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A review by lazygal
The Lewis Man by Peter May
4.0
When I read The Black House I knew I wanted to read more by Peter May... now I've read the second of his "Isle of Lewis" mysteries and need to finish the trilogy. As with Camilla Lackburg's books, each story has a modern mystery that is dependent on older information, an older story, to be solved.
In this case, Fin MacLeod has quit his job with the Edinburg police, divorced his wife and moved back to his parents decrepit croft, thinking to make some sort of life on Lewis. In the previous book, he reestablished relations with Marsaili and learned he was the father of her child - so now what? Well, there's a bog body that turns out to not be thousands of years old but somewhat more recent and related to Marsaili's now-demented father. The local policeman, Gunn, asks Fin for his (extremely unofficial) help and the result is an exploration of Scotland's sectarian issues, life on the Hebrides and personal identity.
It's that last that really intrigued me, as an adoptee and as someone who has seen others change their names and try to start over as a new person. Did John/Donald John/Tormond really succeed or, in the end, was he still the same person he was as a child?
ARC provided by publisher.
In this case, Fin MacLeod has quit his job with the Edinburg police, divorced his wife and moved back to his parents decrepit croft, thinking to make some sort of life on Lewis. In the previous book, he reestablished relations with Marsaili and learned he was the father of her child - so now what? Well, there's a bog body that turns out to not be thousands of years old but somewhat more recent and related to Marsaili's now-demented father. The local policeman, Gunn, asks Fin for his (extremely unofficial) help and the result is an exploration of Scotland's sectarian issues, life on the Hebrides and personal identity.
It's that last that really intrigued me, as an adoptee and as someone who has seen others change their names and try to start over as a new person. Did John/Donald John/Tormond really succeed or, in the end, was he still the same person he was as a child?
ARC provided by publisher.