense this slow burning tale matches the somewhat sombre stillness, silence, and at times harsh beauty of the western isles.
This is a relatively measured paced tale that weaves in timeline between the relationships of some people in the past and the present.Misdeeds of their younger years are revealed that bind them in uneasy silent truces requiring compromise rather than honest revelations.

I was super excited to get this review Peter May is a favourite of mine

I was hooked from the first page to the last. Def a 5 star for me

What a fantastic book this was to read. It has been quite a while since I read the others in the series so thankfully there was enough in this book to remind you what happened previously when it was connected to the current storyline. Great characters and a storyline that kept you hooked from the off, wanting to read on until I got to the end - my sign of a great book! Highly recommended.

An informative ecological read wrapped up in a thought provoking crime novel set against the backdrop of the atmospheric Isle of Lewis.
With beautiful scenery, old familiar characters and a edgy crime to solve, this was a 'wrap up with a hot chocolate ' sort of read.
Meeting Fin again was joyful, the circumstances, not so much. A usual May's depiction of island life feels authentic and with a murder to solve as well as long ago but not forgotten secrets to uncover, The Black Loch was a compelling enjoyable read

The Black Loch by P. May, published by Quercus, is book 4 in the Lewis Trilogy. The book can easily be read as a stand alone, anyway, for best reading experience I recommend to read the books in order.
Seasoned Detective Sergeant George Gunn and Detective Louise McNish's latest case includes a dead girl found. Set in Scotland the investigation starts and the reader is along for the ride, intriguing, twisty full of unexpected turns, a fantastic read.

An intricate and interesting thriller. Well developed characters who nearly all knew each other when they were growing up,made for good dynamics.

It’s over 10 years since Peter May’s ‘Lewis Trilogy’ was published, though I came to the books only in the past year, quickly becoming hooked and reading them in quick succession, so the characters and events in those three were reasonably fresh in my mind when embarking on this book, the fourth in the series. The fault is mine, then, when I say that I was disappointed to find so many pages given over to filling in Fin’s background, the events and relationships of his youth. I can well see, though, that someone coming to this series for the first time would need all this information - this story would be mind-boggling without it - better still, of course, to read the first three first. Having said that, many characters and events are new and it was interesting to see where they fitted into the whole (or, more often, onto the fringes of what we already knew about Fin’s Lewis).

Apart from the mystery surrounding Caitlin’s death, the main story here is about the horrors of industrial salmon farming and it is not for the squeamish among us. This was all new to me. And, apart from Fin of course, the main character here (as has been said so many times before about Peter May’s writing) is the Outer Hebrides. I always find his descriptions of the islands compelling - dark and foreboding, cloud-covered mountains and cliffs, transformed by sudden bursts of sunlight breaking through the gloom. Must visit sometime.

With thanks to Quercus, riverrun via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

The,Black Loch by Peter May

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.
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.
As always a great story by this author , although I much preferred the present day rather than when Fin & Marsalli were younger but I can see it was done for backstory so I can see the point. All the characters were brought to life in a brilliant way and I enjoyed reading how they were all connected .