Coffin Road: An utterly gripping crime thriller from the author of The China Thrillers

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This thriller starts with a man washed up on a beach. As he struggles along the adjacent road, he is recognized by a resident as James McLean and the older woman with her dog walks him to his cottage. McLean doesn't remember who he is or what happened to him. He is greeted by his dog, Bran, is only companion. Later other neighbors drop by and he is able to piece together a bit more. Searching his cottage yields few clues to his identity, and he keeps his amnesia a secret. In addition to being an accomplished novelist, Peter has also made himself a name and career in the film and television industries. His television career took off with The Standard, in 1978 which was based off of the characters in his first novel, The Reporter. Peter was then the co-creator and writer of Squadron, a series about an RAF rapid deploying squadron that aired on BBC starting in 1982. Neal’s chapters are written in first person, but our other two leads (DS Gunn and Karen) are written in third person. I didn’t get much of a sense of Gunn, but he’s really only a means to an end, whereas we spend some time with Karen who’s struggling with her father’s suicide. The Karen / Neal storylines take a while to converge and just when we think we know the connection, May cleverly redirects our attention.

Coffin Road by Peter May | Goodreads

Stationed at Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, DS George Gunn is sent to investigate the bludgeoned corpse discovered by tourists in the chapel on Eilean Mor. The victim is unidentified, and murder is a far from common crime in the Outer Hebrides: he wonders if this case will see him completely out of his depth. When I took up with crime fiction, I assumed some of the same good things would be at play as in “serious” fiction. I frequently find it is not. Take Coffin Road by Peter May. He uses one of the saddest tropes in fiction or drama: “I have to know.” In this case it’s Neal –or is it? He was washed up on shore in the Hebrides and has no memory. He must find out who he is, for he soon discovers a dead body. Is he the killer? It seems an eternity before I am able to open my eyes, and then I am blinded by the light. A searing pain in my head, pupils contracting rapidly to bring a strange world into focus. I am lying face-down, wet sand on my lips, in my nostrils. Blinking furiously, making tears to wash the stuff from my eyes. And then it is all I can see. Sand, stretching away to a blurred horizon. Tightly ribbed. Platinum pale. Almost bleached.

The first thing I am aware of is the taste of salt. It fills my mouth. Invasive. Pervasive. It dominates my being, smothering all other senses. Until the cold takes me. Sweeps me up and cradles me in its arms. Holding me so tightly I can't seem to move. Except for the shivering. A raging, uncontrollable shivering. And somewhere in my mind I know this is a good thing. My body trying to generate heat. If I wasn't shivering I would be dead.

Coffin Road by Peter May: Summary and reviews - BookBrowse

He finds himself washed up on a beach with no memories of who he is. With the help of a few clues from people who seem to know him, he finds where he lives, but his house has no more clues to who he is than his own brain is providing. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. In questa storia i misteri e le domande, a cui non seguono risposte adeguate, si susseguono incessantemente, creando una bella atmosfera fatta di suspense, rivelazioni e colpi di scena a più livelli. Neal sees bills in his name and various documents, including a map which someone had marked the word Coffin Road, which was on the table, but Neal had no idea what it meant. As the story unfolds so do the twists, turns and intrigue.I wish all of my Goodreads’ friends a wonderful Holiday whether you are celebrating the Thanksgiving Day in the US or not. Best wishes to all.