Skip to main content

Coffin Road by Peter May


When in the Outer Hebrides what can you do but read a book set in the Outer Hebrides? This one is and I purchased it from a fabulous independent book shop in Ullapool called Ceilidh Place. Such a remote town yet it has two independent bookshops and two nearby (particularly good is Hillbillies in Gairloch where the linked Mountain Coffee Shop sells the most amazing mountain scones). I digress.
Anyway we had just arrived fresh off the boat from Harris and Lewis and I was eager to read how such remote places could carry a murder hunt.
The book started off really well, I liked the main character of Neal Maclean and thought the amnesia aspect was really interesting. I really enjoyed reading how he observed himself in the mirror for the first time, how he questioned whether he was quick tempered, clever, selfish and how he remembered somethings such as his dogs name but yet not others. This was different to other books I had read involving people suffering from amnesia following trauma where the amnesia was total. It was also interesting how he didn’t immediately think 'I need to go to the hospital' or 'I need to come clean to these people and tell them I have no idea who I am'. Some basic instinct must have kicked in to just try to ride it out. I'm not sure what I would do in similar circumstances.  
I also enjoyed reading about him discovering his life (or lack of), I was intrigued when he thought he could have committed the murder and wanted to know why he didn’t have a driving licence and he wasn’t writing a book. P.S. did you spot the Hebrides book referenced that was also written by May?
I loved how the book name checked all the places I had just been to although Outer Hebridean virgins can almost get as much pleasure out of the vivid descriptions of Harris that May provided.  

I liked the 'Coffin Road' which I won't give away and I also really liked the science behind the bees – who knew!
The book then changed to focus on Neal's daughter Karen. I thought May portrayed her teenage angst/inner guilt/turmoil particularly well reflected in the scenes with her mother and the boyfriend. It was also interesting to read how differently children view their parents as opposed to spouses or work colleagues.
Those were the pluses on the downside whilst I did like George Gunn (the policeman) he was almost a character too many. It wasn’t your typical police investigation book and so in the end his pages seemed pointless apart from the sudden end appearance of the police in a sea rescue helicopter.
I think the book tapered towards the end, why was the mole not revealed until Skye, the whole journey seemed pointless? By the way I also went to Skye so name check there! I also thought the Facebook part a bit obvious and seemed quite a silly thing for Neal to do and the last few chapters in general seemed rushed and didn’t hold me as the start of the book did.
It didn’t fall at the last hurdle entirely however and I think both Neal and Karen came out as better people. I will keep it on my shelf as any book that mentions the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh railway deserves to.
At the same time as purchasing Coffin Road I also bought The Blackhouse by May which is the first of a trilogy also set in the Outer Hebrides, I'm looking forward to reading it being the supposedly more successful of my two May purchases.
As a side note it was really nice to see how the local author was being supported locally, we randomly found a poster for The Blackhouse in Port of Ness in Lewis, the books were in all the bookshops and even The Co-Op seemed to stock books by May albeit his, more recent, book based in France. You just don't get that in Cramlington, yes I know we don’t have a May equivalent but what a fabulous idea for all local supermarkets to support local authors. It's maybe a good thing Cramlington doesn’t have an independent bookshop, with the amount I would spend I simply don’t earn enough!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lock down book club - books from a different country

So we continued with the Zoom version of book club this month and it was lovely to see so many of us tackle it. The theme was books set in a different country (if you can't travel, let a book take you).  I read The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet, a detective story with an element of tricksy fiction set in France. I really enjoyed it and you can read my full review here. We travelled to America a couple of times most interestingly to see whether Hilary Clinton (or Bill for that fact) would have made President if they had not got married. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld is out in hardback now. Norway was a popular spot - Norwegian Nights by Derek B Miller about a retired american marine who moves to Norway and intervenes to save a young boys life sounded interesting. So much so that at least one member of the group has gone on to buy the first in the series, American By Day. We even made it as far as Japan and Botswana (and discovered a Scottish connection for Alexander McCa

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

"In a remote hunting lodge, deep in the Scottish wilderness, old friends gather for New Year. The beautiful one The golden couple The volatile one The new parents The quiet one The city boy The outsider The victim. Not an accident – a murder among friends." We had all read the book and all agreed we hadn't really read a book where the victim was revealed at the same time as the murderer. We liked this and found it a definite page turner. The victim not being revealed so late however meant that everyone had to, theoretically, be capable of wanting to murder everyone else which made for a whole host of not nice characters. We all struggled with the characters in someway. We didn't like them. There were too many. They were too self-centered, too two dimensional. Not liking the characters often means we don't like the book and there is no denying it was definitely a hindrance. A few of the group also commented on a plot hole or two. When exactly did

Lock down book club - autobiographies

After what felt like 13 million weeks in lock down we attempted to conduct our first online meeting via Zoom. We chose a broad theme of 'autobiographies' to give as many of us as possible a chance at obtaining a book without too much difficulty. I actually didn't have an autobiography on my shelf and so borrowed The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert. The book was all about raccoon eating, teepee living, deer skin wearing Eustace Conway. He has lived a fascinating life and Gilbert had carried out interviews with a wide range of friends and family but I found the lack of pictures puzzling. You gotta have pictures in an autobiography. The group had chosen autobiographies from a real wide range of people. Partly due to availability, partly due to differing interests. We had Gok Wan and his troubled childhood as a non white gay person. Louis XIV (the Sun King) and his debauched court and two Michelle Obamas one of which was given up on. I think the broad topic made fo