I'll keep you safe by Peter May
Hachette, 2018. ISBN 9781784294946
(Age: secondary - adult) Recommended. Themes: Crime fiction,
Scotland, Outer Hebrides, Harris Tweed, Weaving, Fashion industry.
In the midst of the most important sales fair for his product,
Ramish Tweed, Rory Macfarlane is killed, blown up in his car in the
streets of Paris, with his lover, Irina Vetrov. His wife, Neave who
has accompanied him to the fair, is mind numbingly shocked,
especially when she is questioned as a possible suspect. She is
eventually allowed to leave Paris and return home to the Isle of
Lewis with a child's coffin containing what is left of her husband
of ten years, the man who as a teen saved her life, promising to
always keep her safe.
Upon return, she must put the funeral arrangements in place while
dealing with her always bitter mother in law while an old school
friend, Seonag, initially offering comfort outstays her welcome
after slipping into her bed one night. Neave's parents have refused
to attend the funeral, harking back to an incident which took the
life of their younger son, while the arrival of Lieutenant Braque
from Paris stirs the pot even further, with simmering tensions
between the islanders forming a fascinating part of the mix.
With Braque working with Inspector Gunn on the island, trying to
piece together some of the disparate clues, Neave returns home to
her beautiful house, built by the couple intending to live out their
lives there. Remote, but high on cliffs overlooking the ocean near a
small bothy they built for walkers, the house is a stunning part of
the backdrop to this novel, and it is to this house that Neave
returns after the funeral, there to unknowingly confront the
murderer, a murderer who has already killed Lt Braque.
As with Peter May's other stories, particularly the Lewis
Trilogy and Coffin Road, the setting is tantamount to the
story, the cold and bleak islands of the Outer Hebrides, a metaphor
for the windswept, barren relationship between many of the
protagonists. Readers will get a feel for the weavers in their
crofts, looking back to a time when most crofts had a loom and the
noise of its working would fill the days.
This is a highly readable and enjoyable crime novel, set in the
bleak Hebridean landscape. Full of the sights and sounds of the
people and their customs, language and traditions, I'll keep you
safe is a story bound to further enhance the numbers of crime
fiction tourists now visiting Scotland's shores.
Fran Knight