28/09/2026
I'm so sad to read this news today.
I stumbled across the Blackhouse Trilogy on my first visit to the Isle of Lewis, and count it as one of the reasons why I fell so in love with the Scottish islands. Sure it's a crime series, but his descriptions of the Outer Hebrides made it like another character in his novels.
I have recommended Peter May's books to countless people across the years.
In 2021 in an effort to rekindle my love for reading, have something for myself as a Mum, and connect with other people, I started the Scotland Book Club, an online group where we read a book based in Scotland every month and then chatted about it.
The Blackhouse was one of our first books, and really, much of the inspiration behind the whole thing. I figured if I could feel more connected to Scotland through books, so could others.
Peter May was kind enough to come to an online interview about the Blackhouse with us all. It's one of my favourite things I've ever done. I'll never forget his kindness and humour (particularly when I butchered a bit of Gaelic, oops!).
I look forward to reading his last book when it comes out next year, and I would urge anyone with an interest in Scotland to read his books.
It’s Peter May’s wife, Janice. I have to convey the most awful news. Peter has died. I have no words to express the loss, so I enclose here the statement from his long term publisher and dear friend, Jon Riley, who pays tribute:
riverrun, an imprint of the John Murray Group, has announced the sad news of the death of the Sunday Times bestselling Scottish crime writer Peter May, on Friday night at his holiday home in the south of France.
Peter May was one of the most popular, and loved writers of crime fiction of his generation, and his books have sold around 15 million copies around the world. The novel which he had announced would be his last, Island of the Dead, is to be published in January 2027.
May began his career as a journalist in Scotland, winning Young Journalist of the Year aged twenty-one, and published his first novel, The Reporter in 1976, at the age of twenty-six. After it was adapted as a BBC drama series, he quit journalism for television, and in the fifteen years that followed he became a successful scriptwriter and producer on two seminal series, Take the High Road and the Gaelic-language, Isle of Lewis-set Machair. It was while working on location on Machair, that his love for the Hebrides, which informed and influenced so much of his writing was formed.
He returned to fiction with a series of China-set thrillers, which was followed by the French-set Enzo Files, both of which featured characters who reflected his growing interest in forensic science. However, it was the publication of the Lewis-set thriller The Blackhouse in 2011, that brought international fame, and bestselling success, and resulted in The Lewis Trilogy. He published a bestseller almost every year between The Blackhouse and his last book, The Black Loch in 2024. His writing will always be associated with the Isle of Lewis, and the Hebrides.
Peter published twenty-six books with Quercus, and his workwas hugely successful in his adopted homeland of France, where his work garlanded many prestigious literary awards.
Peter was a talented musician, and in 2025 he released a CD,‘Towards the Light’, which reflected in song many of his interests as a novelist.
Although he had announced his retirement, which he was looking forward to sharing with his beloved wife, the writer Janice Hally, May found there was one more novel in him, and he delivered Island of the Dead in July this year. He was preparing for a farewell tour of Scotland and Lewis to coincide with publication in January 2027.
Peter May was not only one of the best writers of crime fiction we had, but he inspired enormous affection in his readers and in those lucky enough to work with him. His kindness, generosity and largeness of spirit, loyalty, engagement with life, and the world, made him a much-loved,as well as much- admired figure. He is irreplaceable.
