Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Black House

Thomas Wolfe wrote, "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood,...back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame." Fin Macleod should have heeded this advice.

In Peter May's book, The Black House, Edinburgh Detective Fin Macleod is sent to the Isle of Lewis, a remote island off the northwestern coast of Scotland, to investigate a grisly murder. The murder resembles an unsolved Edinburgh case. This is an assignment Fin does not want. He is still mourning the death of his young son, Robbie. He and his wife, Mona, have recently come to realize that their son was the glue holding their marriage together. Mona will not be home when Fin returns.  

Fin has spent the last eighteen years trying to forget his boyhood on the Isle of Lewis. However,
Detective Chief Inspector Black believes Fin is the best person for the assignment because of his knowledge of the Edinburgh murder case and because of his familiarity with the inhabitants of the island, including the victim, Angus Macritchie. Against his wishes, Fin returns to the Isle of Lewis. The reunion is at first unsettling and then the memories come rushing back. Some things should stay forgotten.

The Black House is the first book in a trilogy. The subsequent books in the series should soon become available in the United States. You will enjoy this well crafted dark Scottish mystery if you enjoy Nordic mysteries.  It recently won the 2013 Barry Award for Best Novel. The Barry Award is granted for excellence in literary crime fiction.

~Gilby G

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