Peter May

Peter May is a Scottish author and television screenwriter whose crime novels — set in Scotland, China, and France — have sold over four million copies worldwide. His writing is distinguished by its powerful sense of place, its meticulously constructed plots, and his ability to create landscapes that are as vivid and essential to the story as any character. Born in Glasgow in 1951, May was raised in Scotland and studied at the University of Dundee and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He worked as a journalist and then as a television screenwriter, creating and writing series including Donn na Cùise (Donn the Detective) and the critically acclaimed Scottish soap opera Donn Donnchadh. He also created and wrote the Donn na Cùise crime series for Scottish television. His breakthrough in fiction came with the Lewis Trilogy — The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man, and The Chessmen — set on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The trilogy follows Edinburgh detective Fin Macleod as he returns to his childhood home and investigates crimes that are entangled with the island's history, culture, and his own past. The books were praised for their extraordinary evocation of Lewis — its landscape, its Gaelic culture, its weather — and for the emotional depth of their storytelling. The Blackhouse won the Barry Award for Best Novel. May has also written the China Thrillers series, set in Beijing and featuring a Chinese detective, and the Enzo Macleod series, set in France and following a Scottish forensic scientist who uses cold-case techniques to investigate unsolved murders. The French connection is personal — May has lived in France for many years. The Black Loch, a more recent novel, continues his exploration of Scottish landscapes and their secrets. The audiobook editions of May's novels are excellent, with narrators capturing the distinctive atmospheres — windswept Hebridean islands, bustling Beijing, rural France — that are central to his storytelling. His books are beautifully suited to audio, their immersive settings enveloping the listener. Peter May lives in France. His books and audiobooks are essential for anyone who loves crime fiction where the setting is as compelling as the mystery — and where the landscape tells its own story.