Ah, bummer. This was a disappointment. Admittedly, after having read the Lewis Trilogy and Coffin Road my expectations were exceptionally high, which is never a good starting point. Or perhaps I have just reached the point, where I can’t take anymore dreary murder mysteries set on small, isolated islands with cold, stormy weather and a detective suffering from depression as the central character.
With the Lewis Trilogy Peter May made me feel, laugh and cry with his characters, sometimes so much it almost hurt. When reading Coffin Road I was sitting on the edge of my seat, getting more and more intrigued as the story progressed and abandoning food, sleep and other minor necessities to get to the conclusion.
Entry Island could not live up to that. Most of the characters are uninteresting and one-dimensional. I did not feel any particular dislike, rather a general disengagement.
The book switches between the present and the past. The links between present and past are unbelievable to say the least as is the attempt of a sugary cross century romance. Very atypical for Peter May. The flow and transitions of the story are not smooth and weirdly the book concludes with a stand-alone chapter which is thrown in as a P.S.
In isolation the storyline taking place in the past is strong though. We follow the Canadian main characters Scottish ancestors in the 19thcentury, their struggle to cope under the Highland potato famine and their forced immigration to Canada on the back of the Highland clearances. The story of the ancestors secures the book a 3 stars rating. It does not hurt either that these chapters are read with a Scottish accent. I am particularly partial to a Scottish accent.
Phew. That sounded negative. A below average book from Peter May is in my opinion still better than loads of the other crime fiction being produced these days. Entry Island will certainly not detain me from reading more Peter May in the future. I might avoid the ones taking place on small, isolated islands though….
Title: Entry Island
Author: Peter May
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Crime Fiction