Scan barcode
A review by veronicafrance
The Lewis Man by Peter May
4.0
I enjoyed this just as much as the first one. It's always going to be a problem setting a murder series on a remote island -- there's a limit to how many murders you can plausibly have. May gets round this here by using a long-ago murder as the hook. Once again May alternates third-person narrative with first-person -- but this time the first person chapters are narrated by a man with dementia. Quite a challenge! At first I found the changes in tone in these chapters disconcerting, but it soon starts to make sense. Tormod's immediate surroundings and current events confuse him, but his long-ago memories are crystal clear.
This time it's Tormod's story, not Fin's, that really carries the book. May does an excellent job of constructing the plot and slowly building Tormod's story, using real events and places. The structure means the reader always knows more than Fin, but that's fine; it was still interesting following his detective work as he pieced together the story from random remarks by Tormod. I realised the true identity of one character the minute she appeared, but that didn't spoil the story. Once again there are many lyrical descriptions of Western Isles landscape and weather -- perhaps a few too many. Other minor criticisms -- the ending was rather unbelievable and wrapped up a bit too quickly. And I still find some parts of the plot a bit laboured:. I will be reading the final volume after a short break!
This time it's Tormod's story, not Fin's, that really carries the book. May does an excellent job of constructing the plot and slowly building Tormod's story, using real events and places. The structure means the reader always knows more than Fin, but that's fine; it was still interesting following his detective work as he pieced together the story from random remarks by Tormod. I realised the true identity of one character the minute she appeared, but that didn't spoil the story. Once again there are many lyrical descriptions of Western Isles landscape and weather -- perhaps a few too many. Other minor criticisms -- the ending was rather unbelievable and wrapped up a bit too quickly. And I still find some parts of the plot a bit laboured: