The Chessmen

This year has seen the publication of the final section of two fantastic trilogies that I have been enthusiastically following. The first, SANCTUS by Simon Toyne, is reviewed on Eurocrime, with the final book, THE TOWER, being reviewed this week. The second, THE BLACKHOUSE trilogy by Peter May, is also mostly reviewed on Eurocrime. The final instalment, THE CHESSMEN, is reviewed below.....



The Chessmen by Peter May. 2013. Quercus. Hardback £14.99. 383pp. ISBN 978-0-85738-223-8.

Finally. The long-awaited conclusion of The Blackhouse trilogy by this awesome author. Someone else has reviewed it for Eurocrime, so I am adding my thoughts to my own blog instead. Once again, the book is set on the Isle of Lewis and has former policeman Finn MacLeod as its main character. I love this trilogy. My Dad, whose father came from Lewis, and who has been there several times, says he loves the books too and that they portray even the tiniest details of Island life accurately. Praise indeed and well deserved, I think.

In this final installment, Finn is now living with Marsaili, his childhood love, and has a job as head of security for the local laird, who has a bit of a problem with poachers. One of these turns out to be Whistler, one of Finn's old school friends, who takes the odd fish for his own needs and doesn't see why he can't. Finn and Whistler exchange angry words and then end up out on the moor at night together, in a storm. Despite their anger with each other, Whistler saves Finn, who is not properly equipped for the conditions, and they take shelter in a small bothy, near a loch. In the morning, to their horror, the loch has disappeared and the vanishing water has exposed an old airplane. Closer inspection shows it to belong to Roddy, another old school pal, who died some 18 years before when his plane disappeared. And now here it is, complete with a body that must be Roddy. Fin is shocked. The resulting investigations shock him still more and he is pushed to the limit, both in terms of loyalty to friends, past and present, as well as having to face the truths that are finally exposed.

One of the interesting points about the book, as well as the gripping storyline, is the way it is written. Alternate chapters follow a time-shift pattern, between the present and aspects of Finn's past, as he thinks about how things used to be during his time as a roadie for Amran, an extremely popular band that had its beginnings as a group of high school students playing gigs at the weekends on the island. The parts of the story written in the present don't flow in a chronological order either, so you have to keep your wits about you in order to keep up! However, you won't be disappointed.

THE CHESSMEN is a fantastic end to an amazing trilogy. I have been totally enchanted by these books and am keen to read more by Peter May, starting with copying my Dad and reading his China series on my Kindle!

Extremely Highly Recommended.