Peter May’s – Entry Island A Read for Mystery Lovers and Lovers of Genealogy
I always say that I love to read because books take me to places that i will never visit. One such place is the Outer Hebrides islands off of the western coast of Scotland. I have visited these islands four times thanks to the books of Peter May. The first three visits came via May’s Lewis Trilogy. That trilogy is composed of Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen. Each of these books is a terrific read. The last visit was through another of May’s books Entry Island. The setting for the trilogy is modern-day Scotland and features Edinburgh, police detective Fin Macleod. The dual settings for Entry Island are contemporary Entry Island in the St Gulf of St.Lawrence in Canada and the Outer Hebrides of the mid-19th century. The one thing that one gets from all the books is the life is rough in the Outer Hebrides!!
A Brief Synopsis
Entry Island begins when police detective Sime MacKenzie is sent to the island as part of a team investigating a murder. The main suspect of the murder is the victim’s wife and when Sime first meets her he swears he knows her! As he mulls over why he may know her, Sime begins to have vivid dreams based on the stories that his grandmother used to read to him and his sister when they were little. The stories came from Sime’s great-grandfather’s dairies. They focus on the his life in Scotland and eventually Canada in the mid-1800s.
Entry Island works as both a fine mystery novel with many twists and turns before the final murderer is revealed and a historic tale about the adversities faced by residents of the Outer Hebrides.The novel also paints a grim picture of the conditions that many of our ancestors faced as they made their way to a new land. Reading the novel made me stop and think about what it must have been like for my ancestors who came to America in the 1800s. from both Scotland and Ireland.
Here’s what some others say……
“Told with exceptional clarity and a fine eyefor the clausrophobia of island life, it weaves a hypnotic spell as it jumps between generations and proves that May is a writer to be cherished” – Geoffrey Wansell, Daily Mail
“May is the master of painting a vivid picture of his chosen landscapes and weaving a fascinating plot. The research he has packed into this well-paced dual tale is impressive…. An absorbing tale from a writer at the top of his game.” Daily Express
Bottom Line: Entry Island is another fantastic read from Peter May. It works for both mystery lovers and those who love genealogy! Entry Island was named the Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2014, and it also won the ITV Specsavers Book Club Dagger for the Best Read of the Year 2014, So Check it Out!! Rating **** Book 19 of 2016
