In this second book of the Lewis trilogy,
now ex-DI Fin Macleod is drawn back to the Hebrides where he plans to restore
his parent’s crofthouse back to habitable state. This means he is on hand when
an annual peat cutting ceremony unearths a potentially ancient ‘bog body’.
These occasionally emerge, well preserved by the acidic peat moss, and this one
is immediately dubbed ‘Lewis Man’.
The title is short-lived as the autopsy
reveals that the deceased young man not only suffered a violent death but also
sported an Elvis tattoo; so it’s a potential murder from half a century ago.
DNA also points to a connection to Fin’s family, but the old man who may know
the answers is suffering from dementia and can’t help.
The author repeats his trick from ‘The
Blackhouse’ of having a back story related in parallel to Fin’s efforts to
solve the riddle, this time using the dementia sufferer to relate to the reader
historic events that he can only communicate to Fin in tantalising snippets.
Fin’s own personal story also moves forward,
unobtrusively, as he warily picks up the pieces of his Island life after the
revelations in the previous book.
This book is every bit as atmospheric as the
first and again reveals to a wider audience an unusual Island tradition,
central to the story; this one quite shameful (but thankfully no longer current).
The action builds to a powerful climax and
leaves the reader both satisfied and eager to move on to the concluding volume
‘The Chessmen’.
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