The Blackhouse (The Lewis Trilogy, 1) Paperback – August 5, 2014

The Black House is the first book by Peter May that I've read. It certainly won't be the last, as I've already downloaded the Kindle version of The Lewis Man, the second book in his novels about the island of Lewis, and am looking forward to Kindle publication of the third and final volume in the series.Let me state clearly at the outset: Readers looking for a plot-driven, linear mystery focused on detection and police procedures should think carefully before tackling the Black House. Yes, the book is put in motion by a grisly murder on Lewis, and yes, the mystery is resolved in the end. But what lies between the start and finish of the book is much more about Lewis itself and the hardy and "dour" people who eke out a living on the northern- and western-most of the Outer Hebrides islands, off the western coast of Scotland. Black House brilliantly captures the grit and near-poverty that impact the inhabitants and shape their lives.At the outset, Edinburgh detective Fin Mcleod is dispatched to his native Lewis to investigate the murder of a character from his past who was discovered hanged and disemboweled in a shed on the island. The murder bears a striking resemblance to an unsolved Edinburgh case Fin's in charge of (and has made little progress in solving). Fin's left a lot of personal baggage on Lewis, but he also brings a lot with him: his marriage is falling apart in the wake of the hit and run death of his young son. Devastated by his loss, Fin has been absent from work for so long that his boss basically tells him that solving the Lewis case is his last chance to stay on the force.As Fin goes about his work on Lewis, he finds the murder inextricably linked to his own childhood on the island, including a tragedy in his past that he has completely blocked out. In order to solve the case and apprehend the villain, Fin has to look deep within himself, his past, and the islanders he knew and loved (or hated) as a child and young man. The journey of self-discovery is absolutely integral to the novel, and through it we learn about Fin, Lewis, and the people who live there. The story is told both in third- and first-person narratives, which some readers may find off-putting. It took me a few chapters to adjust to the form, but I soon found myself immersed in the novel.May does an exceptionally fine job of vividly capturing the terrain, weather, and hardscrabble lives of the Lewis islanders. This is very much the novel's main focus, as the mystery is literally (and plot-wise) the means to return Fin to his roots and put him on the voyage to discover himself. It's beautifully done, particularly the scenes of the guga hunters on Sula Sgeir, where Lewis men to this day stubbornly maintain their hereditary rights to the annual gannet hunt. I have never been to Lewis but I have spent time on Skye, and May's depiction of the environment and particularly of the extraordinary quality and play of the light take me straight back to my own memories of the beauty and desolation of the western Highlands and Skye.Black House is much more than a mystery. It is a moving portrait of a way of life -- warts and all -- that is sustained in the face of many challenges. Through the narrative, we come to care deeply about Fin and his fellow Lewis islanders. It is an exceptional novel that happens to also be a mystery. It succeeds brilliantly on both counts.

With so many twists and turns, nobody could have seen this coming! This was an immensely enjoyable read and made me feel as though I was standing in Scotland.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read this as the January Book of the Month with Scotland Book Club.A small-town crime and mystery novel based on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland follows the return of Finn Macleod, now a DI with Edinburgh police, to his hometown and the ghosts of his past, to investigate a murder of a larger than life childhood bully.This novel is filled with fact, ways of life on Lewis, and historical interest references. I found myself making copious notes on points of interest and then Googling information surrounding mentions in this book, from the actual Isle of Lewis, Blackhouses, Lews Castle, the Brahan Seer and the Lewis Chessmen through to the reality of the Guga Hunt and images of Leith Walk. This book brought a remote area of Scotland to life for me.Even though this was a crime and mystery novel, there are so many layers within the story which do not fail to surprise and add extra depth and strength to the characters and the plot. Very well developed in all aspects.I will make time to read the next 2 books in this trilogy. Thank you Scotland Book Club for introducing me to this author.My favourite lines with beautiful words from the novel:‘And for once it is warm, like breath on the skin, caressing and seductive.’‘The sea breathes gently upon the shore, phosphorescent foam bursting silver bubbles over gold.’‘And all the regrets of his life rose up inside him like water in a spring, and he knelt beside the boat and wept.’‘A blink of moonlight splashed a pool of broken silver on the ocean beyond.’‘Real sleep. The kind that wraps all thoughts in black and lowers them gently to the bottom of a deep, dark well.’

I found The Blackhouse when I was looking for a story to complete a reading challenge (Nordic (or Scandi) Noir). I didn’t know what to expect when I started so I am completely surprised that I enjoyed this story immensely.The Blackhouse is a character driven mystery with two points of view, Fin present and Fin past. Fin is an interesting character who is in the middle of a personal crossroads. His son died recently in an automobile accident. His relationship with his wife is on thin ice, and now he is asked to go back to his hometown to investigate a murder like the one he is working on in Edinburgh. The problem is Isle of Lewis, his hometown, holds memories that he suppressed for years. He doesn’t was to stir up old problems. However, since his son’s death, his nightmares have increased.Peter May creates dark world. His detailed description of the setting gives a tremendous sense of place that adds to the tension and gloom of the past and present. My heart went out to the characters who made decisions from a place that they did not understand. I was mesmerized while horrified at what might be around the next corner.I am so happy that I purchased the audiobook with the e-book. The Isle of Lewis residents speak a lot of Gaelic. It is educational to hear the words spoken correctly instead of the mess my head would make of the words. The narrator, Peter Forbes’ performance adds a special quality to the clouds hanging over the main characters. His voice enhances the sometimes sinister, very secretive, and closed community of Isle of Lewis. I highly recommend this book. If you like audio books, this is one that you need especially if you don't speak Gaelic. I can sink into the story easier when I'm not worried about pronunciation.

The majority of reviewers of The Blackhouse rate it four or five stars, and it is very easy to see why. The descriptions of the Outer Hebrides are very atmospheric, if rather bleak, and it is easy to visualise the various locations mentioned in the story. The plot is cleverly told in the first person when the central character, Detective Inspector Finn Macleod, is recounting his childhood on the Isle of Lewis and in the third person when dealing with the investigation into the recent murder that brought him back to the island.However, there are aspects of the novel that I found less enjoyable. There are long passages describing various aspects of life on the islands, which no doubt are quite realistic but some which I found particularly unsettling (e.g. the descriptions of how young gannets are caught and killed). I also felt that the plot lost its way at times with too little focus on the actual investigation of the murder and too much on the back story of Finn Macleod. I also did not particularly warm to Finn's character ... having very recently lost his 8 year old son and facing the breakdown of his marriage in Edinburgh, he appears to very quickly 'forget' them as he wallows in his memories of his upbringing on Lewis and the relationships with the islanders of his youth who still live there. The long descriptive passages slowed the pace of the story down for me while the 'action' sequences seemed too short in comparison.So if you enjoy stories brimming with atmosphere and melancholic reflections of one's youth and self-pity then you'll no doubt find much to enjoy in this novel but if you like your murder mysteries to focus on how the police solve the crime, then you may find this novel a little disappointing.

This book sees Fin Macleod, a Scot from the Isle of Lewis, return to his small-c conservative (or slightly bigoted maybe) backwoods town (from Edinburgh), after a murder there looks like one he's investigating in his home patch.The men of Lewis, are hard drinking "men", while women and children "know better" than to answer back, which is why Macleod got up and left. Some people can only take so much oppression.Anyway, he's back, and the book alternates between Macleod's relevant reminiscences about the past, and his current investigation. If half of what is said here about Lewis is typical of the area, it's a tough place to grow up, though might be typical of the "working" working-class.The book is okay, I guess. It's just the ending stretched… credibility somewhat. You know it was going to be something, because the book kept banging on about it, but you aren't going to guess the exact details, because Macleod is such an unreliable narrator that he'll end up leading you astray (which is a bit of a pain, for a police officer).

DI Fin Macleod returns from Edinburgh to the island of his birth to investigate the possible link between two murders. He meets old friends and old adversaries, and is forced to address issues that have remained unresolved or even hidden for seventeen years.This book is a mix of genres and took a while to get into for that reason. The murder investigation is a contemporary story, written in the third person. It reads like most other good crime novels of today. But Fin's back story, while being integral to the investigation, is told via the first person and at a slower, more reflective pace. I found these switches a little disorienting to start with, which is the main reason I gave it four starts instead of five.I was recommended to read this in preparation for a trip to the Outer Hebrides. And for this it worked very well. The island, its weather and its nature, is a major star of the book. I look forward to seeing it in real life. And I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries, especially those set in Scotland.

This five star book is more than a crime/police/mystery story: so much more. It is a joy to read and the author takes you with the characters every step of the way. It begins with a troubled, newly bereaved, policeman being sent from urban Edinburgh back to Lewis, the isle of his childhood. He is to act as the liaison, the link between the mainlanders and the Gaelic speaking natives. Along the way we learn about the life of the policeman on the island whilst he unravels the solution to the murder. This is beautifully done, to the extent the history could stand alone. But of course, the past informs and causes the present. A brilliant piece of writing. I look forward eagerly to the sequel. This book elevates the crime story to award winning literature...or it should.

Somehow I did have the feeling that this book was a set up for a series in that an extraordinary amount of the book was taken up with background of the leading man (Fin Macleod). However, some of that was inevitable since the murder he is investigating on the island of Lewis where he originated, is also to do with events which happened in his teenage years when still on the island. In common with other Peter May books I have read, this has crescendos and lulls in pace which allow for some well written (and researched) descriptive passages giving a great depth to the background for the book.Absent from his desk in Edinburgh due to a personal family tragedy, Fin is recalled reluctantly to his birth home from which he has spent many a year attempting to forget his dismal childhood. The murder he is called to investigate benefits from his familiarity with the island, its ways and his school mates (both friends and otherwise), though he is haunted by memories from the past. The twist in the tale and the gap in his memories is dealt with very neatly and sympathetically, and provides a springboard for solving the immediate case of murder.The narrative in this book runs between Fin's teenage years written in the first person and Finlay's reluctant return time written in the third person. Normally I am not keen on this form of narration but in this case it was well suited to the storyline.I must have enjoyed this at times very bleak book as knowing this was a trilogy, I have set about obtaining the other two in the series to read. I had no idea that this was / has been a tv dramatisation / radio series but see that it appears to have been however, I obviously missed those at the time.