The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

This is the thread for spoiler comments on Entry Island by Peter May.

Enjoy.

I'm going to put this is this thread only as it's an interesting article about Entry Island posted on Peter May's website:

https://maypeter.com/2013/12/04/entry...

but it is a bit spoilery.

Enjoyed the videos, CBRetriever.

I didn’t know about Scotland’s potato famine! Or The Clearances. Wow.

I did know about the Clearances, but not about the potato famine in Scotland. It probably affected a lot of countries (goes off to check).

ETA: Wow, I didn't know how widespread it was:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea...

anyway, back to the book. the villain actually surprised me.

CBRetriever wrote: "the villain actually surprised me...."

Me too, CBRetriever. Though I'm not sure if I'm not a bit disappointed. The tension in this book is built so well that the murderer's motives seem a bit down-to-earth to me.

As a mystery, I thought this was pretty average. Some good suspense, at times, but generally slowly paced and often quite flat. As a history lesson, this was great! I am Canadian (from Nova Scotia) and I had never heard about the Scottish Clearances. I really appreciate having read the book for this. The way this was presented though, as Sime's pseudo memories and yearnings through the ages based on diary readings, also missed the mark for me. But overall, well worth reading.

to me Kirsty was flat, Sime was very well rounded as far as a character

CBRetriever wrote: "to me Kirsty was flat, Sime was very well rounded as far as a character"

While reading, I didn't pay attention to it, but you are right, CBRetriever, Kristy is a bit flat, especially compared to Sime.

I am glad I decided to join and read this book. I am enjoying it and the complications of Sime’s life. I enjoy the locations in the islands and in the history.

What a great read! You get mystery, history and a bit of love all in one. Love with its heartache and complications.

and a (view spoiler)[good ending (hide spoiler)]

It was more of a historical romance than mystery for me. I agree with everyone about Kirsty, her character didn't shine in the present day mystery but her ancestor had more personality and more background which made you understand her more than her present day ancestor.

A weird hybrid of romance and historical fiction, with very little suspense but some strong characters. I wanted to love it; I liked it a lot, but found myself moving slowly through it. Author May's The Blackhouse had the same issues for me. I won't sprain things to get his books, but will read them when I find them on super sales and there's a group read.