Peter May, Scottish crime writer, dies at 74 in France

Peter May, a celebrated Scottish crime writer and screenwriter known for his Lewis Trilogy of crime thrillers set in the Hebrides, has died at the age of 74 at his home in the south of France on Friday. His wife and fellow author Janice Hally announced his death on social media, saying she had "no words to express the loss". May had lived in the Lot area of southwest France for more than 20 years and became a French citizen, establishing himself as one of the country's most popular foreign crime writers.

Born in Glasgow on 20 December 1951, May began his career as a journalist, winning Scottish Young Journalist of the Year at age 21. He published his first novel, The Reporter, at age 26 in 1976, which was later adapted into a BBC drama series. This success prompted him to leave journalism for television, where he worked as a scriptwriter and producer on the long-running Scottish soap opera Take the High Road and the Gaelic-language series Machair, set on the Isle of Lewis. He left television in 1996 to return to fiction, first writing crime thrillers set in China, followed by the French-set Enzo Files series.

May's international breakthrough came with the publication of The Blackhouse in 2011, the first novel in the Lewis Trilogy, which also includes The Lewis Men and The Chessmen. The book was first published in French by Éditions du Rouergue in 2009 before its English publication, as no English-language publisher initially recognised its potential. His Lewis Trilogy brought him international fame and bestselling success. May wrote approximately 30 novels in total, selling around 15 million copies worldwide and publishing bestsellers almost annually between The Blackhouse and his last book, The Black Loch, in 2024.

May had announced his retirement on several occasions but found "one more novel in him". He delivered Island of the Dead in July 2026, which is set on a fictional version of the island of St Kilda and is scheduled for publication in January 2027. He was preparing a farewell tour of Scotland and Lewis to coincide with the book's publication. In 2025, May also released a music album, Towards the Light, which reflected his interests as a novelist.

Tributes highlighted May's literary impact and personal character. Jon Riley, his long-term publisher and close friend, described him as "one of the most popular and loved writers of crime fiction of his generation" and said he "inspired enormous affection" in readers and colleagues. Riley characterised May as irreplaceable, noting his "kindness, generosity and largeness of spirit". His French publisher Éditions du Rouergue described him as "a man of raw sensitivity, profoundly empathetic, considerate, and endlessly kind" and an "immensely creative man". Scottish First Minister John Swinney expressed regret at his death, praising May's "evocative books set in the Hebrides" and his "stunning" descriptions of Scottish landscapes.