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Coffin Road
In his latest mystery set in Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, award-winning author Peter May spins a tale about three disparate cases that may or may not be linked...
On the remote Isle of Harris in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, a man washes up on a deserted beach, hypothermic and completely disoriented. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. The only clue to his condition is a map of the island showing a desolate, ancient path called the Coffin Road. With a sense of dread and no clear idea what lies at the other end, he knows he must follow the trail if he has any hope of discovering his identity.
Meanwhile, homicide detective George Gunn makes the rough ocean crossing to a remote, sea-battered lighthouse on a rock in the northern Atlantic, twenty miles west of the Outer Hebrides, to investigate a brutal murder. Despite its isolation, the tiny island has seen its share of tragedy: more than a century earlier, three lighthouse keepers disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. And now there is a new tragedy, and Gunn must figure out what happened.
At the same time, a teenage girl lies in her Edinburgh bedroom, desperate to discover the truth about her father's death. Two years after the discovery of the pioneering scientist's suicide note, Karen Fleming still cannot accept that her father would willingly abandon her. And the more she discovers about the nature of his research, the more she suspects that suicide had nothing to do with it.
On the remote Isle of Harris in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, a man washes up on a deserted beach, hypothermic and completely disoriented. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. The only clue to his condition is a map of the island showing a desolate, ancient path called the Coffin Road. With a sense of dread and no clear idea what lies at the other end, he knows he must follow the trail if he has any hope of discovering his identity.
Meanwhile, homicide detective George Gunn makes the rough ocean crossing to a remote, sea-battered lighthouse on a rock in the northern Atlantic, twenty miles west of the Outer Hebrides, to investigate a brutal murder. Despite its isolation, the tiny island has seen its share of tragedy: more than a century earlier, three lighthouse keepers disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. And now there is a new tragedy, and Gunn must figure out what happened.
At the same time, a teenage girl lies in her Edinburgh bedroom, desperate to discover the truth about her father's death. Two years after the discovery of the pioneering scientist's suicide note, Karen Fleming still cannot accept that her father would willingly abandon her. And the more she discovers about the nature of his research, the more she suspects that suicide had nothing to do with it.
303 pages, Hardcover
First published January 14, 2016
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November 28, 2019
Coffin Road is probably not the best review to write on Thanksgiving Day, but I am really behind on picking up the pen these last few months.
I love Peter May’s books. Especially those where the setting takes place on the outer Hebrides of Scotland. Coffin Road is on the Isle of Harris where a man washes up on the shore at death’s door only to find out he has lost his memory. Years ago 3 lighthouse keepers mysteriously disappeared and now a man has been found murdered at the same lighthouse rock.
One of the great pleasures of reading May’s books when he brings us back to the Hebrides is the promise of a dark, foreboding, and menacing plot and setting. Atmospheric to the ultimate. The plot is fascinating and quite timely for environmental issues the world has seen of late.
I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend to all those who thrive when reading the dark side of mysteries.
I wish all of my Goodreads’ friends a wonderful Holiday whether you are celebrating the Thanksgiving Day in the US or not. Best wishes to all.
5 out of 5 stars
I love Peter May’s books. Especially those where the setting takes place on the outer Hebrides of Scotland. Coffin Road is on the Isle of Harris where a man washes up on the shore at death’s door only to find out he has lost his memory. Years ago 3 lighthouse keepers mysteriously disappeared and now a man has been found murdered at the same lighthouse rock.
One of the great pleasures of reading May’s books when he brings us back to the Hebrides is the promise of a dark, foreboding, and menacing plot and setting. Atmospheric to the ultimate. The plot is fascinating and quite timely for environmental issues the world has seen of late.
I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend to all those who thrive when reading the dark side of mysteries.
I wish all of my Goodreads’ friends a wonderful Holiday whether you are celebrating the Thanksgiving Day in the US or not. Best wishes to all.
5 out of 5 stars
October 13, 2016
Late one night, after a few drinks, a friend told me about some books he’d read. He’d admitted that he didn’t often read fiction but that during a period of recovery form an operation he’d been gifted the first in a mini-series of three and had subsequently devoured the whole set. It got my attention and I asked him the name of the author. By the next morning I’d not only forgotten the writers name but the whole conversation was lost to me too. However, some months later, whilst browsing my local bookstore, I came across a crime fiction novel and the description rang a distant bell. Could this be the fabled work that had so excited my friend, the non-reader? It turned out that it was and a few weeks later I’d repeated the feat and all three books had been consumed. The books comprise the Lewis Trilogy, written by Scottish wordsmith Peter May.
Unlike my friend, I listened to the books on audio, read by the excellent Peter Forbes. I was spellbound. It wasn’t so much the crimes or the clever plotting but more the atmosphere, the setting – the islands of the Outer Hebrides – and the life story of the lead character that struck a chord. Brilliant stuff. So I was more than excited when I was able to grab a copy of this stand-alone book which is also set on these wild and beautiful islands. As before, Forbes is at the microphone and I was soon lost, once again, in the landscape and mysteries of this place.
For the most part the characters are new, though the island copper does make a return appearance. This time the story focuses on a man who stumbles from the sea one wild and windy night. He’s soaked through, desperately cold and somewhat beaten up. Moreover, he can’t remember what happened to him or even who he is; he’s lost all memory of his history and his identity. As the story develops we get to experience his reactions to his circumstances real-time and through his eyes. It’s pretty well done, though I couldn’t help wondering why he remembered how to do certain things yet was he was unable to recall any details at all regarding his life to date. Is loss of memory this selective? Maybe, but I found it a bit distracting.
I wont go into details of the plot as this would be a real spoiler but I will say it’s clever science based mystery. The story is well told and the tension is maintained at fever pitch pretty much throughout. The ending is satisfying and the science interesting enough to have me undertake some research to check its authenticity. It turns out that the issues covered here are real - pretty scary stuff.
I can’t say that the experience quite matched up to the Lewis Trilogy – in truth, I never expected it would – but it was a good tale, well told. If you are a fan of May’s work, you’ll certainly enjoy this return journey to Lewis. If this author is new to you then I’d probably suggest you start with The Blackhouse and work your way through. You’re unlikely to be disappointed.
Unlike my friend, I listened to the books on audio, read by the excellent Peter Forbes. I was spellbound. It wasn’t so much the crimes or the clever plotting but more the atmosphere, the setting – the islands of the Outer Hebrides – and the life story of the lead character that struck a chord. Brilliant stuff. So I was more than excited when I was able to grab a copy of this stand-alone book which is also set on these wild and beautiful islands. As before, Forbes is at the microphone and I was soon lost, once again, in the landscape and mysteries of this place.
For the most part the characters are new, though the island copper does make a return appearance. This time the story focuses on a man who stumbles from the sea one wild and windy night. He’s soaked through, desperately cold and somewhat beaten up. Moreover, he can’t remember what happened to him or even who he is; he’s lost all memory of his history and his identity. As the story develops we get to experience his reactions to his circumstances real-time and through his eyes. It’s pretty well done, though I couldn’t help wondering why he remembered how to do certain things yet was he was unable to recall any details at all regarding his life to date. Is loss of memory this selective? Maybe, but I found it a bit distracting.
I wont go into details of the plot as this would be a real spoiler but I will say it’s clever science based mystery. The story is well told and the tension is maintained at fever pitch pretty much throughout. The ending is satisfying and the science interesting enough to have me undertake some research to check its authenticity. It turns out that the issues covered here are real - pretty scary stuff.
I can’t say that the experience quite matched up to the Lewis Trilogy – in truth, I never expected it would – but it was a good tale, well told. If you are a fan of May’s work, you’ll certainly enjoy this return journey to Lewis. If this author is new to you then I’d probably suggest you start with The Blackhouse and work your way through. You’re unlikely to be disappointed.
May 20, 2019
3.5★
“The rain is as relentless as the wind, and it feels as if it is flaying the skin from our faces.”
That sums up how I felt through much of the book. Wet and cold! This part of the world is known for some challenging weather, so it’s no surprise that it’s a feature here. A man washes up on a beach in the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides and has no idea who he is.
He’s got a life jacket on, so he assumes he’s gone overboard somehow, somewhere. He’s bleeding a bit and stunned, of course, but he’s addressed by name, Neal, and guided to his cottage where his dog greets him with the uproarious good nature that every Labrador owner will recognise.
Neal sleeps a long time and is awakened by a visit from the couple from next door. He tries to fudge his way through a conversation about the book he is supposedly writing, and a little later there’s a surprising romantic interlude which is even more confusing, but welcome and relaxing. He finds a map with a route along Coffin Road marked, so he figures he might was well go to the end of the mark and see what’s there. His lady friend offers to drive him.
He sleeps the sleep of the dead, as he puts it and then . . . well, I don’t know about you, but I’d have gone back to bed.
“It is raining when I waken. A driving rain, blown in on the leading edge of a strong south-westerly. I can see it slashing across the beach, almost horizontally. The cloud is low, nearly black at its most dense.”
The story switches back and forth between this man and Karen, an angry, frustrated teenaged girl who lives with her mother and would-be step-father.
“She had gone from being Daddy’s little girl to Mother’s nightmare in twenty-four short months. A deliberate decision.”
Green hair, piercings, tattoos, she’s the whole package. She’s also extremely bright and is determined to find out why her father committed suicide. She knew he worked in neuroscience but doesn’t know what went wrong in his life or why he’d be pushed to such despair.
Back to the islands. This is a part of the world with lighthouses that tourists love to visit. They have discovered a dead body out by one of these lighthouses, so we now have the police involved. To top it off, Neal has discovered he’s a regular visitor to these places and wonders if he could have been the killer.
So there are three investigations going on now. Neal on his journey of self-discovery, Karen, on her search for answers about her father’s suicide, and the police, who begin asking awkward questions of a man who doesn’t know who he is.
His life is becoming dangerous, and he has no idea whom to trust. Karen finds herself in similar dicey situations in her quest for answers as well. Nothing is as it appears.
On top of that, there is an underlying environmental issue. I did feel a bit hit over the head with facts, and while the drama was believable, I definitely felt a bit as if I were being given lessons. There are better ways to introduce information to a reader than to have one character explaining things to another.
But in the interests of fairness, I’ll add a quote about the appeal of the place rather than the rainstorms I complained about earlier. He does write some nice descriptions.
“The tide was out, and the sands of Luskentyre glowed silver, very nearly filling Gunn’s field of vision. They never ceased to take his breath away. Ringed by hills to the south, the mountains of North Harris, and the peaks of Taransay to the west, beyond all that simmering turquoise, he wondered if there could be any more beautiful spot on earth.”
“The rain is as relentless as the wind, and it feels as if it is flaying the skin from our faces.”
That sums up how I felt through much of the book. Wet and cold! This part of the world is known for some challenging weather, so it’s no surprise that it’s a feature here. A man washes up on a beach in the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides and has no idea who he is.
He’s got a life jacket on, so he assumes he’s gone overboard somehow, somewhere. He’s bleeding a bit and stunned, of course, but he’s addressed by name, Neal, and guided to his cottage where his dog greets him with the uproarious good nature that every Labrador owner will recognise.
Neal sleeps a long time and is awakened by a visit from the couple from next door. He tries to fudge his way through a conversation about the book he is supposedly writing, and a little later there’s a surprising romantic interlude which is even more confusing, but welcome and relaxing. He finds a map with a route along Coffin Road marked, so he figures he might was well go to the end of the mark and see what’s there. His lady friend offers to drive him.
He sleeps the sleep of the dead, as he puts it and then . . . well, I don’t know about you, but I’d have gone back to bed.
“It is raining when I waken. A driving rain, blown in on the leading edge of a strong south-westerly. I can see it slashing across the beach, almost horizontally. The cloud is low, nearly black at its most dense.”
The story switches back and forth between this man and Karen, an angry, frustrated teenaged girl who lives with her mother and would-be step-father.
“She had gone from being Daddy’s little girl to Mother’s nightmare in twenty-four short months. A deliberate decision.”
Green hair, piercings, tattoos, she’s the whole package. She’s also extremely bright and is determined to find out why her father committed suicide. She knew he worked in neuroscience but doesn’t know what went wrong in his life or why he’d be pushed to such despair.
Back to the islands. This is a part of the world with lighthouses that tourists love to visit. They have discovered a dead body out by one of these lighthouses, so we now have the police involved. To top it off, Neal has discovered he’s a regular visitor to these places and wonders if he could have been the killer.
So there are three investigations going on now. Neal on his journey of self-discovery, Karen, on her search for answers about her father’s suicide, and the police, who begin asking awkward questions of a man who doesn’t know who he is.
His life is becoming dangerous, and he has no idea whom to trust. Karen finds herself in similar dicey situations in her quest for answers as well. Nothing is as it appears.
On top of that, there is an underlying environmental issue. I did feel a bit hit over the head with facts, and while the drama was believable, I definitely felt a bit as if I were being given lessons. There are better ways to introduce information to a reader than to have one character explaining things to another.
But in the interests of fairness, I’ll add a quote about the appeal of the place rather than the rainstorms I complained about earlier. He does write some nice descriptions.
“The tide was out, and the sands of Luskentyre glowed silver, very nearly filling Gunn’s field of vision. They never ceased to take his breath away. Ringed by hills to the south, the mountains of North Harris, and the peaks of Taransay to the west, beyond all that simmering turquoise, he wondered if there could be any more beautiful spot on earth.”
May 23, 2023
When a man wearing a life jacket washes up on a beach on the Hebridean island of Harris, he has no memory of who he is or how he got there. As he staggers up the beach he recognises the cottage he’s been staying in where his dog Bran is waiting for him. He gradually pieces together that his name is Neal Maclean and that he’s been on the island for 18 months, apparently writing a book about the lost lighthouse keepers of the Flannan Isles and that he had a boat he used to sail out there for research. However, despite ransacking the cottage he’s renting he finds no signs of a manuscript or any other information on who he is or why he’s there. Renting a boat, he heads back to the Flannans only to find the body of a man, who he thinks he might have killed.
This intriguing mystery unfolds gradually as Neal and the police try to find out who he is, what he’s really doing on Harris and whether he killed the unknown man found on the Flannan Isles. At the root of it all is a sinister tale of corporate greed and an attempt to cover the truth no matter what. The setting is cold and bleak and the plot intense as the suspense builds to a dramatic climax.
This intriguing mystery unfolds gradually as Neal and the police try to find out who he is, what he’s really doing on Harris and whether he killed the unknown man found on the Flannan Isles. At the root of it all is a sinister tale of corporate greed and an attempt to cover the truth no matter what. The setting is cold and bleak and the plot intense as the suspense builds to a dramatic climax.
July 20, 2020
”I have no idea where this is. And for the first time since consciousness has returned, I am aware, with a sudden, sharp and painful stab of trepidation, that I have not the least notion of who I am.
That breathless realisation banishes all else. The cold, the taste of salt, the acid still burning all the way up from my stomach. How can I not know who I am? A temporary confusion, surely? But the longer I stand here, with the wind whistling around my ears, shivering almost beyond control, feeling the pain and the cold and the consternation, I realise that the only sense that has not returned to me is my sense of self. As if I inhabit the body of a stranger, in whose uncharted waters I have been washed up in blind ignorance.”
He finds himself washed up on a beach with no memories of who he is. With the help of a few clues from people who seem to know him, he finds where he lives, but his house has no more clues to who he is than his own brain is providing.
He is very frustrated with himself, whoever that might be. He would gladly go back and punch his knowing self in the face for leaving him with so few threads to pull. And who is this beautiful, married woman who slides into his bed as if she belongs there? He knows he likes her just as he knows what scotch he likes to drink. None of it is forgotten, just locked away in his head. He is so close to discovering what he must know. It is like being too tired to walk any further under the blistering hot sun of the desert, even though your nostrils are filled with the sweet scent of an oasis a few staggering steps away.
Even when he does learn a name, it fits like borrowed clothes. The more he discovers, he starts to wonder if he really wants to know who he once was.
”Nothing, absolutely nothing since I found myself washed up, semi-conscious, on the Traigh Losgaintir, has made sense. My memory loss. My failure to find a single clue to my identity, beyond my name, even in my own home. My affair with Sally. The book on the Flannan Isles mystery that I am not writing. Beehives on the coffin road. My missing boat. Now someone trying to kill me. And someone else stepping in to save me. The weight of it all is very nearly crushing.”
Peter May returns to the setting of his famed Lewis trilogy with this fast paced thriller set in the beautiful desolation of the Hebrides in Scotland. Corporate greed and intrigue are at the heart of this novel, and the only thing standing between the final destruction of the bees is a man with no memory of what he knows. This is not written with the depth of the Lewis trilogy, but with an eye more for a diverting, delightful read that will have your Scottish Morn tea cooling in the cup before you remember to take a sip.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
That breathless realisation banishes all else. The cold, the taste of salt, the acid still burning all the way up from my stomach. How can I not know who I am? A temporary confusion, surely? But the longer I stand here, with the wind whistling around my ears, shivering almost beyond control, feeling the pain and the cold and the consternation, I realise that the only sense that has not returned to me is my sense of self. As if I inhabit the body of a stranger, in whose uncharted waters I have been washed up in blind ignorance.”
He finds himself washed up on a beach with no memories of who he is. With the help of a few clues from people who seem to know him, he finds where he lives, but his house has no more clues to who he is than his own brain is providing.
He is very frustrated with himself, whoever that might be. He would gladly go back and punch his knowing self in the face for leaving him with so few threads to pull. And who is this beautiful, married woman who slides into his bed as if she belongs there? He knows he likes her just as he knows what scotch he likes to drink. None of it is forgotten, just locked away in his head. He is so close to discovering what he must know. It is like being too tired to walk any further under the blistering hot sun of the desert, even though your nostrils are filled with the sweet scent of an oasis a few staggering steps away.
Even when he does learn a name, it fits like borrowed clothes. The more he discovers, he starts to wonder if he really wants to know who he once was.
”Nothing, absolutely nothing since I found myself washed up, semi-conscious, on the Traigh Losgaintir, has made sense. My memory loss. My failure to find a single clue to my identity, beyond my name, even in my own home. My affair with Sally. The book on the Flannan Isles mystery that I am not writing. Beehives on the coffin road. My missing boat. Now someone trying to kill me. And someone else stepping in to save me. The weight of it all is very nearly crushing.”
Peter May returns to the setting of his famed Lewis trilogy with this fast paced thriller set in the beautiful desolation of the Hebrides in Scotland. Corporate greed and intrigue are at the heart of this novel, and the only thing standing between the final destruction of the bees is a man with no memory of what he knows. This is not written with the depth of the Lewis trilogy, but with an eye more for a diverting, delightful read that will have your Scottish Morn tea cooling in the cup before you remember to take a sip.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
August 2, 2026
Many of my favourite novels explore memories that fade and maybe conflict, whether by mental decline, unconscious delusion, or Machiavellian scheming. But I rarely read any sort of thriller or crime novels. My first Peter May is all three, and with three main threads: a man narrating in the first person, and an omniscient narrator following a detective and a 17-year-old girl. All are trying to untangle aspects of the same story. If you’re familiar with the Isle of Harris in the Hebrides (I’m not), it’s probably even better.
Who am I? Why am I here?
It opens strongly: a man regains consciousness on a beach. He’s soaked, sore, wearing a life-jacket, but has no idea who he is, where he is, or how he came to be there.
“As if I inhabit the body of a stranger, in whose uncharted waters I have been washed up in blind ignorance.”
Salt permeates every orifice, smothering his senses, and the wet wind lashes him. It’s viscerally real, but the existential questions are deeper. He doesn’t know what sort of man he is, whether he has sugar in his coffee, if he has family, and doesn’t recognise himself in the mirror. He has:
“A sense of something unspeakable beyond the reach of recollection.”
A woman recognises him, and offers to help him to his house. He declines, then scours the place, but finds nothing useful or to trigger memories. There is a book about the Flannan Isles Mystery, in which the lighthouse was found empty in 1900, with no trace of any of the three lighthouse keepers (this is true, see HERE) and a local map, with Coffin Road highlighted. And he sees a man with binoculars, watching him from afar.
All this is in the first dozen of nearly 400 pages. There’s plenty of adventure and mystery to follow, including bereavement, a briefcase of cash, ecological research, village gossip, mysterious packages, police investigation, industrial espionage, murder and attempted murder, professional rivalry, teen rebellion, guilt, and, perhaps inevitably, the climax is a life-or-death race to the lighthouse at night in rough seas.
It’s an exciting page-turner, but don’t let that blind you to the more profound questions of identity, memory, and when or whether the means justify the ends.
Image: The lighthouse on Eilean Mòr, with the remains of the Chapel of St Flannan in the foreground. (Source)
Quotes
• “They say that all any of us are is the sum total of our memories… Take them away and all you are left with is a blank. Like a computer without software.”
• “And now I am aware of the wind. Tugging at my clothes, sending myriad grains of sand in a veil of whisper-thin gauze across the beach in currents and eddies, like water.”
• “I wonder how people would survive in a place like this without the European money that would never have come from Westminster.” (This was published in 2016, the year of the Brexit referendum.)
• “Memory is everything to a bee.”
Rating
There were two big plot-holes, and yet I’m still giving it 5*, as I enjoyed it so much.
Who am I? Why am I here?
It opens strongly: a man regains consciousness on a beach. He’s soaked, sore, wearing a life-jacket, but has no idea who he is, where he is, or how he came to be there.
“As if I inhabit the body of a stranger, in whose uncharted waters I have been washed up in blind ignorance.”
Salt permeates every orifice, smothering his senses, and the wet wind lashes him. It’s viscerally real, but the existential questions are deeper. He doesn’t know what sort of man he is, whether he has sugar in his coffee, if he has family, and doesn’t recognise himself in the mirror. He has:
“A sense of something unspeakable beyond the reach of recollection.”
A woman recognises him, and offers to help him to his house. He declines, then scours the place, but finds nothing useful or to trigger memories. There is a book about the Flannan Isles Mystery, in which the lighthouse was found empty in 1900, with no trace of any of the three lighthouse keepers (this is true, see HERE) and a local map, with Coffin Road highlighted. And he sees a man with binoculars, watching him from afar.
All this is in the first dozen of nearly 400 pages. There’s plenty of adventure and mystery to follow, including bereavement, a briefcase of cash, ecological research, village gossip, mysterious packages, police investigation, industrial espionage, murder and attempted murder, professional rivalry, teen rebellion, guilt, and, perhaps inevitably, the climax is a life-or-death race to the lighthouse at night in rough seas.
It’s an exciting page-turner, but don’t let that blind you to the more profound questions of identity, memory, and when or whether the means justify the ends.
Image: The lighthouse on Eilean Mòr, with the remains of the Chapel of St Flannan in the foreground. (Source)
Quotes
• “They say that all any of us are is the sum total of our memories… Take them away and all you are left with is a blank. Like a computer without software.”
• “And now I am aware of the wind. Tugging at my clothes, sending myriad grains of sand in a veil of whisper-thin gauze across the beach in currents and eddies, like water.”
• “I wonder how people would survive in a place like this without the European money that would never have come from Westminster.” (This was published in 2016, the year of the Brexit referendum.)
• “Memory is everything to a bee.”
Rating
There were two big plot-holes, and yet I’m still giving it 5*, as I enjoyed it so much.
February 5, 2016
This is probably the best book I have read so far this year and really I shouldn't be surprised as I have never been disappointed by Peter May's story telling.
I find him an excellent writer who is very descriptive and paints a picture for the reader without boring them.
A man is washed up on a deserted beach on the Hebridean Isle of Harris, with no memory of how he got there or who he is. The only clue to his identity is a map tracing a track called the Coffin Road. His neighbours know him as Neal Maclean, a writer who is working on a book. He soon realises that this is a cover but for what? He tries to uncover the truth but the more he learns the harder it is to comprehend.
Peter May writes excellent books that paint great pictures of the location and the characters. I find them informative with just the right amount of descriptive text and so well paced. This is a page turner that is well thought out and great entertainment. Full of suspense and plenty of surprises that make this book an excellent read.
I find him an excellent writer who is very descriptive and paints a picture for the reader without boring them.
A man is washed up on a deserted beach on the Hebridean Isle of Harris, with no memory of how he got there or who he is. The only clue to his identity is a map tracing a track called the Coffin Road. His neighbours know him as Neal Maclean, a writer who is working on a book. He soon realises that this is a cover but for what? He tries to uncover the truth but the more he learns the harder it is to comprehend.
Peter May writes excellent books that paint great pictures of the location and the characters. I find them informative with just the right amount of descriptive text and so well paced. This is a page turner that is well thought out and great entertainment. Full of suspense and plenty of surprises that make this book an excellent read.
April 6, 2020
When a man washes up on a remote beach he has no recollection of how he got there or who he is. What he does know is that he is in quite a bit of pain and he can’t stop shivering. As he struggles to get himself up, he begins to stagger along the sandy beach, but he has no idea where he is or where to go. Then he hears a woman yelling out to him by name, Neal Maclean, she helps him to a nearby cottage which appears to be his, but none of it looks familiar to him.
Neal sees bills in his name and various documents, including a map which someone had marked the word Coffin Road, which was on the table, but Neal had no idea what it meant. As the story unfolds so do the twists, turns and intrigue.
Peter May is a new author to me and I can’t wait to read more of his books. Coffin Road was a fast paced mystery/ thriller which had me hooked right from the beginning. Highly recommended.
Neal sees bills in his name and various documents, including a map which someone had marked the word Coffin Road, which was on the table, but Neal had no idea what it meant. As the story unfolds so do the twists, turns and intrigue.
Peter May is a new author to me and I can’t wait to read more of his books. Coffin Road was a fast paced mystery/ thriller which had me hooked right from the beginning. Highly recommended.
February 25, 2018
One thing I can always count on when I open a Peter May book is a really good read and Coffin Road was no exception. It is set in the wild, bleak Hebrides, a place where it seems almost anything unusual could happen - and it did.
The story was involved but always intriguing, I enjoyed the characters very much and there was a bit of a twist at the end which I was not expecting. One star lost though for bombarding me with 'scientific' information. If I wanted to know that much detail about bees I would read a science journal and be sure I was reading facts. That's just me though.
Everything else about the book was really good. Four well deserved stars.
The story was involved but always intriguing, I enjoyed the characters very much and there was a bit of a twist at the end which I was not expecting. One star lost though for bombarding me with 'scientific' information. If I wanted to know that much detail about bees I would read a science journal and be sure I was reading facts. That's just me though.
Everything else about the book was really good. Four well deserved stars.
December 9, 2016
A man washes up on a beach with no recall of who he is, where he is, but others know him. So begins Coffin Road, another excellent offering from Peter May. As in the other books I've read from May, the descriptions of the natural world and the power of nature are wonderfully expressed and often beautiful. On the second page of the book, the beauty of the land and fragility of man are front and center.
Behind me the sea retreats, shallow, a deep greenish-
blue, across yet more acres of sand toward the distant, dark
shapes of mountains that rise into a bruised and brooding
sky. A sky broken by splinters of sunlight that dazzle on the
ocean and dapple the hills. Glimpses of sailor-suit blue seem
startling and unreal.
I have no idea where this is. And for the first time since
consciousness has returned, I am aware, with a sudden,
sharp and painful stab of trepidation, that I have not the
least notion of who I am. (p. 2)
After this scene---oh yes, this is merely a very brief set-up for all that will follow. Set on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, this story follows several threads to their ends in alternating chapters, building a mystery that could be taken from the front pages of a national newspaper.
For those who have already discovered Peter May, add this to your reading list ASAP. For those unfamiliar with this author, do give him a try. This is a standalone book and well worth a try. Also read the The Lewis Trilogy: The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man, The Chessmen (which also exists as individual books but should be read in order. Now I will have to try his other series books, myself.
Behind me the sea retreats, shallow, a deep greenish-
blue, across yet more acres of sand toward the distant, dark
shapes of mountains that rise into a bruised and brooding
sky. A sky broken by splinters of sunlight that dazzle on the
ocean and dapple the hills. Glimpses of sailor-suit blue seem
startling and unreal.
I have no idea where this is. And for the first time since
consciousness has returned, I am aware, with a sudden,
sharp and painful stab of trepidation, that I have not the
least notion of who I am. (p. 2)
After this scene---oh yes, this is merely a very brief set-up for all that will follow. Set on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, this story follows several threads to their ends in alternating chapters, building a mystery that could be taken from the front pages of a national newspaper.
For those who have already discovered Peter May, add this to your reading list ASAP. For those unfamiliar with this author, do give him a try. This is a standalone book and well worth a try. Also read the The Lewis Trilogy: The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man, The Chessmen (which also exists as individual books but should be read in order. Now I will have to try his other series books, myself.
September 26, 2016
4.5 stars
I could read Peter May just to enjoy his descriptions of the various islands in Scotland. I can feel the wind whipping around my face and see the beauty of the countryside. I feel like I am actually with the characters as they live their lives on the unique, stunning islands they call home.
Still, I read May for more than that. He can write some rip roaring mysteries. A man washes on a beach with no idea how he got there. He is freezing cold, disoriented and scared. He stumbles his way home and has no idea of his name until a neighbor calls out to him. He tries to remember who he is but the life he stumbles into is almost blank. He kept things secret before his accident.
As he stumbles around looking for his identity he discovers some bee hives he has been tending. He instinctively knows how to care for them. I have a particular fondness for bees as my oldest son kept them as a 4H project. While he did admirably with them out at the hives he always seem to disappear when the messy, back breaking work of harvesting came about. The problems of the disappearance of honey bees is a real crisis and should be dealt with immediately. People seem to have no idea how much our food production depends on them and their continuing survival. I really like this problem is a central point in this mystery.
I gave it 4.5 stars as I found the daughter, Karen, annoying. Her lack of awareness of how dangerous her actions were was just plain dumb. She was like a two year old stamping her feet and insisting she wanted it now and didn't care about the trouble it caused. There were a few minor strands that didn't make sense to me either but they were minor.
Still if you're looking for an exciting mystery that actually deals with real life problems, this would be the book for you. As an added bonus you get a lovely travel story on the Isle of Harris in Scotland.
I could read Peter May just to enjoy his descriptions of the various islands in Scotland. I can feel the wind whipping around my face and see the beauty of the countryside. I feel like I am actually with the characters as they live their lives on the unique, stunning islands they call home.
Still, I read May for more than that. He can write some rip roaring mysteries. A man washes on a beach with no idea how he got there. He is freezing cold, disoriented and scared. He stumbles his way home and has no idea of his name until a neighbor calls out to him. He tries to remember who he is but the life he stumbles into is almost blank. He kept things secret before his accident.
As he stumbles around looking for his identity he discovers some bee hives he has been tending. He instinctively knows how to care for them. I have a particular fondness for bees as my oldest son kept them as a 4H project. While he did admirably with them out at the hives he always seem to disappear when the messy, back breaking work of harvesting came about. The problems of the disappearance of honey bees is a real crisis and should be dealt with immediately. People seem to have no idea how much our food production depends on them and their continuing survival. I really like this problem is a central point in this mystery.
I gave it 4.5 stars as I found the daughter, Karen, annoying. Her lack of awareness of how dangerous her actions were was just plain dumb. She was like a two year old stamping her feet and insisting she wanted it now and didn't care about the trouble it caused. There were a few minor strands that didn't make sense to me either but they were minor.
Still if you're looking for an exciting mystery that actually deals with real life problems, this would be the book for you. As an added bonus you get a lovely travel story on the Isle of Harris in Scotland.
November 16, 2015
4.5★s
When the man staggered out of the waves on a deserted beach, he had no idea where he was. He was barely alive – his life jacket had definitely saved his life; but as he thought more about the circumstances (of which he could remember nothing) he also realised with horror that he didn’t know WHO he was either. In pain, shivering terribly, he staggered up the beach not knowing where to go; when he was hailed by a woman who called him by name, then escorted to a cottage he assumed must be his, the moniker of Neal Maclean became his. And when he discovered an electricity bill addressed to Neal Maclean of Luskentyre he knew who he was and where he lived…
The only thing of interest Neal could find in the cottage was a map on which someone had highlighted Coffin Road. He assumed that someone was him, but he had no idea what Coffin Road meant to him; he was sure he needed to find out though. As Neal struggled with his lack of memory, the frustration that absolutely nothing would come to him was wearing him down.
Karen Fleming was still struggling with the death of her father two years previously. Grief stricken she had turned from the plain young fifteen year old she was when he died, to a rebellious, tattoo covered and bitter teenager. Karen hated her mother, and the new man who was now living in her father’s house – and she was determined to find out what had really happened to her beloved dad. But could a seventeen year old girl discover the truth? Or would Karen be in for further heartache?
When Detective George Gunn was summonsed to cross the Atlantic to the Flannan Isles where a long standing mystery was still unsolved, his sense of unease was great. The ensuing discovery of a man’s body with no identification meant Gunn had to find his killer, as well as a motive – and he wasn’t sure he was up to the task.
Three people on different paths in their lives – the danger and peril which was bearing down on them all, unbeknown to each other would become catastrophic. What would be the outcome? Was something terrible going to happen?
Coffin Road by Peter May is another brilliant thriller by this author! Gripping and intense with a fast paced and definitely intriguing plot, I was fascinated by the storyline. I loved the previous standalone, Runaway and when I saw this one was coming out, knew I had to read it. Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for my copy to read and review.
When the man staggered out of the waves on a deserted beach, he had no idea where he was. He was barely alive – his life jacket had definitely saved his life; but as he thought more about the circumstances (of which he could remember nothing) he also realised with horror that he didn’t know WHO he was either. In pain, shivering terribly, he staggered up the beach not knowing where to go; when he was hailed by a woman who called him by name, then escorted to a cottage he assumed must be his, the moniker of Neal Maclean became his. And when he discovered an electricity bill addressed to Neal Maclean of Luskentyre he knew who he was and where he lived…
The only thing of interest Neal could find in the cottage was a map on which someone had highlighted Coffin Road. He assumed that someone was him, but he had no idea what Coffin Road meant to him; he was sure he needed to find out though. As Neal struggled with his lack of memory, the frustration that absolutely nothing would come to him was wearing him down.
Karen Fleming was still struggling with the death of her father two years previously. Grief stricken she had turned from the plain young fifteen year old she was when he died, to a rebellious, tattoo covered and bitter teenager. Karen hated her mother, and the new man who was now living in her father’s house – and she was determined to find out what had really happened to her beloved dad. But could a seventeen year old girl discover the truth? Or would Karen be in for further heartache?
When Detective George Gunn was summonsed to cross the Atlantic to the Flannan Isles where a long standing mystery was still unsolved, his sense of unease was great. The ensuing discovery of a man’s body with no identification meant Gunn had to find his killer, as well as a motive – and he wasn’t sure he was up to the task.
Three people on different paths in their lives – the danger and peril which was bearing down on them all, unbeknown to each other would become catastrophic. What would be the outcome? Was something terrible going to happen?
Coffin Road by Peter May is another brilliant thriller by this author! Gripping and intense with a fast paced and definitely intriguing plot, I was fascinated by the storyline. I loved the previous standalone, Runaway and when I saw this one was coming out, knew I had to read it. Highly recommended.
With thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for my copy to read and review.
September 20, 2020
My second read of Peter May's books after reading The Man With No Face, this looks a good story, how will it hold up?
Told from three point of view characters, this is a rather complicated and interesting tale.
A man wakes up on a beach, with no memory of who he is or how he got their, he appears to be known as Neal Maclean, though this rings no bells for him.
He does seem to be on good terms with the neighbouring couple, even forgetting he is having an affair with the woman, Sally, who is keen to carry things on, and despite not remembering, soon takes Sally to bed.
another big clue is a map of Coffin road, it appears Neal was in the process of writing a book, and he feels he has done something wrong when he discovers a body.
Meanwhile, George Gunn, a detective, is on the case, as he too has to cross the sea and he discovers the aforementioned body, Gunn, a man who can't take the sea well, is ridiculed by his colleagues due to his weak stomach, this provided some comical moments in an otherwise serious story.
And lastly we have Karen Fleming, a young teenage rebel who since her father's death, has gone off the rails a bit, but after discovering some alarming information, wants to investigate her father's death, as she knows something isn't right.
All 3 characters of the story eventually become interwined, and it was overall an entertaining read, and I did like the ending and came to like the characters, but a lot of the first half was slow, and it took me a while to warm to Neal, who I did like by the end, but it still didn't make up for a long first half, nonetheless its still worth a read.
⭐⭐⭐1/2 Stars.
Told from three point of view characters, this is a rather complicated and interesting tale.
A man wakes up on a beach, with no memory of who he is or how he got their, he appears to be known as Neal Maclean, though this rings no bells for him.
He does seem to be on good terms with the neighbouring couple, even forgetting he is having an affair with the woman, Sally, who is keen to carry things on, and despite not remembering, soon takes Sally to bed.
another big clue is a map of Coffin road, it appears Neal was in the process of writing a book, and he feels he has done something wrong when he discovers a body.
Meanwhile, George Gunn, a detective, is on the case, as he too has to cross the sea and he discovers the aforementioned body, Gunn, a man who can't take the sea well, is ridiculed by his colleagues due to his weak stomach, this provided some comical moments in an otherwise serious story.
And lastly we have Karen Fleming, a young teenage rebel who since her father's death, has gone off the rails a bit, but after discovering some alarming information, wants to investigate her father's death, as she knows something isn't right.
All 3 characters of the story eventually become interwined, and it was overall an entertaining read, and I did like the ending and came to like the characters, but a lot of the first half was slow, and it took me a while to warm to Neal, who I did like by the end, but it still didn't make up for a long first half, nonetheless its still worth a read.
⭐⭐⭐1/2 Stars.
February 29, 2016
This is one of the most abysmally poorly written books I've come across in a long time. I always knew the plot would be far fetched and I've read and watched enough crime fiction and drama to accept things that are hugely unlikely in the name of entertainment, but...
a man wakes up on a beach not remembering anything about himself and within hours has discovered wow, he is very attractive with a fabulous house and loyal dog. He also finds himself having sex with an amazingly beautiful woman - during which he refers to his "arousal" and describes sex as a passionate battle. Good lord. Does the author remember that it is his character who has not remembered anything of his life as a writer and that hideous sex scenes and complete lack of reality and even adjectives are inexcusable for anyone with a publishing contract?
If you love crime,
if you love books,
if you can put a sentence together most days of the week,
don't punish yourself here.
There are a zillion FANTASTIC crime authors out there. This isn't one of them.
a man wakes up on a beach not remembering anything about himself and within hours has discovered wow, he is very attractive with a fabulous house and loyal dog. He also finds himself having sex with an amazingly beautiful woman - during which he refers to his "arousal" and describes sex as a passionate battle. Good lord. Does the author remember that it is his character who has not remembered anything of his life as a writer and that hideous sex scenes and complete lack of reality and even adjectives are inexcusable for anyone with a publishing contract?
If you love crime,
if you love books,
if you can put a sentence together most days of the week,
don't punish yourself here.
There are a zillion FANTASTIC crime authors out there. This isn't one of them.
Read
January 8, 20174 stars
I was introduced to Peter May by a Goodreads friend (thanks Gary) and am really enjoying his books. This book is his most recent and I looked forward to reading it whenever I had to put it down.
Peter May knows the Hebrides Islands off the coast of Scotland and provides some beautiful descriptions of the land and the weather - neither of which is very hospitable on any given day. The book begins with a man washed up on the shore of the Isle of Harris. He does not know his name, or what happened to him. It's as if he just awoken and found himself in a place he has no idea of why he is there.
In Edinburgh, a teenage girl, Karen, is in rebellion over the suicide death of her father. She does not want to believe that he is gone even though 2 years have passed and he has not been heard from since the day his boat and a note was found out at sea.
Detective Sergeant George Gunn has been assigned to investigate the discovery of a body on the Flannan Isles. He does not know the man's identity, who killed him or why, and begins an investigation that seems to have absolutely no clues.
Peter May does an excellent job of bringing these three storylines together and answering all of the questions raised while reading this book. I recommend to those who have not tried Peter May to consider reading his work. This book is a stand-alone and is one of his best.
I was introduced to Peter May by a Goodreads friend (thanks Gary) and am really enjoying his books. This book is his most recent and I looked forward to reading it whenever I had to put it down.
Peter May knows the Hebrides Islands off the coast of Scotland and provides some beautiful descriptions of the land and the weather - neither of which is very hospitable on any given day. The book begins with a man washed up on the shore of the Isle of Harris. He does not know his name, or what happened to him. It's as if he just awoken and found himself in a place he has no idea of why he is there.
In Edinburgh, a teenage girl, Karen, is in rebellion over the suicide death of her father. She does not want to believe that he is gone even though 2 years have passed and he has not been heard from since the day his boat and a note was found out at sea.
Detective Sergeant George Gunn has been assigned to investigate the discovery of a body on the Flannan Isles. He does not know the man's identity, who killed him or why, and begins an investigation that seems to have absolutely no clues.
Peter May does an excellent job of bringing these three storylines together and answering all of the questions raised while reading this book. I recommend to those who have not tried Peter May to consider reading his work. This book is a stand-alone and is one of his best.
September 8, 2017
Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: In his latest mystery set in Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, award-winning author Peter May spins a tale about three disparate cases that may or may not be linked...
On the remote Isle of Harris in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, a man washes up on a deserted beach, hypothermic and completely disoriented. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. The only clue to his condition is a map of the island showing a desolate, ancient path called the Coffin Road. With a sense of dread and no clear idea what lies at the other end, he knows he must follow the trail if he has any hope of discovering his identity.
Meanwhile, homicide detective George Gunn makes the rough ocean crossing to a remote, sea-battered lighthouse on a rock in the northern Atlantic, twenty miles west of the Outer Hebrides, to investigate a brutal murder. Despite its isolation, the tiny island has seen its share of tragedy: more than a century earlier, three lighthouse keepers disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. And now there is a new tragedy, and Gunn must figure out what happened.<
At the same time, a teenage girl lies in her Edinburgh bedroom, desperate to discover the truth about her father's death. Two years after the discovery of the pioneering scientist's suicide note, Karen Fleming still cannot accept that her father would willingly abandon her. And the more she discovers about the nature of his research, the more she suspects that suicide had nothing to do with it.
I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER IN 2016. THANK YOU.
My Review: Ten years ago I flew through all 400pp of this read, and excitedly left this note:
When I went looking for my notes made to write my weekly summary post for GBBO over on LibraryThing, I found my unposted review! (Not the notes I wanted, though.) So I'm posting it here for this year's #Deathtober blogging, and in sad acknowledgment of Author May's death on 25 September 2026. I suspect I never came back to post it because that was about the time I ran seriously afoul of the Spoiler Stasi abd decided "hell with it" and forgot it existed.
The story opens on a beach. Don't get too excited, it's a Scottish beach so colder than a Republican's heart. A man awakes cold and confused:
Nothing like the smell of the North Atlantic Ocean in the morning. As he searches for a name (it's Neal, for now), for a way to discover who he is, ID or any other details, belongings...anything...he encounters a woman who seems to know him as she walks near the beach. Sally helps Neal-for-now home, some data starts coming into his slippery memory and mostly slides right out again having nothing to stick to:
It's true, and it scares me, as it does most people or writers would not use the trope with the regularity they do (particularly in thrillers where the need for the main character to act fast and to have a great urgency to do something is acute). Our hero reflects, "{it's a}s if I inhabit the body of a stranger, in whose uncharted waters I have been washed up in blind ignorance," as he attempts to unferstand what on Earth has landed him in a situation where:
As he puts together who he is and what he is doing, why he us at great risk of death, many truths and dacts sort themselves into an extremely ugly pattern:
Neal-for-now's discovered, conveniently near a cursed murder site in a lighthouse, evidence that chemical companies researched neonicotinoids and knew what effect the pesticide would have:
As you'll see from my rating there were some issues with the way the story unfolded, plot holes, a looseness with the timeline; but you also see how exciting the story is. This is proof Author May began writing in the vineyards of television...you can see the above in your inner TV room, I'm sure...before retiring to the vineyards of the South of France to write exciting novels. I like this one best of all of them I've read.
The Publisher Says: In his latest mystery set in Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, award-winning author Peter May spins a tale about three disparate cases that may or may not be linked...
On the remote Isle of Harris in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, a man washes up on a deserted beach, hypothermic and completely disoriented. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. The only clue to his condition is a map of the island showing a desolate, ancient path called the Coffin Road. With a sense of dread and no clear idea what lies at the other end, he knows he must follow the trail if he has any hope of discovering his identity.
Meanwhile, homicide detective George Gunn makes the rough ocean crossing to a remote, sea-battered lighthouse on a rock in the northern Atlantic, twenty miles west of the Outer Hebrides, to investigate a brutal murder. Despite its isolation, the tiny island has seen its share of tragedy: more than a century earlier, three lighthouse keepers disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. And now there is a new tragedy, and Gunn must figure out what happened.<
At the same time, a teenage girl lies in her Edinburgh bedroom, desperate to discover the truth about her father's death. Two years after the discovery of the pioneering scientist's suicide note, Karen Fleming still cannot accept that her father would willingly abandon her. And the more she discovers about the nature of his research, the more she suspects that suicide had nothing to do with it.
I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER IN 2016. THANK YOU.
My Review: Ten years ago I flew through all 400pp of this read, and excitedly left this note:
Far and away the best book of Peter May's that I've read. An exciting and involving read. More later. Or earlier, I suppose, depending on which end of the telescope you're looking through.
When I went looking for my notes made to write my weekly summary post for GBBO over on LibraryThing, I found my unposted review! (Not the notes I wanted, though.) So I'm posting it here for this year's #Deathtober blogging, and in sad acknowledgment of Author May's death on 25 September 2026. I suspect I never came back to post it because that was about the time I ran seriously afoul of the Spoiler Stasi abd decided "hell with it" and forgot it existed.
The story opens on a beach. Don't get too excited, it's a Scottish beach so colder than a Republican's heart. A man awakes cold and confused:
I have no idea where this is. And for the first time since consciousness has returned, I am aware, with a sudden, sharp and painful stab of trepidation, that I have not the least notion of who I am.
That breathless realisation banishes all else. The cold, the taste of salt, the acid still burning all the way up from my stomach. How can I not know who I am? A temporary confusion, surely? But the longer I stand here, with the wind whistling around my ears, shivering almost beyond control, feeling the pain and the cold and the consternation, I realise that the only sense that has not returned to me is my sense of self. As if I inhabit the body of a stranger, in whose uncharted waters I have been washed up in blind ignorance.
Nothing like the smell of the North Atlantic Ocean in the morning. As he searches for a name (it's Neal, for now), for a way to discover who he is, ID or any other details, belongings...anything...he encounters a woman who seems to know him as she walks near the beach. Sally helps Neal-for-now home, some data starts coming into his slippery memory and mostly slides right out again having nothing to stick to:
They say that all any of us are is the sum total of our memories…Take them away and all you are left with is a blank. Like a computer without software.
It's true, and it scares me, as it does most people or writers would not use the trope with the regularity they do (particularly in thrillers where the need for the main character to act fast and to have a great urgency to do something is acute). Our hero reflects, "{it's a}s if I inhabit the body of a stranger, in whose uncharted waters I have been washed up in blind ignorance," as he attempts to unferstand what on Earth has landed him in a situation where:
Nothing, absolutely nothing since I found myself washed up, semi-conscious, on the Traigh Losgaintir, has made sense. My memory loss. My failure to find a single clue to my identity, beyond my name, even in my own home. My affair with Sally. The book on the Flannan Isles mystery that I am not writing. Beehives on the coffin road. My missing boat...someone trying to kill me. And someone else stepping in to save me. The weight of it all is very nearly crushing.
As he puts together who he is and what he is doing, why he us at great risk of death, many truths and dacts sort themselves into an extremely ugly pattern:
Politicians and political parties, particularly in America, rely on {corporate criminals} to fund election campaigns. They are powerful lobbyists. Which is why the US has not banned the use of neonicotinoids, and thousands of tons of the stuff are still being used on crops there every year. Biggest usage is on oilseed rape. They coat the seeds with insecticide, so that, when it germinates, the insecticide is diffused throughout the plant, including the nectar and pollen that’s harvested by the bees.
Neal-for-now's discovered, conveniently near a cursed murder site in a lighthouse, evidence that chemical companies researched neonicotinoids and knew what effect the pesticide would have:
‘The first summer I was here, I landed one day to find that the Lighthouse Board had sent in decorators to paint the place. Everything was opened up. The guys were okay with me taking a look around and we got chatting. The forecast was good, and they expected to be here for a few days. So I spun them the story about writing a book and said I would probably be back tomorrow. And I was. Only this time with a pack of Blu-tack. When they were having their lunch, I took the keys from the inner and outer doors and made impressions. Dead simple. Had keys cut, and access to the place whenever I wanted thereafter.’ The final panel falls away in my hands, and I reach in to retrieve a black plastic bag. I hand it up to {Bad actor}, and he peels back the plastic to look inside. As I stand up, I lift one of the wooden panels. I know that this is the one chance I will get, while he is distracted, and I swing the panel at his head as hard as I can. The force with which it hits him sends a judder back up my arms to my shoulders, and I actually hear it snap. He falls to his knees, dropping the hard drive, and his gun skids away across the floor. {Bad actor} is so startled, she barely has time to move before I punch her hard in the face. I feel teeth breaking beneath the force of my knuckles, behind lips I once kissed with tenderness and lust. Blood bubbles at her mouth. I grab {a hostage he's rescuing} by the arm and hustle her fast down the corridor, kicking open the door and dragging her out into the night. The storm hits us with a force that assails all the senses. The wind is deafening, driving stinging rain horizontally into our faces. The cold wraps icy fingers around us, instantly numbing. Beyond the protection of the walls, it is worse, and I find it nearly impossible to keep my feet as I pull {the hostage he's rescuing} off into the dark. Only the relentless turning of the lamp in the light room above us provides any illumination. We turn right, and I know that almost immediately the island drops away into a chasm that must be two or three hundred feet deep. I can hear the ocean rushing into it. Snarling, snapping at the rocks below and sending an amplified roar almost straight up into the air. I guide {the hostage he's rescuing} away from it, half-dragging her, until we reach a small cluster of rocks and I push her flat into the ground behind them. I tear away the tape that binds her wrists, then roll her on to her back to peel away the strip of it over her mouth.
As you'll see from my rating there were some issues with the way the story unfolded, plot holes, a looseness with the timeline; but you also see how exciting the story is. This is proof Author May began writing in the vineyards of television...you can see the above in your inner TV room, I'm sure...before retiring to the vineyards of the South of France to write exciting novels. I like this one best of all of them I've read.
February 12, 2016
When I took up with crime fiction, I assumed some of the same good things would be at play as in “serious” fiction. I frequently find it is not. Take Coffin Road by Peter May. He uses one of the saddest tropes in fiction or drama: “I have to know.” In this case it’s Neal –or is it? He was washed up on shore in the Hebrides and has no memory. He must find out who he is, for he soon discovers a dead body. Is he the killer?
By about 100 pages one doesn’t care who he is or what he is. You also have a clichéd detective and a possible 100 year old mystery of missing light house keepers.
One also is faced with Karen, Neal’s daughter. Or is she? And is her father even alive?
OMG! I have a box of things. And OMG2! I have a letter. And OMG3! I have a postcard with his address. May carefully crafts every commonplace one can engender about the teen: hideous tattoos which she has obtained by exchanging ink for sex, various piercings, strange hair color and cut, and a vapidness not to be believed. But she, too has to find out. She leaves home to search, but with a change of underwear. (When all’s said and done,her father questions the tattoos: “Don’t start!” Snappy dialogue.)
Then you have Neal’s lover. Now who is she? And what are all those bee stings about? Why, let’s have some excruciating exposition to explain and how a Swiss agribusiness is ruining the world for future tattooed, multiply pierced, dyed hair, promiscuous, ignorant wee lasses.
Well, let’s wrap it up and bring in still another extraneous being. Is he a “traveler?” Why, no! He’s the one who has been watching out for Neal or whatever his name is all of this time. And he’s a bird watcher, too.
The novel is not all bad. May does a palatable job in creating a sense of place. It’s just the characters and plots and dialogue that defeat him.
By about 100 pages one doesn’t care who he is or what he is. You also have a clichéd detective and a possible 100 year old mystery of missing light house keepers.
One also is faced with Karen, Neal’s daughter. Or is she? And is her father even alive?
OMG! I have a box of things. And OMG2! I have a letter. And OMG3! I have a postcard with his address. May carefully crafts every commonplace one can engender about the teen: hideous tattoos which she has obtained by exchanging ink for sex, various piercings, strange hair color and cut, and a vapidness not to be believed. But she, too has to find out. She leaves home to search, but with a change of underwear. (When all’s said and done,her father questions the tattoos: “Don’t start!” Snappy dialogue.)
Then you have Neal’s lover. Now who is she? And what are all those bee stings about? Why, let’s have some excruciating exposition to explain and how a Swiss agribusiness is ruining the world for future tattooed, multiply pierced, dyed hair, promiscuous, ignorant wee lasses.
Well, let’s wrap it up and bring in still another extraneous being. Is he a “traveler?” Why, no! He’s the one who has been watching out for Neal or whatever his name is all of this time. And he’s a bird watcher, too.
The novel is not all bad. May does a palatable job in creating a sense of place. It’s just the characters and plots and dialogue that defeat him.
January 1, 2016
Brilliant!
My View:
Peter May starts this book with a hook that is triple barbed and efficient! You will take a deep breath and walk with the protagonist as he staggers barely alive, soaking wet life jacket still on, up the beach. Shipwrecked? Swept overboard? Dumped at sea? Even he (Neal) doesn’t know – he has amnesia. What a great way to engage the reader – what could be more unreliable than a narrator who has no memory of who he is or how he ended up washed up on a beach – all he has is a deep sense of foreboding. He interrogates the essence of his existence or what he thinks he knows of his past trying to make sense of his past and future, all the time worried about what he has done, what he might have done, or what he is capable of.
A wonderful story of intrigue, duplicitous behaviours, conspiracy, murder and economic war fare. Peter May’s writing is intense, the narrative is complex, the path to enlightenment and the truth littered with half-truths, betrayals and self-doubt and… bees. What a wonderful narrative, full of twists and surprises .Peter May is an eco-warrior – who would have known? Not me.
My View:
Peter May starts this book with a hook that is triple barbed and efficient! You will take a deep breath and walk with the protagonist as he staggers barely alive, soaking wet life jacket still on, up the beach. Shipwrecked? Swept overboard? Dumped at sea? Even he (Neal) doesn’t know – he has amnesia. What a great way to engage the reader – what could be more unreliable than a narrator who has no memory of who he is or how he ended up washed up on a beach – all he has is a deep sense of foreboding. He interrogates the essence of his existence or what he thinks he knows of his past trying to make sense of his past and future, all the time worried about what he has done, what he might have done, or what he is capable of.
A wonderful story of intrigue, duplicitous behaviours, conspiracy, murder and economic war fare. Peter May’s writing is intense, the narrative is complex, the path to enlightenment and the truth littered with half-truths, betrayals and self-doubt and… bees. What a wonderful narrative, full of twists and surprises .Peter May is an eco-warrior – who would have known? Not me.
March 30, 2016
This thriller starts with a man washed up on a beach. As he struggles along the adjacent road, he is recognized by a resident as James McLean and the older woman with her dog walks him to his cottage. McLean doesn't remember who he is or what happened to him. He is greeted by his dog, Bran, is only companion. Later other neighbors drop by and he is able to piece together a bit more. Searching his cottage yields few clues to his identity, and he keeps his amnesia a secret.
Two other protagonists in the story are a local detective DS George Gunn and a teenage girl, Karen Flemming, in Edinburgh. Eventually their paths cross as the mystery deepens and then begins to unravel.
This thriller kept my attention throughout. Details about life on Lewis and Harris, and the Outer Hebrides appealed to my interest in the area. This is a well constructed, riveting story that I highly recommend.
Two other protagonists in the story are a local detective DS George Gunn and a teenage girl, Karen Flemming, in Edinburgh. Eventually their paths cross as the mystery deepens and then begins to unravel.
This thriller kept my attention throughout. Details about life on Lewis and Harris, and the Outer Hebrides appealed to my interest in the area. This is a well constructed, riveting story that I highly recommend.
August 14, 2026
4 Stars
First time reading Peter May and enjoyed this one.
Seperate story lines.
A man washes up on a beach in remote Scotland and can't remember who he is. After finding a small house in the middle of nowhere with a dog who seems to recognize him he thinks he lives here. As hes trying to figure out who he is hes finds the dead body of a man while searching a small island he was led to.
Meanwhile Karen, a young woman is on a search for her father. She just got news he could be dead but doesn't believe it.
Also there's a detective who's on the case of the dead man whose been found.
All this came together but not as I thought it would.
A lot of the plot centers around bees. Bees are being studied in this remote Scottish area and the story leads to why.
This was interesting from beginning to end. A bit long on characters but still a great story.
You will also find out why its titled Coffin Road.
First time reading Peter May and enjoyed this one.
Seperate story lines.
A man washes up on a beach in remote Scotland and can't remember who he is. After finding a small house in the middle of nowhere with a dog who seems to recognize him he thinks he lives here. As hes trying to figure out who he is hes finds the dead body of a man while searching a small island he was led to.
Meanwhile Karen, a young woman is on a search for her father. She just got news he could be dead but doesn't believe it.
Also there's a detective who's on the case of the dead man whose been found.
All this came together but not as I thought it would.
A lot of the plot centers around bees. Bees are being studied in this remote Scottish area and the story leads to why.
This was interesting from beginning to end. A bit long on characters but still a great story.
You will also find out why its titled Coffin Road.
October 18, 2015
“The light at Luskentyre is stunning. The wind is brisk but soft. The land has soaked up everything thrown at it last night by the storm. It has, it seems, an endless capacity to do so. The sky presents itself in torn strips of blue interspersed by teased-out cotton wool, and the sun reflects in countless shades of turquoise across an outgoing tide that leaves silver sands shining”
Coffin Road is the eighth stand-alone novel by British author, Peter May. A man wakes, washed up on a beach on the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides: he doesn’t know who he is, where he is, or how he got there, but he has an overpowering feeling of dread about something that has happened. Instinctively, he does not reveal his amnesia to those around him, relying on the information he gleans from conversations and from items in his cottage to gain knowledge of who he is.
His neighbours know him as Neal Maclean, a writer who is almost finished a book about three lighthouse keepers gone missing from the Flannan Isles in 1900. It soon becomes apparent to him that this is a cover, but for what? A boat trip to one of the Flannan Isles, Eilean Mor, leads to a discovery that explains the dread, and has him wondering if he is a murderer.
In the two years since her father’s suicide, Karen Fleming has gone from a hormonal teenager to a rebellious adolescent, mired in guilt over her last words to him, maintaining a defiant ugliness with shockingly dyed hair, tattoos and piercings, layers of pretence that hide her inability to accept that her father took his own life. Craving a closeness no longer possible, she seeks out her godfather, Professor Chris Connor, her father’s closest friend. And learns something that makes her determined to know the truth.
Stationed at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, DS George Gunn is sent to investigate the bludgeoned corpse discovered by tourists in the chapel on Eilean Mor. The victim is unidentified, and murder is a far from common crime in the Outer Hebrides: he wonders if this case will see him completely out of his depth.
As he effortlessly builds the suspense, May gives the reader a real page-turner: the plot is original, with quite a few twists and a dramatic climax in a remote island lighthouse during a fierce storm; the characters are, with their flaws and failings, totally believable; the setting is expertly rendered, and the gorgeous descriptive prose is a bonus: “The cloud formations coming in off the Atlantic are torn and shredded by the wind, sunlight breaking through them in beams of pure gold against black, criss-crossing the incoming wash and the silver of the sand like spotlights on a stage. Nature’s own theatrical production, dazzling and majestic”
May touches on some interesting and very topical themes: the importance of bees in the world’s ecosystems; the devastating effect of reputedly harmless pesticides; the power of the large, multi-national agrochemical companies; and the concealment of unfavourable research results. May’s love of the Outer Hebrides is apparent in his wonderfully evocative descriptions: “…I can see the rain falling from it in dark streaks that shift between smudges of grey-blue light and occasional flashes of watery sunshine that burn in brief patches of polished silver on the surface of the sea”
He draws some marvellous word pictures: “Despite the absence of people, there were plenty of boats. Fishing boats and motor launches, a couple of sailing boats and a handful of rowing boats which had seen better days, all lined up side by side, nudging each other playfully in the wind” and “The sky is more broken now, the light sharp and clear, clouds painted against the blue in breathless brushstrokes of white and grey and pewter. Moving fast in the wind to cast racing shadows on the sand below” are examples.
May has written novels set in the Outer Hebrides before, and this novel is bound to have readers seeking out his earlier works. A brilliant read!
With thanks to Hachette and TheReadingRoom for this copy to read and review.
Coffin Road is the eighth stand-alone novel by British author, Peter May. A man wakes, washed up on a beach on the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides: he doesn’t know who he is, where he is, or how he got there, but he has an overpowering feeling of dread about something that has happened. Instinctively, he does not reveal his amnesia to those around him, relying on the information he gleans from conversations and from items in his cottage to gain knowledge of who he is.
His neighbours know him as Neal Maclean, a writer who is almost finished a book about three lighthouse keepers gone missing from the Flannan Isles in 1900. It soon becomes apparent to him that this is a cover, but for what? A boat trip to one of the Flannan Isles, Eilean Mor, leads to a discovery that explains the dread, and has him wondering if he is a murderer.
In the two years since her father’s suicide, Karen Fleming has gone from a hormonal teenager to a rebellious adolescent, mired in guilt over her last words to him, maintaining a defiant ugliness with shockingly dyed hair, tattoos and piercings, layers of pretence that hide her inability to accept that her father took his own life. Craving a closeness no longer possible, she seeks out her godfather, Professor Chris Connor, her father’s closest friend. And learns something that makes her determined to know the truth.
Stationed at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, DS George Gunn is sent to investigate the bludgeoned corpse discovered by tourists in the chapel on Eilean Mor. The victim is unidentified, and murder is a far from common crime in the Outer Hebrides: he wonders if this case will see him completely out of his depth.
As he effortlessly builds the suspense, May gives the reader a real page-turner: the plot is original, with quite a few twists and a dramatic climax in a remote island lighthouse during a fierce storm; the characters are, with their flaws and failings, totally believable; the setting is expertly rendered, and the gorgeous descriptive prose is a bonus: “The cloud formations coming in off the Atlantic are torn and shredded by the wind, sunlight breaking through them in beams of pure gold against black, criss-crossing the incoming wash and the silver of the sand like spotlights on a stage. Nature’s own theatrical production, dazzling and majestic”
May touches on some interesting and very topical themes: the importance of bees in the world’s ecosystems; the devastating effect of reputedly harmless pesticides; the power of the large, multi-national agrochemical companies; and the concealment of unfavourable research results. May’s love of the Outer Hebrides is apparent in his wonderfully evocative descriptions: “…I can see the rain falling from it in dark streaks that shift between smudges of grey-blue light and occasional flashes of watery sunshine that burn in brief patches of polished silver on the surface of the sea”
He draws some marvellous word pictures: “Despite the absence of people, there were plenty of boats. Fishing boats and motor launches, a couple of sailing boats and a handful of rowing boats which had seen better days, all lined up side by side, nudging each other playfully in the wind” and “The sky is more broken now, the light sharp and clear, clouds painted against the blue in breathless brushstrokes of white and grey and pewter. Moving fast in the wind to cast racing shadows on the sand below” are examples.
May has written novels set in the Outer Hebrides before, and this novel is bound to have readers seeking out his earlier works. A brilliant read!
With thanks to Hachette and TheReadingRoom for this copy to read and review.
May 25, 2022
“The light at Luskentyre is stunning. The wind is brisk but soft. The land has soaked up everything thrown at it last night by the storm. It has, it seems, an endless capacity to do so. The sky presents itself in torn strips of blue interspersed by teased-out cotton wool, and the sun reflects in countless shades of turquoise across an outgoing tide that leaves silver sands shining”
Coffin Road is the eighth stand-alone novel by British author, Peter May. The audio version is narrated by Peter Forbes. A man wakes, washed up on a beach on the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides: he doesn’t know who he is, where he is, or how he got there, but he has an overpowering feeling of dread about something that has happened. Instinctively, he does not reveal his amnesia to those around him, relying on the information he gleans from conversations and from items in his cottage to gain knowledge of who he is.
His neighbours know him as Neal Maclean, a writer who is almost finished a book about three lighthouse keepers gone missing from the Flannan Isles in 1900. It soon becomes apparent to him that this is a cover, but for what? A boat trip to one of the Flannan Isles, Eilean Mor, leads to a discovery that explains the dread, and has him wondering if he is a murderer.
In the two years since her father’s suicide, Karen Fleming has gone from a hormonal teenager to a rebellious adolescent, mired in guilt over her last words to him, maintaining a defiant ugliness with shockingly dyed hair, tattoos and piercings, layers of pretence that hide her inability to accept that her father took his own life. Craving a closeness no longer possible, she seeks out her godfather, Professor Chris Connor, her father’s closest friend. And learns something that makes her determined to know the truth.
Stationed at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, DS George Gunn is sent to investigate the bludgeoned corpse discovered by tourists in the chapel on Eilean Mor. The victim is unidentified, and murder is a far from common crime in the Outer Hebrides: he wonders if this case will see him completely out of his depth.
As he effortlessly builds the suspense, May gives the reader a real page-turner: the plot is original, with quite a few twists and a dramatic climax in a remote island lighthouse during a fierce storm; the characters are, with their flaws and failings, totally believable; the setting is expertly rendered, and the gorgeous descriptive prose is a bonus: “The cloud formations coming in off the Atlantic are torn and shredded by the wind, sunlight breaking through them in beams of pure gold against black, criss-crossing the incoming wash and the silver of the sand like spotlights on a stage. Nature’s own theatrical production, dazzling and majestic”
May touches on some interesting and very topical themes: the importance of bees in the world’s ecosystems; the devastating effect of reputedly harmless pesticides; the power of the large, multi-national agrochemical companies; and the concealment of unfavourable research results. May’s love of the Outer Hebrides is apparent in his wonderfully evocative descriptions: “…I can see the rain falling from it in dark streaks that shift between smudges of grey-blue light and occasional flashes of watery sunshine that burn in brief patches of polished silver on the surface of the sea”
He draws some marvellous word pictures: “Despite the absence of people, there were plenty of boats. Fishing boats and motor launches, a couple of sailing boats and a handful of rowing boats which had seen better days, all lined up side by side, nudging each other playfully in the wind” and “The sky is more broken now, the light sharp and clear, clouds painted against the blue in breathless brushstrokes of white and grey and pewter. Moving fast in the wind to cast racing shadows on the sand below” are examples.
May has written novels set in the Outer Hebrides before, and this novel is bound to have readers seeking out his earlier works. A brilliant read!
Coffin Road is the eighth stand-alone novel by British author, Peter May. The audio version is narrated by Peter Forbes. A man wakes, washed up on a beach on the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides: he doesn’t know who he is, where he is, or how he got there, but he has an overpowering feeling of dread about something that has happened. Instinctively, he does not reveal his amnesia to those around him, relying on the information he gleans from conversations and from items in his cottage to gain knowledge of who he is.
His neighbours know him as Neal Maclean, a writer who is almost finished a book about three lighthouse keepers gone missing from the Flannan Isles in 1900. It soon becomes apparent to him that this is a cover, but for what? A boat trip to one of the Flannan Isles, Eilean Mor, leads to a discovery that explains the dread, and has him wondering if he is a murderer.
In the two years since her father’s suicide, Karen Fleming has gone from a hormonal teenager to a rebellious adolescent, mired in guilt over her last words to him, maintaining a defiant ugliness with shockingly dyed hair, tattoos and piercings, layers of pretence that hide her inability to accept that her father took his own life. Craving a closeness no longer possible, she seeks out her godfather, Professor Chris Connor, her father’s closest friend. And learns something that makes her determined to know the truth.
Stationed at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, DS George Gunn is sent to investigate the bludgeoned corpse discovered by tourists in the chapel on Eilean Mor. The victim is unidentified, and murder is a far from common crime in the Outer Hebrides: he wonders if this case will see him completely out of his depth.
As he effortlessly builds the suspense, May gives the reader a real page-turner: the plot is original, with quite a few twists and a dramatic climax in a remote island lighthouse during a fierce storm; the characters are, with their flaws and failings, totally believable; the setting is expertly rendered, and the gorgeous descriptive prose is a bonus: “The cloud formations coming in off the Atlantic are torn and shredded by the wind, sunlight breaking through them in beams of pure gold against black, criss-crossing the incoming wash and the silver of the sand like spotlights on a stage. Nature’s own theatrical production, dazzling and majestic”
May touches on some interesting and very topical themes: the importance of bees in the world’s ecosystems; the devastating effect of reputedly harmless pesticides; the power of the large, multi-national agrochemical companies; and the concealment of unfavourable research results. May’s love of the Outer Hebrides is apparent in his wonderfully evocative descriptions: “…I can see the rain falling from it in dark streaks that shift between smudges of grey-blue light and occasional flashes of watery sunshine that burn in brief patches of polished silver on the surface of the sea”
He draws some marvellous word pictures: “Despite the absence of people, there were plenty of boats. Fishing boats and motor launches, a couple of sailing boats and a handful of rowing boats which had seen better days, all lined up side by side, nudging each other playfully in the wind” and “The sky is more broken now, the light sharp and clear, clouds painted against the blue in breathless brushstrokes of white and grey and pewter. Moving fast in the wind to cast racing shadows on the sand below” are examples.
May has written novels set in the Outer Hebrides before, and this novel is bound to have readers seeking out his earlier works. A brilliant read!
April 6, 2019
One man is dead. A second man is presumed dead. A third man is alive but has no memory and no record of his true identity. Two of these men have bee stings. A teenaged girl wants to know more about her father and embarks, alone, on a perilous journey for answers. A non-profit director rages and threatens. A detective sergeant keeps an open mind and takes copious notes. And all the while, a squatter watches through binoculars.
Another suspenseful tale from Peter May, although not quite as enjoyable for me as his three previous Lewis novels. For those who have read May’s ‘Lewis Trilogy,’ Detective Sergeant George Gunn makes a reappearance in this standalone. He’s as seemingly bumbling as ever, and the big question is: Can he unravel this tangled mess without Fin Macleod? You’ll have to read to find out. 3 stars, because the Lewis books are better. But still, this is a very good crime novel. And as always with this author, I loved his superb landscapes of the Hebrides, a part of the world I hope to visit someday:
“Places like the Valley of Drizzle, and Raven Rock, seemed somehow reminiscent of Tolkien in this land torn and shaped by the great glaciers of some past ice-age. Tree-covered islands in vast, still lochs cast dark reflections on darker water, great jagged mountains rising above the tree line to vanish into brooding low cloud.”
Another suspenseful tale from Peter May, although not quite as enjoyable for me as his three previous Lewis novels. For those who have read May’s ‘Lewis Trilogy,’ Detective Sergeant George Gunn makes a reappearance in this standalone. He’s as seemingly bumbling as ever, and the big question is: Can he unravel this tangled mess without Fin Macleod? You’ll have to read to find out. 3 stars, because the Lewis books are better. But still, this is a very good crime novel. And as always with this author, I loved his superb landscapes of the Hebrides, a part of the world I hope to visit someday:
“Places like the Valley of Drizzle, and Raven Rock, seemed somehow reminiscent of Tolkien in this land torn and shaped by the great glaciers of some past ice-age. Tree-covered islands in vast, still lochs cast dark reflections on darker water, great jagged mountains rising above the tree line to vanish into brooding low cloud.”
March 17, 2016
Peter May is what I consider an unreliable author. I've loved some of his works, hated some of it, but found most of it okay. The setting of remote Scottish island was enticing enough for me to get my hands on this latest installment quickly. Now that I'm done, I'm not sure what to think.
I had expected three plotlines. The mystery of the lighthouse keepers that disappeared 100 years ago, the plotline of the man without a memory and of Karen, who refuses to accept that her father has committed suicide. The first one was moot, so it's only the present day voices. The man without the memory washes up on the beach and does not have the first clue of who he is. When a man is found killed on a remote island, the man without memory thinks he might have killed him.
Funnily enough - because it is so unexpected - is that his book is mostly about the importance of bees and how modern pesticides kill hem. To not spoil anything I will not reveal exactly how bees tie the plot together, but they do.
This was perfectly okay. I will undoubtedly read more of Peter May, as long as he sticks to his dismal, wind-blown, Scottish islands.
I had expected three plotlines. The mystery of the lighthouse keepers that disappeared 100 years ago, the plotline of the man without a memory and of Karen, who refuses to accept that her father has committed suicide. The first one was moot, so it's only the present day voices. The man without the memory washes up on the beach and does not have the first clue of who he is. When a man is found killed on a remote island, the man without memory thinks he might have killed him.
Funnily enough - because it is so unexpected - is that his book is mostly about the importance of bees and how modern pesticides kill hem. To not spoil anything I will not reveal exactly how bees tie the plot together, but they do.
This was perfectly okay. I will undoubtedly read more of Peter May, as long as he sticks to his dismal, wind-blown, Scottish islands.
August 14, 2024
5 ⭐️ = Very Good.
Paperback.
This is my first PM book and I was really impressed. This had a really unusual start, was deep and fairly dark and was a real page turner. The setting in the North of the UK was mysterious and atmospheric and the author did an amazing job with this.
I thought this was going to be a simple murder … boy was I wrong. Without giving too much away, the ‘ bees’ made it for me. I learnt a lot.
Brilliant!
Paperback.
This is my first PM book and I was really impressed. This had a really unusual start, was deep and fairly dark and was a real page turner. The setting in the North of the UK was mysterious and atmospheric and the author did an amazing job with this.
I thought this was going to be a simple murder … boy was I wrong. Without giving too much away, the ‘ bees’ made it for me. I learnt a lot.
Brilliant!
August 1, 2017
Dual review with Swedish first and then English!
SWEDISH REVIEW
Peter May är alldeles fantastisk författare och trots att denna bok inte riktigt griper mig som t.ex. Isle of Lewis series gjorde så Coffin Road en bra bok, mycket tack vare att May har en sådan bra förmåga att skriva så målande så det känns som man sugs in i bokens handling. Så varför bara 3 stjärnor om boken nu är bra? Jo, jag kände aldrig den där känslan av att sträckläsa boken som jag har haft tidigare när jag läst vissa av Mays böcker.
Coffin Road är som bäst i början, när allting är så mystiskt, med den främmande mannen som flyter i land utan minne. Men, det är också början som för mig funkar bäst, sedan flyter handlingen på utan att riktigt gripa tag i mig, men tack vare Mays fantastiska skrivförmåga så är boken ändå bra. Men karaktärerna klickar inte riktigt för mig, jag finner att jag inte riktigt kommer dem nära. De föreblir bara karaktärer, inga personer som jag saknar när jag vänder sista bladet. Coffin Road är en helt OK bok, men jag fann aldrig att jag verkligen gillade handlingen utan det är snarare så att för stunden så var boken helt OK att läsa.
Coffin Road börjar bra, men blev inte riktigt den fullträff jag hade hoppas på. Men Peter Mays underbara miljöbeskrivningar och hans sätt att skriva så inlevelsefullt gör boken läsvärd!
Tack till Modernista för recensionsexemplaret!
ENGLISH REVIEW
Peter May is a great author and even though this book does not really grip me like, The Isle of Lewis series did, is Coffin Road a good book, much thanks to May having a great ability to write so good that it feels like you sucked into the book's story. So why only 3 stars if the book is good? Well, I never felt that feeling of having a hard time putting the book down, like I had before when I read some of May's books.
Coffin Road is best at the beginning, when everything is so mysterious, with the stranger washed ashore without memory. But, it's also the beginning that works best for me, then the story progress without really getting hold of me, but thanks to May's amazing writing ability, the book is still good. Yet, the characters do not really click for me, I find that I do not really get close to them or really care for them. I can't say I miss them when I turn the last page. I liked the book, but I did not love it. It's an OK book to read.
Coffin Road starts off great but never got to be the hit I had expected the book to be. But thanks to Peter May's great milieu descriptions and his excellent way of writing makes the book readable!
Thanks to Modernista for the review copy!
SWEDISH REVIEW
Peter May är alldeles fantastisk författare och trots att denna bok inte riktigt griper mig som t.ex. Isle of Lewis series gjorde så Coffin Road en bra bok, mycket tack vare att May har en sådan bra förmåga att skriva så målande så det känns som man sugs in i bokens handling. Så varför bara 3 stjärnor om boken nu är bra? Jo, jag kände aldrig den där känslan av att sträckläsa boken som jag har haft tidigare när jag läst vissa av Mays böcker.
Coffin Road är som bäst i början, när allting är så mystiskt, med den främmande mannen som flyter i land utan minne. Men, det är också början som för mig funkar bäst, sedan flyter handlingen på utan att riktigt gripa tag i mig, men tack vare Mays fantastiska skrivförmåga så är boken ändå bra. Men karaktärerna klickar inte riktigt för mig, jag finner att jag inte riktigt kommer dem nära. De föreblir bara karaktärer, inga personer som jag saknar när jag vänder sista bladet. Coffin Road är en helt OK bok, men jag fann aldrig att jag verkligen gillade handlingen utan det är snarare så att för stunden så var boken helt OK att läsa.
Coffin Road börjar bra, men blev inte riktigt den fullträff jag hade hoppas på. Men Peter Mays underbara miljöbeskrivningar och hans sätt att skriva så inlevelsefullt gör boken läsvärd!
Tack till Modernista för recensionsexemplaret!
ENGLISH REVIEW
Peter May is a great author and even though this book does not really grip me like, The Isle of Lewis series did, is Coffin Road a good book, much thanks to May having a great ability to write so good that it feels like you sucked into the book's story. So why only 3 stars if the book is good? Well, I never felt that feeling of having a hard time putting the book down, like I had before when I read some of May's books.
Coffin Road is best at the beginning, when everything is so mysterious, with the stranger washed ashore without memory. But, it's also the beginning that works best for me, then the story progress without really getting hold of me, but thanks to May's amazing writing ability, the book is still good. Yet, the characters do not really click for me, I find that I do not really get close to them or really care for them. I can't say I miss them when I turn the last page. I liked the book, but I did not love it. It's an OK book to read.
Coffin Road starts off great but never got to be the hit I had expected the book to be. But thanks to Peter May's great milieu descriptions and his excellent way of writing makes the book readable!
Thanks to Modernista for the review copy!
October 28, 2017
All about mood and suppositions for 250 pages. This is my last from this author. Everything is nearly an unknown for 2/3rds of the book and then the smartest people act stupidly. There is almost no joy in anything or anyone which belongs in the straightforward honest category. And the worst is that all of the dour combines with the endless physical descriptions to make the entire feeling one more of morose affect than anything of tension to "know". I didn't ever feel embedded. The last May I read was part of the trilogy and I felt barely able to sustain any entertainment value and pushed to the end. But I won't do these, any of them in this Hebrides setting again. Joyless and the people act foolishly for their supposedly high IQ and talents.
Some of the "reality" for this amnesia victim was preposterous from a cognitive psychology reality of what I have learned about amnesia, and coupled with the sex scenes within those periods and issues of his non-remembering (multiple within 48 hours of such a trauma)?? This was a romance novel for men? Plus the fabulous house and loyal dog! It's simplistically ridiculous for even fiction.
Some of the "reality" for this amnesia victim was preposterous from a cognitive psychology reality of what I have learned about amnesia, and coupled with the sex scenes within those periods and issues of his non-remembering (multiple within 48 hours of such a trauma)?? This was a romance novel for men? Plus the fabulous house and loyal dog! It's simplistically ridiculous for even fiction.
January 5, 2021
The story, and the suspense, begins with a man regaining consciousness on an abandoned beach in the Outer Hebrides only to realize he doesn't know where he is -- or who he is.
Detective Sargent Gunn is summoned to Harris Island, Outer Hebrides, to investigate the murder of an unknown man on the sparsely populated island.
Seventeen-year-old Karen Fleming has been acting out for the last two years, ever since the suicidal death of her father. Although Karen's changed herself externally and done all she can to block her emotions from the sudden loss of her father, she comes to realize what a charade she's been perpetrating on herself and others. With fresh determination, Karen leaves home to find out what drove her father to take his own life -- or is he still alive somewhere?
These three scenarios play out individually but also begin to morph into one another as the story moves forward. Add to this a secretive scientific research project that certain agricultural product manufacturers will do anything to stop and you've got mounting tension and suspense the way Peter May delivers it.
Detective Sargent Gunn is summoned to Harris Island, Outer Hebrides, to investigate the murder of an unknown man on the sparsely populated island.
Seventeen-year-old Karen Fleming has been acting out for the last two years, ever since the suicidal death of her father. Although Karen's changed herself externally and done all she can to block her emotions from the sudden loss of her father, she comes to realize what a charade she's been perpetrating on herself and others. With fresh determination, Karen leaves home to find out what drove her father to take his own life -- or is he still alive somewhere?
These three scenarios play out individually but also begin to morph into one another as the story moves forward. Add to this a secretive scientific research project that certain agricultural product manufacturers will do anything to stop and you've got mounting tension and suspense the way Peter May delivers it.
March 6, 2018
My first book by the author and a nice acquaintance it is. Two things bug me about this otherwise very readable mystery. One is the 'memory loss' plot tool. I feel at all times like this was introduced as a means to get the story working and fill out the pages more than being anywhere near plausible. Which brings me to number two; the story herein is really a 'paint by numbers' when it comes to thriller writing. It's competent, but never new or surprising.
The good parts were the writing, which is fluent and enjoyable, and also the characters, which works very well and are both convincing and interesting for most parts.
Doesn't immediately make me want to read more, but I'll surely try one more, should I stumble upon it at a good time.
The good parts were the writing, which is fluent and enjoyable, and also the characters, which works very well and are both convincing and interesting for most parts.
Doesn't immediately make me want to read more, but I'll surely try one more, should I stumble upon it at a good time.
December 12, 2016
Another great Peter May book. I really enjoy his visual descriptive style of writing.However I did think as the plot developed it got a bit weak near the end.
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