The Chessmen: The Lewis Trilogy (The Lewis Trilogy, 3) Paperback – January 5, 2016

Fin Macleod has left his police job to become the head of security at a nearby estate. He's living with Marsaili and catching up with old friends. He's investigating his old pal Whistler for poaching when they discover the wreck of an airplane with a body inside. They both recognize the plane as one belonging to Roddy McKenzie, another old friend and famous for a Celtic rock band who disappeared many years ago.This is such a great series. While each book is a discrete story, the three books tie together into a cohesive unit that not only tells the story of Fin's life but a compelling view of life on the Outer Isles of Scotland. The writer does such a wonderful job of describing Lewis and the other islands:Village after village drifted past Fin's windows in the rain. Wet and dark, and stretched out along the road like so many little boxes strung on a thread, treeless and naked, exposed to the elements. Only a few hardy shrubs grew in the peaty soil where hopeful souls had made vain attempts to hack gardens and lawns out of unyielding moorland.I can't recommend these books enough. The mysteries are interesting, but the real heart of the books are the characters and settings. And the writing - oh, I love the writing. I'm a bit sad to have finished this trilogy, but at least Mr. May has a whole catalog of books left for me to discover.

We learn about yet another chapter in the life of Fin MacLeod in this third book of the Lewis Trilogy. As a college boy he was the driver for a local Celtic rock band that went on to become famous. The fast friendships he made in those days form a backdrop to the dramatic events in this story.Fin is back home in Lewis, taking on a job catching large-scale poachers. The most brilliant of his old friends, Whistler, has become a loaner who lives primitively, grows his own food, generates his own electricity, and poaches for fish and game. Another friend turns up dead in an airplane that appears at the bottom of a loch when it dries up suddenly one day. While Fin gets involved in solving this murder, the seeds of another murder are being sown.The Lewis Chessmen play a role in the story. They are being brought to Lewis for a gala. Whistler has become adept to carving giant replicas of them. The originals were carved in the twelfth century and were found in Lewis under mysterious circumstances in modern times. I never heard of them before and had to check the British Museum website to learn about them, since they are not really explained in this book.The carvings are strongly influenced by Norse culture. And Fin's male friends are big and hairy and have a tendency to fight like Norsemen. Tempers are short among the male population of Lewis.I found the plot of this book a bit diffuse. Several dramas are unfolding, all of them interesting, but not all interconnected. So the focus is constantly shifting, and there are loose ends. But Peter May is such a good storyteller, the narrative always held my interest. Anyone who's read the first two books should also enjoy The Chessmen, even if it's not quite as tightly written as the earlier books.

Anyone who has read the first two installments of The Lewis Trilogy knew from the start that they were in the hands of a master in Peter May. His hero, tortured cop Fin McCleod, literally must walk down memory lane to solve the terrible crimes he investigates in his home island of Lewis, part of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Forbidding and remote, the island and the rest of the archipelago are the true stars of these books--their beautiful, menacing presence looms over the proceedings, thanks to May's incredible ability to communicate a palpable sense of place. And what a place it is: the last holdout of Gaelic-speaking Scotland, home to a hardscrabble lot of fisherfolk and crofters eking out their existence against a windswept, rocky landscape, all of it framed by the vicious, changeable moods of the North Atlantic. In the final installment, Fin reunites with his troubled childhood friend, Whistler Macaskill, a brilliant loner who's good with his hands but not so much with people. In Whistler, May has created an unforgettable character, who in some ways is the very personification of the Hebridean islands. There are amazing scenes featuring the wild and lovely landscape of Lewis, but the real charm is in the human drama that is played out when the sins of their youth come back to haunt Fin, Whistler, and others of their friends--some of whom have achieved escape velocity from the island and some of whom have most decidedly not. Do yourself a favor and pick this book up and read it immediately--but if you haven't read THE BLACKHOUSE or THE LEWIS MAN, definitely start there first. This is utterly transporting stuff.

I enjoyed this book. I read it after swearing I wouldn't, having read the first two in quick succession. All 3 books are a bit like different artist studies of the same master work - that is, they have the same elements, and, read too close together, this is annoying.However, any one of the books is great on its own. The last in the series spent a little less time describing the scenery, and a little more on the characters and plot, which, on the whole, was a good thing. it also tied off the loose threads from the first two books - but you really don't need to have read the first two to enjoy the third. The characters were interesting, the plot devices not too painfully contrived (contrived plot devices are an unfortunate theme in these 3 books, but the third suffers least from this) and there are a few twists and turns to keep you interested.Read it - you will like it. Just don't read it too soon after reading either of the other two!

Had to know what happened to the characters from this series. Wasn't disappointed!

I loved reading the Chess Man (Book 3 in the Lewis Trilogy) by Peter May as much as I did the first two books in the trilogy. In fact, I enjoyed them so much I wish Peter May would do a Caimh McDonnell and turn what was supposed to be a trilogy into a series of as many books as he likes (FYI - Caimh is also a great author that I enjoy reading, though a very different style from Peter May) The characters and the location combined with the author's mastery of the written word all come together to create something almost real in your mind. Instead of putting the book down and thinking that was fun, you yearn for more. I would love more books with Fin and the others. Brilliant and wow, what a writing talent Peter May is!

C'est le dernier de la trilogie et peut-être le meilleur. Un cold case à priori banal mais qui se révèle bien plus complexe. Sans compter une partie qui est la suite de l’épisode 2.Je regrette que May n’ait pas fait un quatrième épisode. Je m’étais attaché aux personnages de Finn et Marsaili.

Ich liebe die Bücher von Peter May!Dies hier ist Band 3 von 3 der Lewis-Trilogie und ein stimmiger Abschluss.Mein persönlicher Lieblingsband nach Band 1.Unbedingt selber lesen.

Reading the three books was just like reading one unputdown able book. Lots of twists and turns, never boring I enjoyed every line of the books. Have never read Peter May before but will be looking for his books to read in the future.

Spectacular end to an unforgettable trilogy! All the characters ring true. The narration style is poetry at its best. I feel I have visited the Isle of Lewis thanks to the author’s descriptions. Very sorry to have finished it. I want to go back to Lewis again! Won’t you write a fourth one?Thank you for such a wonderful trip, Mr May!