Scottish crime novelist Peter May, author of the Lewis Trilogy, dies at 74

Announcement and global readership

Scottish crime novelist and screenwriter Peter May died at the age of 74 at his holiday home in southern France on Friday, 25 September 2026. His death was announced on Monday, 28 September 2026, by his French publisher Éditions du Rouergue and his wife, the writer Janice Hally. Across his career, May authored around 30 novels, generating total sales of approximately 15 million copies globally. He gained widespread recognition for the Lewis Trilogy, consisting of The Blackhouse, The Lewis Men, and The Chessmen, set in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. The opening installment, The Blackhouse, recorded three million sales worldwide.

“Peter May was a man of raw sensitivity, profoundly empathetic, considerate, and endlessly kind.”

His long-term publisher Jon Riley remembered him for his generosity, loyalty, and close connection with his readership.

“Peter May was not only one of the best writers of crime fiction we had, but he inspired enormous affection in his readers and in those lucky enough to work with him.”

Television career and breakthrough novel

Born in Glasgow on 20 December 1951, May was expelled from school during the 1960s before embarking on a career in writing. He began as a journalist and published his first book, The Reporter, in 1976 at the age of 26. When the BBC adapted the book into a television series, May left journalism to spend 15 years writing and producing for broadcast media. His television work included the Scottish soap opera Take the High Road and the Gaelic-language series Machair, which was filmed on the Isle of Lewis. The production of Machair established May's enduring ties to the Hebridean landscape, later serving as the primary inspiration for his Scottish crime fiction. In 1996, May departed television to focus entirely on books, launching his seven-volume China Thrillers series with the novel The Firemaker.

French residency and final publications

After English-language publishers initially declined to purchase The Blackhouse, French house Éditions du Rouergue issued the book in French translation in 2010. French publisher founder Danielle Dastugue noted that May's atmospheric storytelling anticipated trends that later defined European crime writing.

“In The Blackhouse, there is everything: magnificent characters, breathtaking landscapes... Peter was perhaps ahead of the Scandinavian wave that follows this vein”

May subsequently relocated to the Lot department in southwest France, acquired French citizenship, and became one of the country's most popular foreign mystery authors. His wider work included the Enzo Files series, French-set novels such as an investigation located on the island of Groix, and books dealing with ecological themes, including Coffin Road. In his later years, May focused on musical composition, releasing the CD album Towards the Light in 2025. In July 2026, he completed and delivered the manuscript for Island of the Dead, which is scheduled for posthumous publication in January 2027 alongside a previously planned farewell tour.