The Chessmen is the third (but not last!) book in the Lewis Trilogy by award-winning British journalist and author, Peter May. It seems Fin Macleod is back on Lewis for good: he’s repairing his parents’ croft house, connecting with the son he didn’t know about, reconnecting with his first love, and he has a job as head of security on the Red River Estate, where his remit is to solve their burgeoning problem with poaching. His first task is to talk sense into Whistler (John Angus) Macaskill, whose small scale poaching (one for the pot) was tolerated by Sir John Wooldridge, but makes him a prime target for the man’s son, the snobbish and arrogant Jamie Wooldridge, now in charge. Whistler is a bit of an enigma: talented with the Celtic flute, freakishly intelligent but rejecting the opportunity to attend university, he lives in a tiny croft house on the estate, feeding himself off the land and water, and carving large replicas of the Lewis Chessmen for sale. But Jamie is now his landlord, and Whistler might be facing eviction after never paying a penny of rent. He’s also trying to get custody of his teenaged daughter, a challenge if he doesn’t clean up his act. Where Fin catches up with him is the site of an overnight phenomenon that empties a loch and reveals a small private plane resting on its bed, with the body of a murdered man in the cockpit. The plane is their friend Roddy Mackenzie’s, who was, until his disappearance almost two decades earlier, a successful Celtic rock star. What started as high school band Solas featured Whistler on the Celtic Flute, Roddy on keyboard, and Mairead Morrison on fiddle and vocals, among others. Fin spent some years as a roadie for them, along with Wooldridge estate manager, Kenny Maclean, while (now) Reverend Donald Murray was one-time manager. Relations between the various band members were often far from cordial, but would anyone have gone so far as to kill Roddy? DS George Gunn asks him about Roddy, and Fin recalls their first encounter and the various issues and altercations that involved Roddy, Whistler, Mairead and other members of the group, and the liaisons that they were involved in as the group’s fame rose. The Inverness detectives want to question Whistler about the discovery of the plane, but he is being elusive. Surely he will turn up for Roddy’s (second) funeral? But then there’s another murder, and Fin finds himself in a cell. Has it to do with Roddy’s murder? A photograph prompts a sudden recall that might be the answer to one death, if not both. May gives the reader yet another outstanding dose of Scottish crime fiction, liberally sprinkled with gorgeous descriptive prose like: “He felt the wind fill his jacket and then his mouth, stealing his breath as the ground fell away beneath them to reveal a startling panorama of sun-washed land and water. Browns, pale blues, greens and purples faded into a shimmering distance at their feet.” Also “The lull in the wake of the storm was over. The sunshine respite of this single day was already spent, and legions of dark clouds were assembling out on the western horizon, where the last dazzle of the dying sun spilled its gold on distant waters” and “The sky over the sands of Traigh Uige was painted on great fat brushstrokes of pale green and cream. The wind was brisk and cool and blew through the last of the coastal tormentil, shrivelling yellow petals like the first breath of winter. And he gives Fin a wonderfully stirring speech supporting his friend during a trial by churchmen. Readers will be pleased to learn that a fourth instalment of this excellent trilogy now exists: The Black Loch will be an automatic addition to many a TBR. Unsurpassed.

Just read Peter May's the chessman. Excellent conclusion to the trilogy. Wondering what he will write next?

Having read the first two books in this trilogy there was no hesitation to reading the final book The Chess Men. Peter Mays writing is complex on many levels so do not expect an easy read, you need to think. A brilliant conclusion to a great trilogy. His description of people and locations across different timelines is great; this coupled with the crime story and the complex inter woven life stories is a must read. Well done Peter May.

The last of the brilliant Lewis trilogy and not to be revisited, according to author Peter May. So take your time and savour every page! Another great tale unfolds amid the windswept moors and craggy rocks of Lewis. This time the tale is even more wonderful and unpredictable. Whistler Macaskill is a character to be remembered.

The Chessmen is the thrilling conclusion to Peter May’s excellent Lewis trilogy. Former Detective Inspector Fin Macleod has now officially returned to childhood home of the Isle of Lewis and has settled into a seemingly straightforward new job as a security officer for a local landowner. Macleod’s first task in his new role is to tackle the spate of poaching that has been happening on the estate and, during the course of his investigation, he runs into old school friend Whistler Macaskill. All too soon though poaching is the least of Macleod’s worries as a Bog Burst reveals a mud-encrusted light aircraft that had been trapped at the bottom of a loch for nearly two decades. The Lewis trilogy has been fantastic and so finally reaching the end of it is rather bittersweet. Fortunately, The Chessmen is another great book from Peter May and provides a more than satisfactory conclusion to Fin Macleod’s entanglements with both criminals and his own murky past.