The Chessmen Audiobook By Peter May cover art

The Chessmen

The explosive finale in the million-selling series (The Lewis Thrillers Book 3)

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The Chessmen

By: Peter May
Narrated by: Peter Forbes
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Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times raved: "Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth." Among the many honors received, The Blackhouse, the first novel in May's acclaimed Lewis trilogy, won the Barry and Crime Thriller Hound awards.

In The Lewis Man, the second book of the trilogy, Fin Macleod has returned to the Isle of Lewis, the storm-tossed, wind-scoured outer Hebridean island where he was born and raised. Having left behind his adult life in Edinburgh--including his wife and his career in the police force--the former Detective Inspector is intent on repairing past relationships and restoring his parents' derelict cottage. His plans are interrupted when an unidentified corpse is recovered from a Lewis peat bog. The only clue to its identity is a DNA match to a local farmer, the now-senile Tormod Macdonald--the father of Fin's childhood sweetheart, Marsaili--a man who has claimed throughout his life to be an only child, practically an orphan. Reluctantly drawn into the investigation, Fin uncovers deep family secrets even as he draws closer to the killer who wishes to keep them hidden.

Already an international bestseller and winner of numerous awards, including France's Prix des Lecteurs du Telegramme, The Lewis Man has the lyrical verve of Ian Rankin and the gutsy risk-taking of Benjamin Black. As fascinating and forbidding as the Hebridean landscape, the book (according to The Times) "throbs with past and present passions, jealousies, suspicions and regrets; the emotional secrets of the bleak island are even deeper than its peat bog."
(P)2012 Quercus Editions Ltd©2013 Peter May Crime Thrillers Europe Great Britain International Mystery & Crime Mystery Thriller & Suspense Crime

Critic reviews

A rip-roaring thriller . . . thoroughly enjoyable
A wonderfully complex book (Peter James, on Entry Island)
The Lewis Man shone like a bright star out of this year's book lists. Lyrical, empathetic and moving (Alex Gray)
He is a terrific writer doing something different (Mark Billingham)
From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer (Sophie Hannah)
Wonderfully compelling (Kate Mosse)
Western France - now May's own stamping ground - is as much a character in the book as the Hebrides were in his formidable Isle of Lewis sequence
Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth
Instantly struck by the beauty of the descriptions of the wild island terrain as well as by the roundedness and complexity of the characterisations
One of the best regarded crime series of recent years (Boyd Tonkin, on the Lewis trilogy)
May's novels are strong on place and the wounds left by old relationships

Continue the series
The Black Loch Audiobook By Peter May cover art
The Black Loch By: Peter May
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This in the end trilogy which i first bought as single book overlooks decades in the life of Finn and although being a woman i could fully being transformed into this boy/ man and all his emotions, fears, the love for Scotland and the outer hebrides which i visited too seeps theough in every sentence , his words made me walk the bezches, feel the wind , taste the salt on my lips, stunning proze giving life in the voice of peter forbes a magical combination ♥️

Stunning proze

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I have now listened to all three books in the series (to include The Lewis Man and The Chessmen) and each are excellent. I think it helps to listen to them in order because the relationships grow with each book. This book explains what happens after the dramatic climax of The Lewis Man.

I highly recommend the entire series--but listen to them in order or you might be lost.

Picks up where The Lewis Man ends

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Where does The Chessmen rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

top 20%

Would you recommend The Chessmen to your friends? Why or why not?

yes - but only after reading the first two - the endfing needs to be told

Which scene was your favorite?

none in particular

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no - not as much as the first two

Any additional comments?

I felt slightly disappointed - it was a good enough ending but ,,, something didn't gel as much as tghe first two for me

check mate

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The narrator, Peter Forbes, was fantastic. I could listen to him for hours. The story itself was a bit of a mixed bag, with a lot of characters to get your head around and all the different relationships.

Peter May’s Hebridean trilogy

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