After having enjoyed The Blackhouse by Peter May, I wanted to return to windswept Lewis, and the lives of its island folk. As I found a Kindle in my Christmas stocking The Lewis Man was my second purchase (after the long-sought Irving Wallace novel, The Man) though it was my first Kindle read. And what a good read it was...
The Lewis Man starts with a corpse being dug out from a peat bog. Fin Macleod, our hero from The Blackhouse, permanently resettled in Lewis (albeit bedding down in a tent) and trying to rekindle his youthful relationship with his old flame Marsaili, launches an unofficial investigation into the mystery of the deceased. In a refreshing change from many crime series, while Fin drives the story on in the present, the narrative focuses upon Marsaili's father, Tormod MacDonald. Tormod is stricken with Alzheimers and haunted by fragments of his childhood in the grim shortage-ridden austerity Britain of the early 50s. Past and present weave together into a dark tale of post-war wrongs reaching down through the years.
I'd recommend curling up with the Lewis Man on a cold'n'gusty winter's night, 4/5.
Once this Man has finished The Man he looks forward to reading The Chessmen, the conclusion to Peter May's atmospheric trilogy.
Thank you again to Amanda for allowing me to blog!
Thanks, Man. You are welcome. Please feel free to review books for us anytime.
