Author
Peter May
Birth Date
December 20, 1951
(74 Years)
Associated Country
United Kingdom
Peter May is a Scottish novelist, screenwriter, and journalist best known for his crime fiction, thrillers, and atmospheric mysteries. His work is renowned for its strong sense of place, meticulous research, and richly developed characters, often exploring the relationship between landscape, culture, and identity. Drawing on a background in journalism and television, May combines compelling storytelling with a keen eye for detail and authenticity.
Before focusing primarily on novels, May worked as a journalist and later became a successful television screenwriter and producer. These experiences helped shape his narrative style, which blends suspenseful plotting with careful character development and vivid settings. His fiction frequently explores themes of memory, community, tradition, and the lasting influence of the past on the present.
Over the course of his career, May has established himself as one of Scotland's most acclaimed contemporary crime writers. His novels have been translated into numerous languages and have attracted an international readership, earning praise for their emotional depth, evocative settings, and intelligent storytelling. Through both his fiction and screenwriting, he has built a reputation for creating immersive narratives that combine mystery, atmosphere, and a deep understanding of place and character.
Before focusing primarily on novels, May worked as a journalist and later became a successful television screenwriter and producer. These experiences helped shape his narrative style, which blends suspenseful plotting with careful character development and vivid settings. His fiction frequently explores themes of memory, community, tradition, and the lasting influence of the past on the present.
Over the course of his career, May has established himself as one of Scotland's most acclaimed contemporary crime writers. His novels have been translated into numerous languages and have attracted an international readership, earning praise for their emotional depth, evocative settings, and intelligent storytelling. Through both his fiction and screenwriting, he has built a reputation for creating immersive narratives that combine mystery, atmosphere, and a deep understanding of place and character.
Books
The Runner 2019
China Thrillers, Book 5
A prodigious Chinese swimmer kills himself on the eve of the Beijing Olympics. Days later, a champion weightlifter suffers a fatal heart attack prior to competition.
THE LISTENER
Detective Li Yan...
The Man With No Face 2019
There are two men on their way to Brussels from the UK: Neil Bannerman, an iconoclastic journalist for Scotland's Daily Standard whose irate editor wants him out of the way, and Kale—a professional...
Snakehead 2019
China Thrillers, Book 4
A vehicle crammed with dozens of dead Chinese immigrants is found in southern Texas. Forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell must put aside her horror and find out why.
SUMMONED Detective Li Yan--an...
The Killing Room 2018
China Thrillers, Book 3
Detective Li Yan and forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell travel to Shanghai, where a new ally--and a new enemy--await.
When a mass grave containing eighteen mutilated female corpses is discovered...
The Fourth Sacrifice 2018
China Thrillers, Book 2
Li Yan and Margaret Campbell are reluctantly reunited, this time to track down a killer reenacting a series of gruesome rituals.
The Chinese police have once more been forced to enlist the services...
I'll Keep You Safe 2018
Friends since childhood, and lovers and business partners as adults, Niamh and Ruairidh are owners of a small company that weaves its own very special version of Harris Tweed—a niche brand in the...
The Firemaker 2018
China Thrillers, Book 1
A grotesquely burned corpse found in a city park is a troubling mystery for Beijing detective Li Yan. Yan, devoted to his career as a means of restoring the respect his family lost during the Cultural...
Coffin Road 2017
On the remote Isle of Harris in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, a man washes up on a deserted beach, hypothermic and completely disoriented. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. The only clue to...
Blowback 2017
The Enzo Files, Book 5
Continuing his string of investigations into stubborn cold cases, ex-forensics superstar Enzo Macleod takes the case, diving into the big business and high stakes of French haute cuisine.
Seven years...
Freeze Frame 2017
The Enzo Files, Book 4
A crime scene frozen in time, a hostile local population, and a cryptic set of clues make this one of Enzo's most challenging cases.
Forensics expert Enzo Macleod travels to a tiny island off the...
Blacklight Blue 2017
The Enzo Files, Book 3
Former forensics expert and current Toulouse professor Enzo Macleod is forced to take a break from his personal and professional pursuits when he is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Worse, though,...
Runaway 2017
Glasgow, 1965. Headstrong teenager Jack Mackay has just one destination on his mind—London—and successfully convinces his four friends, and fellow bandmates, to join him in abandoning their homes to...
Cast Iron 2017
The Enzo Files, Book 6
A weeping killer deposits the unconscious body of twenty-year-old Lucie Martin, her head wrapped in a blue plastic bag, into the waters of a picturesque lake. Lot-et-Garonne, 2003.
Fourteen years...
The Critic 2016
The Enzo Files, Book 2
The body of Gil Petty, America's most celebrated wine critic, is found strung up in a French Gaillac vineyard, dressed in the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Divine Bottle and pickled in...
Entry Island 2016
Only two kilometers wide and three long, Entry Island is home to a population of just more than 100 inhabitants. The wealthiest of whom has just been discovered murdered in his home. Covered in her...
Extraordinary People 2016
The Enzo Files, Book 1
Half-Scottish, half-Italian Enzo MacLeod used to be one of the top forensics experts in Scotland, and now he lives in Toulouse, working as a university professor. Divorced in Scotland and widowed in...
The Chessmen 2016
Lewis, Book 3
Living again of the Isle of Lewis, ex-Detective Inspector Fin Macleod is working as a security officer for a local landowner. While investigating illegal activity on the estate, Fin encounters his...
The Lewis Man 2015
Lewis, Book 2
Fin Macleod has returned to the Isle of Lewis, the storm-tossed, wind-scoured outer Hebridean island where he was born and raised. Having left behind his adult life in Edinburgh—including his wife and...
The Blackhouse 2012
Lewis, Book 1
When a grisly murder occurs on the Isle of Lewis that has the hallmarks of a killing he's investigating on the mainland, Edinburgh detective and native islander Fin Macleod is dispatched to see if the...