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The Lewis Man
The Lewis Trilogy (Related to this series)
- Author
- Peter May
- Narrator
- Peter Forbes
- Publisher
- Quercus
- Publish Date
- 25 June 2012
- Run Time
- 10 hours 59 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Crime and / or mystery fiction, Thriller / suspense fiction, Crime and mystery: police procedural
- Rating
- 4.8 (4 reviews)
What to expect
In The Lewis Man, the second book of the trilogy, Fin Macleod has returned to the Isle of Lewis, the storm-tossed, wind-scoured outer Hebridean island where he was born and raised. Having left behind his adult life in Edinburgh--including his wife and his career in the police force--the former Detective Inspector is intent on repairing past relationships and restoring his parents' derelict cottage. His plans are interrupted when an unidentified corpse is recovered from a Lewis peat bog. The only clue to its identity is a DNA match to a local farmer, the now-senile Tormod Macdonald--the father of Fin's childhood sweetheart, Marsaili--a man who has claimed throughout his life to be an only child, practically an orphan. Reluctantly drawn into the investigation, Fin uncovers deep family secrets even as he draws closer to the killer who wishes to keep them hidden.
Already an international bestseller and winner of numerous awards, including France's Prix des Lecteurs du Telegramme, The Lewis Man has the lyrical verve of Ian Rankin and the gutsy risk-taking of Benjamin Black. As fascinating and forbidding as the Hebridean landscape, the book (according to The Times) "throbs with past and present passions, jealousies, suspicions and regrets; the emotional secrets of the bleak island are even deeper than its peat bog."
(P)2012 Quercus Editions Ltd
Critics Review
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A rip-roaring thriller . . . thoroughly enjoyable
Mail on Sunday
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A wonderfully complex book
Peter James, on Entry Island
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The Lewis Man shone like a bright star out of this year's book lists. Lyrical, empathetic and moving
Alex Gray
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He is a terrific writer doing something different
Mark Billingham
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer
Sophie Hannah
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Wonderfully compelling
Kate Mosse
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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
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Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth
New York Times
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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
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One of the best regarded crime series of recent years
Independent
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May's novels are strong on place and the wounds left by old relationships
Sunday Times
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Will have the reader relishing every tendency of description and characterization
Independent
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Dark, exciting and atmospheric
Scotland on Sunday
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Powerful and authentic
Glasgow Sunday Herald
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Fast, exciting ... an entertaining read that will also give food for thought
Irish Times
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A tense and atmospheric thriller with a heart-stopping ending
Tangled Web
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Truly the best of May's series so far, this is not to be missed
The Good Book Guide
User Reviews
Book 4.8
Narration 5.0
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4.0 5.0
The second book in the Lewis Trilogy and Finn finds himself back on Lewis trying to rebuild his life until a body is found in a bog.
This follows the first book in that a character looks back over his life ,this time though it is Finns should have been father in law. I found this book a shade depressing especially with the character suffering from dementia.
However on the whole a good listen ,excellent narratorring01 2026-03-14 -
5.0 5.0
Really enjoyed this book, more so than The Black House which I found hard to follow. Great narration
Betty Bittles 2025-12-05 -
5.0 5.0
Great to listen to immediately after the first in the Lewis trilogy (and of course as an immediate prequel to the third!)
Like the first, there is a murder mystery to be solved but the answer lies in the past and this is essentially a story about lives, deaths and deep relational bonds of over a period of time of huge social change in a unique landscape which permeates every sentence. At times the depiction of the key romantic relationship is overly sentimental and, especially the sex, unrealistic. But this does not detract from an intriguing, moving plot and dramatic climax.jackdor 2025-11-10
Details
- Author
- Peter May
- Narrator
- Peter Forbes
- Duration
- 10 hours 59 minutes
- Release Date
- 25 June 2012
- ISBN
- 9781780874135
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Quercus
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Crime and / or mystery fiction, Thriller / suspense fiction, Crime and mystery: police procedural
- Rating
- 4.8(4 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(4 reviews)
Synopsis
Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times raved: "Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth." Among the many honors received, The Blackhouse, the first novel in May's acclaimed Lewis trilogy, won the Barry and Crime Thriller Hound awards. In The Lewis Man, the second book of the trilogy, Fin Macleod has returned to the Isle of Lewis, the storm-tossed, wind-scoured outer Hebridean island where he was born and raised. Having left behind his adult life in Edinburgh--including his wife and his career in the police force--the former Detective Inspector is intent on repairing past relationships and restoring his parents' derelict cottage. His plans are interrupted when an unidentified corpse is recovered from a Lewis peat bog. The only clue to its identity is a DNA match to a local farmer, the now-senile Tormod Macdonald--the father of Fin's childhood sweetheart, Marsaili--a man who has claimed throughout his life to be an only child, practically an orphan. Reluctantly drawn into the investigation, Fin uncovers deep family secrets even as he draws closer to the killer who wishes to keep them hidden. Already an international bestseller and winner of numerous awards, including France's Prix des Lecteurs du Telegramme, The Lewis Man has the lyrical verve of Ian Rankin and the gutsy risk-taking of Benjamin Black. As fascinating and forbidding as the Hebridean landscape, the book (according to The Times) "throbs with past and present passions, jealousies, suspicions and regrets; the emotional secrets of the bleak island are even deeper than its peat bog."(P)2012 Quercus Editions Ltd
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