The Black House (US) is, in the main, set on the Isle of
Lewis. It’s a harsh landscape with a
community culture that is tight and out of the ordinary.
DI Inspector Fin MacLeod is sent to investigate the murder
which opens the novel because of possible connections to an earlier case in
Edinburgh. For MacLeod this means
returning to the childhood home from which he escaped at the first opportunity.
During the investigation, MacLeod revisits links to his past
in the form of people and places. As he
does, the complexities of his life and the way things might have been close in
on him as ever-decreasing circles.
At its core this is a police procedural, and it’s not a bad
one at that.
The descriptions of the island are vivid and impressive and
made me want to go over at some point.
The characters are all interesting and the murder
investigation proceeds with the ups and downs one might expect.
That being said, it is a long book and it did feel it at
times.
There are a couple of things that slow things down for
me.
First of all, there are the two narratives. The first is in the present and follows Fin
as his life crumbles and he chases a killer.
The second is told in the first person by Fin as he reflects upon his
childhood.
The childhood element is important in many ways, but for me
it tended to get in the way. It was a
little unsettling to the flow to my mind and might have been better told in a
different form, perhaps through the encounters he had as he did his job.
The other aspect that tarnishes things slightly is the way
the pieces fit together in ways that seem too clean.
I did enjoy the read.
The opening is strong and I really did rattle towards the ending with
some urgency where I found I was totally thrown and was very nicely done.
For readers who favour modern British detective fiction this
is likely to be a satisfying read. I’d
also recommend it to people interested in life on a Scottish Isle.
My suspicion is that the next books in the trilogy are
likely to be tighter and more gripping; for me though, I’ll take a rest from
Lewis for now and will pick up the thread when I have the leisure of lots of reading
time on my hands.
I also read this recently and thoroughly enjoyed it! Like you I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the Isle of Lewis and the way of life there - it was so vivid at times I felt I was actually standing on the beach with the wind in my hair!
ReplyDeleteThe past 'backstory' was needed, I thought, to make sense of the present but it did seem to go on too long at times. It ended up being longer than the murder mystery the book was supposedly about!
It's lovely to find a new author, though, and I'll definitely be looking out for the next one in the series. In fact, thanks for the reminder. I'll add it to my reading list right now!
I'm glad you enjoyed it and that you also share some of my reservations. I'll read the next in time. Thanks for coming over.
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