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scottishlass 's review for:

The Blackhouse by Peter May
5.0

Although I am not a big fan of crime novels, I really enjoyed this book though initially it felt like two separate stories - one an autobiography of growing up on the Island of Lewis, and the other a story about solving the murder of Angus Macritchie. The two stories gradually merge into one, which I found really interesting because you are meeting some of the characters twice - once as children and again as adults.
Having visited Lewis and Harris, I loved the descriptions of the island and the claustrophobic feeling of living in such a tight-knit community dominated by the church. This part felt very realistic and believable.
The crime element of the story reminded me a little of Jane Harper's The Dry, where the main character has grown up with some of the characters, and their childhood plays a part in the present story. The Blackhouse certainly kept me on the edge of my seat as the story hurtled towards its conclusion, though I can't decide if I felt that the crime part of the book was as realistic or believable as the part about growing up on the island.
I also felt the book was quite dark and unrelentingly sad.