The Chessmen

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What to expect

THE NAIL-BITING, BESTSELLING FINAL CHAPTER IN THE LEWIS TRILOGY
'One of the best regarded crime series of recent years' Independent
'Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth' New York Times
PETER MAY: THE MAN WHO BROUGHT MURDER TO THE OUTER HEBRIDES

THE NEW START

Fin Macleod, now head of security on a privately owned Lewis estate, is charged with investigating a spate of illegal game-hunting taking place on the island.

THE OLD FRIEND

This mission reunites him with Whistler Macaskill - a local poacher, Fin's teenage intimate, and possessor of a long-buried secret.

THE FINAL CHAPTER

But when this reunion takes a violent, sinister turn and Fin puts together the fractured pieces of the past, he realizes that revealing the truth could destroy the future.

LOVED THE LEWIS TRILOGY? Read Peter May's other Hebrides thrillers, COFFIN ROAD and I'LL KEEP YOU SAFE.
LOVE PETER MAY? Buy his latest frontlist thriller, A SILENT DEATH

(P)2013 WF Howes Ltd

Critics Review

A rip-roaring thriller . . . thoroughly enjoyable
Mail on Sunday
A wonderfully complex book
Peter James, on Entry Island
The Lewis Man shone like a bright star out of this year's book lists. Lyrical, empathetic and moving
Alex Gray
He is a terrific writer doing something different
Mark Billingham
From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer
Sophie Hannah
Wonderfully compelling
Kate Mosse
Western France - now May's own stamping ground - is as much a character in the book as the Hebrides were in his formidable Isle of Lewis sequence
Guardian
Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth
New York Times
Instantly struck by the beauty of the descriptions of the wild island terrain as well as by the roundedness and complexity of the characterisations
The Times
One of the best regarded crime series of recent years
Independent
May's novels are strong on place and the wounds left by old relationships
Sunday Times

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Superbly written and wonderfully spoken. The Lewis Trilogy is outstanding.
fhab4 04/01/2026
5.0
5.0
As exciting and enjoyable as the first two in the trilogy. Also like those, while there is a murder mystery to solve, most of the book concerns the back stories and changing relationships between the characters. Covering previous generations, there is almost a saga-like quality as we see how a crime has emerged through decades of history both laying the grounds for it and evolving its consequences. All rounded off with a dramatic and moving climax.
jackdor 20/11/2025

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