That Island Feeling

Pearl Island is a special location where Lily and Harry spent their honeymoon many years ago. They often spoke about the island to their daughter Andie so when Andie was looking for a location to take her friend, Taylor, who was recovering from a marriage break-up, Pearl Island was her first choice. Consequently Andie, Taylor and two of their friends set out for a girls week on Pearl Island. Arriving on the island Andie was not aware of the changes that were about to occur in her life.

That Holiday Feeling by Karina May explores the special relationship that develops between Andie and Jack Cooper who lives on the island. Is this just a holiday fling or will it develop into a lasting relationship. Gradually we learn more about the traumas faced by Andie and Jack and their attempts to overcome challenges to lead life as they each want to.

Part of the novel deals with grief and how people cope with the loss of friends and loved ones. Jack is also struggling as he blames himself for an incident that caused danger to one of the island's main industries. However, as the holiday progresses Andie strives to find the island feeling that her mother had loved on her visit. 

Her father now has dementia and is in a home and when Andie isn't teaching young children she visits her father each day and looks after him. On the island she feels guilty as she has left her young brother with the responsibility of looking after their father.

But is is the island that is the star of the book providing many opportunities for Andie and Jack to spend time together and get to know each other. Readers are invited to enjoy this island location when reading That Island Feeling and learn to appreciate life and love. 

The Black Loch

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the three books in the Lewis Trilogy by Peter May - The Black House, The Lewis Man and The Chess Men. The Black Loch is a sequel to the Lewis Trilogy (or number 4 in the series).

Fin MacLeod and his wife, Marsaili, arrive back on the island of Lewis after they are informed that their son, Fionnlagh, is under arrest for the murder of an eighteen year old girl, Caitlin Black. Fin cannot believe that his son is guilty and sets out to establish what really happened. Having grown up on Lewis he encounters a number of people he went to school with. Most are not pleased to associate with someone whose son might be a murderer. Fin no longer works as a policeman but he is able to use his detective skills to help him determine the truth.

Much of The Black Loch by Peter May deals with environmental issues including large-scale salmon farming and the occasional mass beaching of pods of whales. Descriptions of the island are an important part of the book as are the present and past interactions of the characters with with Fin. At the end of the book Fin and Marsaili decided to move back to Lewis from Glasgow to live. Perhaps there may be another book in this series in the future.

Cast Iron

Reading the final book in a series first is probably not the best move I have made but I still enjoyed reading Cast Iron by Peter May.

Enzo Macleod is from Scotland but now lives in France. Some years previously he read a book written by journalist Roger Raffin about a series of cold cases. Enzo made a bet with colleagues that he would be able to solve these cases and so far he has been successful. This time he is investigating the death of Lucie Martin whose body had been found in a lake many years after she was reported missing. As the investigation continues Enzo discovers links to past cases. The threats on his life that he has previously received become stronger and this time a member of his family is in danger.

This is a fast moving thriller as Enzo, with assistance from friends, tries to solve the mystery surrounding Lucie's death. It is also a race against time as Enzo establishes who does not want the truth to be revealed. Cast Iron is book number 6 in the Enzo Files series.

A Winter Grave

 

A Winter Grave by Peter May is set in the year 2051 with Scotland and the rest of the world feeling the effects of climate change. Glasgow police detective, Cameron Brodie has been sent to a village in the Highlands to investigate the death of a man whose body was found trapped in a wall of ice. The man disappeared three months earlier. Brodie agrees to investigate as he has just received some bad news and he needs to speak to his estranged daughter who lives in the village. He also has more experience as a mountain climber than his colleagues.

Brodie and the pathologist, Dr Sita Roy, arrive at the village in the middle of a severe snow storm which also in a power outage. They are the only people at the hotel except for the manager who keeps disappearing. Before long Brodie is investigating multiple murders. The investigation reveals that the man found in the ice was a journalist investigating a story that the government classed as top-secret.

Set in the future, much of the book describes the consequences of global warming and the failure to address the problems earlier in the century. Chapters set in the 2020s and 2030s provide information about past events that Brodie cannot forget. There is plenty of tension in this environmental/political thriller which also delves into stress caused by misinformation in family relationships.

Hebrides

Hebrides is written by Peter May, author of the Lewis Trilogy, plus photographs by David Wilson. This pictorial work concentrates on the islands of the Outer Hebrides - Lewis, Harris, North and South Uist - locations where most of the action in the three novels occurs.

As well as providing an introduction to the geological history of the Outer Hebrides, a short history of the islands' people plus the author's association with the area, there are sections showing the locations that featured in  The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen. It is great to see pictures of many of the buildings and scenery that feature prominently in the three novels.

As a note, I read this book on Saturday and, among the many other images, noted a photograph of the Callanish stones located on the west coast of Lewis. Next morning the travel section of The Age newspaper (8 March 2020)  had a photograph of the Callanish stones accompaning an article by a reader describing her special visit to Lewis and Uist. I hope that she has read the Lewis Trilogy.

The Chessmen

The third book in the Lewis Trilogy by Peter May is The Chessmen. When Fin MacLeod and his former school friend, Whistler, discover a small aeroplane in the middle of a dried up loch, caused by a 'bog burst', a web of stories from the past resurface to impact upon the lives of Fin's friends, particularly Whistler.

Whistler lives in seclusion in the hills and earns a tentative living carving replicas of the chess figures found buried in the sand. He is also in a custody battle for the right to look after his teenage daughter. When the plane is discovered with a body inside, Whistler disappears and Finn needs to find out what really happened. As in the other two books the reader learns of Fin's past, this time his involvement with a band in Glasgow many years before.

As well as involvement in the complex lives of the people living on the Isle of Lewis, the environment in which they live plays an important part in the telling of the story. I really did enjoy sharing in this world for a short time while reading these novels.

The Lewis Man

After his divorce and his decision to leave the police force, Fin McLeod returns to the Isle of Lewis where he spent his childhood. He decides to rebuild his parents' home which has not been used since their death in a car accident many years previously. However he also needs time to reconnect with his son, Fionnlagh, plus Marsaili with whom he has a long history. Then his plans are disrupted when a body is found buried in the peat on the shore. Who was this man and what is his connection with Tormod Macdonald, Marsaili's father? This is another crime novel by Peter May where the setting and the people are just as important as solving the crime.

As this is a cold case the police in Edinburgh will take time to arrive on the island to investigate so Fin and Detective George Gunn work on solving the mystery. Tormod Macdonald has dementia so we learn some of the story via his occasional, often jumbled, memories of his past. Gradually some of  the clues finally begin to fall into place but Tormod's story becomes further complicated when it becomes apparent that he is not the person everyone thinks he is.

As in The Black House, the reader learns much about the present and past life of the inhabitants of the islands that form part of the Outer Hebrides off the Scotland coast. Divisions between religious groups is important particularly in the mid-twentieth century when some of the events in this story occur. A major theme is the treatment (often mistreatment) of orphaned children who must learn to exist in a world without parental love. The understanding and care of older relatives is another theme as is the evolution of friendships formed many years ago. But it is the story of solving the crime committed in the mid 1950s that weaves the sections of the novel together. Another book difficult to put down.

The Blackhouse

A friend recommended this trilogy of books set on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, and I must thank her very much for introducing me to another great series of Scottish crime novels.

Detective Inspector Fin McLeod had been trying to solve a murder in Edinburgh when he was sent to Lewis Island to investigate a crime that may have been committed by the same person. Lewis Island is where he grew up, the place that he left eighteen years previously and had only returned to once in that time to attend the funeral of his aunt.

The victim of the latest crime was one of the bullies when Fin was at school and, as he investigates the death, memories of his past life on the island are revealed. This novel is about Fin rediscovering himself and re-evaluting his life as well as solving the crime. As the  story unfolds Fin discovers that he has been lured back to Lewis Island for revenge, but why?

I enjoyed reading this book and must thank the NBN for once again not working, providing me with a day without the internet that could be spent reading.