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The Black House

by Peter May (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in September 2026

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Sarah said: " I chose The Blackhouse after it was recommended by my friend Julie, and then I my other friend Muriel said she had also read and enjoyed the full Lewis Trilogy. It had also appeared repeatedly in my own searches when I was looking for novels set on S I chose The Blackhouse after it was recommended by my friend Julie, and then I my other friend Muriel said she had also read and enjoyed the full Lewis Trilogy. It had also appeared repeatedly in my own searches when I was looking for novels set on Skye or the Hebrides, as John and I had chosen those islands as our holiday destination this year, touring them in a small motorhome.

I don't think I was alone in choosing it as holiday reading. When I popped into the shop on the Uig to Tarbert ferry crossing from Skye to Harris, Peter May's books seemed to fill half the shelves!

Normally I probably wouldn't have picked this because crime fiction isn't really my go-to genre. I enjoy the mystery and the guessing aspect, but I tend to prefer novels that stand out for their prose, style and character portrayal. Still, I thought a crime novel might make a suitably pacey holiday read.

In reality, the glorious weather rather got in the way of my reading plans. Instead of spending hours sheltering from rain in the motorhome, we found ourselves exploring the stunning landscape - mainly the beaches and cliff tops from morning until evening. By bedtime I was usually so tired that I'd manage a few pages before my eyes gave up to sleep.

As a novel, The Blackhouse certainly grabbed me from the start. The opening is compelling and the investigation quickly creates enough intrigue to keep the pages turning. Around a hundred pages in, though, I started struggling to keep track of the various Scottish names and male characters. It's very much a male-dominated story, and although that's not necessarily a criticism in itself, I sometimes found it difficult to remember who was who.

I also never entirely warmed to Peter May's portrayal of women and adolescent relationships. Some of the flashbacks to Fin's teenage years felt a little dated in their perspective, as though the boys were making all the choices and the girls simply responding to them. It's only a minor observation, but it occasionally pulled me out of the story.

What fascinated me most wasn't actually the murder mystery but the island culture and history woven throughout the novel. I became completely intrigued by the guga hunt and ended up listening to a BBC Sounds podcast about it, as well as watching clips of Gordon Ramsay learning about the tradition of hunting and preparing young gannets. In several gift shops around Lewis I noticed copies of The Guga Hunters, which also looked interesting.

This is exactly why I like reading books connected to places I'm visiting. They help me understand the history, traditions and character of an area. I particularly enjoyed recognising references to places we had seen or heard about ourselves: the dramatic landscape, Lews Castle, the famous Lewis chess pieces, and even a ravine whose description immediately brought to mind a route we'd driven near Mangurstadh. We also visited the Butt of Lewis, while much of the novel is centred around Ness, making the setting feel especially vivid.

As for the story itself, I have to admit I found it relentlessly gloomy. Fin Macleod returns to Lewis to investigate a murder, carrying the weight of a recent personal tragedy and an unhappy marriage. As the novel unfolds, we learn about further traumas from his youth and those of his friends. Accidents, illness, abuse and loss seem to arrive one after another. By the middle of the book I occasionally found myself reluctant to pick it up, simply because there was so little light amongst the darkness. I'm not sure Peter May could have squeezed much more misery into a single novel.

Overall, I enjoyed The Blackhouse enough to give it three stars. The setting and the portrayal of the guga hunt was by far its greatest strength, and reading it alongside our travels around Lewis and Harris definitely enhanced the experience. The mystery kept me interested, even if the characters and writing weren't quite enough to make me love it.

I'm not rushing to pick up the next book in the trilogy, but I wouldn't rule it out, particularly if we decide to return to Lewis one day. For now, though, I have a very healthy pile of books waiting for me, many of them birthday gifts kindly supplied by friends earlier this year. ...more "

Sep 13, 2026 12:22AM · see review