8 /10 1 Votes
Language English Publisher Quercus Pages 475 pp (paperback) Followed by The Lewis Man | 4/5 Goodreads Series The Lewis Trilogy Publication date 2011 Originally published 2009 Genre Novel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardcover and paperback) Similar Works by Peter May, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peter may speaks about the blackhouse to isles fm s iain x maciver
The Blackhouse is the first novel of The Lewis Trilogy by Scottish writer Peter May. A suspense thriller, the action takes place mostly on the remote and weather-beaten Isle of Lewis off the coast of northern Scotland. The protagonist, Detective Inspector Finlay Macleod (known as Fin), a native of the island, is sent from his Edinburgh police station to investigate the murder of a man who, it transpires, was the bully at Fin’s school. The modus operandi of the crime resembles a murder that Fin recently investigated in Edinburgh, so there is the possibility of a common perpetrator.
Contents
The story unfolds as the chapters alternate between present-day events, written in the third person, and Fin’s childhood, written in the first person. As the narrative progresses, it emerges that Fin and his childhood story are intimately linked with the murder.
In 2011, The Blackhouse won the 2011 Cezam Prix Littéraire Inter CE, a readers' prize for best novel by a European author, published in France.
In 2013, The Blackhouse won the Barry Award for Best Novel of the Year at a ceremony at Bouchercon, Albany NY, US.
The novel was adapted as a full-cast BBC Radio Serial consisting of four 30 minute episodes. Cal MacAninch starred as Fin.