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A review by apechild
The Lewis Man by Peter May
4.0
I just loved this book. I've not been to Lewis (yet, although I fully intend to one day) but this captures such a sense of place and community, as well as the recent history and culture of the place. Yes, this is a murder mystery, but it's also a book about the islands, the people and lives. And there's a particularly sad story in this one. It captures the island in the way that Ann Cleves' books do about the Shetlands. I will definately have to look up the other two books in this trilogy (incidentally, I don't feel that I missed out on anything by starting with book number two).
A body is discovered in a bog on Lewis. Many a well preserved body are found in bogs, which are hundreds, if not thousands of years old. In this case. they can date the body as a much more recent burial because of the Elvis tattoo. Yes folks, there's been a mur-der. A DNA check proves that the body is related to old man Tormod Macdonald, who always said he was an only child. Sadly he now has dementia and the question is, can Fin Macleod figure out what went on all those years ago, and who the dead man actually is?
Of course he can. But I'm not going to write about the solution to the puzzle here. The only thing I will say is that I'm baffled he never used the Elvis tattoo as a method to try and figure out who the guy was.
As well as the investigation, we get to read about Tormod's life. He is a fictional character, however, his life is based on history and other people's experiences, so it's an interesting read from that aspect. I hadn't realised that the Dean Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh used to be a children's home (and a grim one at that - and it's such a nice place to go now). And this is a story that takes us from Edinburgh and across the waves to Eriskay, Harris and Lewis.
A body is discovered in a bog on Lewis. Many a well preserved body are found in bogs, which are hundreds, if not thousands of years old. In this case. they can date the body as a much more recent burial because of the Elvis tattoo. Yes folks, there's been a mur-der. A DNA check proves that the body is related to old man Tormod Macdonald, who always said he was an only child. Sadly he now has dementia and the question is, can Fin Macleod figure out what went on all those years ago, and who the dead man actually is?
Of course he can. But I'm not going to write about the solution to the puzzle here. The only thing I will say is that I'm baffled he never used the Elvis tattoo as a method to try and figure out who the guy was.
As well as the investigation, we get to read about Tormod's life. He is a fictional character, however, his life is based on history and other people's experiences, so it's an interesting read from that aspect. I hadn't realised that the Dean Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh used to be a children's home (and a grim one at that - and it's such a nice place to go now). And this is a story that takes us from Edinburgh and across the waves to Eriskay, Harris and Lewis.