Peter May Popular Books
Peter May Biography & Facts
Peter May (born 20 December 1951) is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. He is the recipient of writing awards in Europe and America. The Blackhouse won the U.S. Barry Award for Crime Novel of the Year and the national literature award in France, the Cezam Prix Litteraire. The Lewis Man won the French daily newspaper Le Télégramme's 10,000-euro Grand Prix des Lecteurs. In 2014, Entry Island won both the Deanston's Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and the UK's ITV Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year Award. May's books have sold more than two million copies in the UK and several million internationally. Early life Peter May was born in Glasgow. From an early age he was intent on becoming a novelist, but took up a career as a journalist as a way to start earning a living by writing. He made his first serious attempt at writing a novel at the age of 19, which he sent to Collins where it was read by Philip Ziegler, who wrote him a very encouraging rejection letter. At the age of 21, he won the Fraser Award and was named Scotland's Young Journalist of the Year. He went on to write for The Scotsman and the Glasgow Evening Times. At the age of 26, May's first novel, The Reporter, was published. May was asked to adapt the book as a television series for the British television network the BBC, and left journalism in 1978 to begin to write full-time for television. Television career May's novel The Reporter became the prime-time 13-part television series entitled The Standard in 1978. May went on to create another major TV series for the BBC, Squadron, a drama involving an RAF rapid deployment squadron. In the following fifteen years, May earned more than 1,000 TV credits. He created and wrote major drama serials for both BBC and the Independent Television Network in the UK including Machair which he co-created with Janice Hally for Scottish Television. The long-running serial was the first major television drama to be made in the Gaelic language and was shot entirely on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The show, which May also produced, achieved a 33% audience share and regularly appeared in the top ten in the ratings in Scotland, in spite of the fact that it was broadcast with English subtitles because only 2% of the population of Scotland are Gaelic speakers. During his time working in television, May wrote the novels Hidden Faces (1981) and The Noble Path (1992), and in 1996 he quit television to write novels. Novel writing career China After quitting television May wrote a series of six novels known as the China Thrillers. To research the series, May made annual trips to China and built up a network of contacts including forensic pathologists and homicide detectives. He gained access to the homicide and forensic science sections of Beijing and Shanghai police forces and has made a study of the methodology of Chinese police and forensic pathology systems. As a mark of their respect for his work, the Chinese Crime Writers' Association made him an honorary member of their Beijing Chapter. He is the only Westerner to receive this honour. He has also contributed a monthly column to the Chinese Police Magazine Contemporary World Police. The books were first published in the UK between 1999 and 2004 and subsequently published worldwide in translation. New editions were published for the United States and UK in 2016/17 with an introduction by May explaining the historical setting of the books. France Peter May lives in France and his China Thrillers have received several nominations for awards in that country. In 2007 he won the Prix Intramuros. This prize is unique in France as it is awarded by juries of readers made up of prisoners in French penitentiaries. The books under consideration are reduced to a shortlist of 6 finalists and the authors of the shortlisted books then have to travel to various French prisons to be interviewed by panels of detainees. In 2007, May was the only non-French author in the shortlist. He received the prize at the annual Polar&Co literary festival in Cognac. The Enzo Files is set in France and is centred on the work of half-Italian, half-Scottish Enzo Macleod. This former forensic scientist, now working as a biology professor at a French university becomes involved in applying the latest scientific methods to solve cold cases. May tried to ensure authenticity in the details of his books by researching in France just as he did in China. When writing The Critic – which involves the wine industry and is set in Gaillac, France – May took a course in wine-tasting, picked grapes by hand, and was invited by the winemakers of the region to be inducted as a Chevalier de la Dive Bouteille de Gaillac in December 2007. In April 2016, after 15 years of living full-time in France and a connection with the department of the Lot that goes back more than 40 years, May was welcomed as a French citizen at a ceremony of naturalisation by Catherine Ferrier, the Préfète of the Lot. Second Life While working on his standalone thriller Virtually Dead, May researched the book by creating an avatar in the online world of Second Life and opening the Flick Faulds private detective agency. He spent a year in Second Life, working as a private detective, and was hired by clients for cases ranging from protection from harassment by stalkers to surveillance and infidelity investigations. The Lewis Trilogy After being turned down by all the major British publishers, The Blackhouse, the first book in 'The Lewis Trilogy', was published first in May's adopted home of France in French translation at the end of 2009. The book was hailed as "a masterpiece" by the French daily newspaper L'Humanité and was immediately nominated for several literary awards in France. It won the Prix des Lecteurs at Le Havre's Ancres Noires Festival in 2010 and won the French national literature award, the Cezam Prix Littéraire Inter CE at an award ceremony in Strasbourg in October 2011. The Blackhouse went on to be published all over Europe and was bought by British publishers Quercus who brought it out in February 2011. It is the first of three books to be set in the Outer Hebrides, an archipelago off the North West coast of Scotland. The Blackhouse was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club autumn 2011 list. The second book in the trilogy, The Lewis Man, was published in January 2012, and spent 18 weeks in the UK hardbacks best sellers' list. It has won two French literature awards, the Prix des Lecteurs at Le Havre's Ancres Noires Festival, 2012 and the Prix des Lecteurs du Télégramme, readers prize of France's Le Télégramme newspaper; the 10,000 euro award was presented to May at a ceremony in Brest in May 2012. The Lewis Man won the 2012 Prix International at the Cognac Festival. The third book in the trilogy, The Chessmen, was published in January 2013. It was shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Book of the Year 2014. The .... Discover the Peter May popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Peter May books.
Best Seller Peter May Books of 2024
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The July Girls
Phoebe LockeEvery year, on the same night, another girl disappears without a trace.'A stunningly good crime novel tender and totally gripping' Sunday MirrorLex's wife is missing. She left for...
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Death on the Canal
Anja de Jager'. . . a novel brilliantly evoking the isolation of a woman with an unbearable weight on her conscience' Sunday TimesWhere do your loyalties lie? With the truth or with your collea...
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Round the Bend
Jeremy ClarksonJeremy Clarkson gets REALLY riled up in Round the BendWhat's it like to drive a car that's actively trying to kill you?This and many other burning questions trouble Jeremy Clarkson...
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Wycliffe and the Beales
W.J. BurleyA mysterious death ... an eccentric family living on the edge of Dartmoor ... And Chief Superintendent Wycliffe has one of his most complex cases to date.The Cornish Detective seri...
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Witness the Dead
Craig RobertsonDon't miss WATCH HIM DIE, the next edgeofyourseat thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author, CRAIG ROBERTSON perfect for fans of Thirteen by Steve Cav...
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The Black Loch
Peter MayTHE RETURN OF FIN MACLEOD, PETER MAY'S MUCHLOVED HERO OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING LEWIS TRILOGY.A MURDERThe body of eighteenyearold TV personality Caitlin is found abandoned o...
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John
Dr. David JeremiahJesus came to give us life...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the book of John in a chapterbychapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time it was w...
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The Peter May Collection
Peter May#1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BLACKHOUSE'A TERRIFIC WRITER' MARK BILLINGHAMPETER MAY: OVER 4.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDEA collection of Peter May's bestselling standalone titles...
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Truth or Dare
M. J. ArlidgeEVERY CRIME IS CONNECTED.BUT WHO IS PULLING THE STRINGS?THE CHILLING THRILLER FROM THE MIND OF MILLIONCOPY BESTSELLER M. J. ARLIDGEA crimewave sweeps through the city and noone is ...
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The Other Couple
Sarah J. NaughtonTHE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER'I am sleep deprived having stayed awake desperate to find out what happened!' reader reviewFor fans of Clare Mackintosh's LET ME LIE, Cara Hunter's CLOSE...
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A Cold Case in Amsterdam Central
Anja de JagerHaving been shot in the shoulder in the line of duty, Dutch police detective Lotte Meerman returns to work after four months of painful recovery yet not all her colleagues are hap...
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A Winter Grave
Peter MayA #4 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From the twelvemillion copy bestselling author of the Lewis trilogy comes a chilling new mystery set in the isolated Scottish Highlands.A TOMB OF ICEA ...
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Freddie Mercury
Laura JacksonTHE DEFINITIVE, UPTODATE BIOGRAPHY OF FREDDIE MERCURY'An outstanding biography. . .a fitting testament to the creative genius' Daily Mail'Touches all manner of intriguing rock 'n'...
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Luke
Dr. David JeremiahJesus is the Great Physician...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the gospel of Luke in a chapterbychapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time it w...
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Random
Craig Robertson'Robertson is doing for Glasgow what Rankin did for Edinburgh' Mirror Glasgow is being terrorised by a serial killer the media have nicknamed The Cutter. The murders have left the ...
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Bodies from the Library
Tony Medawar, Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer, A. A. Milne, Nicholas Blake & Christianna BrandThis anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 16 rare tales by masters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a ne...
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A Cold Death in Amsterdam
Anja de JagerThe first Lotte Meerman mystery Amsterdambased Lotte Meerman is a cold case detective recovering from the emotional devastation of her previous investigation. She is angry and ment...
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Wycliffe and How to Kill A Cat
W.J. BurleyAnother classic crime novel featuring Cornwall's Superintendent Wycliffe.The girl was young, with auburn hair arranged on the pillow. Wycliffe could almost believe she was asleep ...
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The Embalmer
Alison BelshamHas the ancient Egyptian cult of immortality resurfaced in Brighton?When a freshlymummified body is discovered at the Brighton Museum of Natural History, Detective Francis Sullivan...
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The Sea Detective
Mark Douglas-HomeDiscover the chilling first mystery in a truly unique crime series you won't be able to put down'There comes a time when a novel raises the bar for a particular genre, and The Sea ...
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Thunder Bay
Douglas SkeltonStoirm Island’s secrets are worth killing for in this immersive, unrelenting thriller for readers of All the Missing Girls and Neon Prey"this crime novel has it all" (Pub...
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Bodies from the Library 2
Tony Medawar, Agatha Christie, Edmund Crispin, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham & John RhodeThis anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 15 tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered...
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Wycliffe and the Four Jacks
W.J. BurleyA murder committed in the night of dead. It's all a game for Detective Wycliffe to solve in a puzzling case.Writer David Cleeve lived exactly the way a bestselling novelist should ...
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The Guilty Wife
Elle CroftTHE TOP 10 EBOOK BESTSELLER 'A gripping tale of betrayal, deceit, and duplicity. Fabulous.' Jenny Blackhurst, author of How I Lost You 'Relentless and intense...I loved the final ...
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Ephesians
Dr. David JeremiahPaul's reminder of our identity in Christ...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the letter of Ephesians in a chapterbychapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the peopl...
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Galatians
Dr. David JeremiahGod's grace cannot be earned...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the letter of Galatians in a chapterbychapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time...
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Wycliffe and Death in Stanley Street
W.J. BurleyA young girl is found dead in a house on Stanley Street... but it's just the start of a complex puzzle which Wycliffe must unravel.A dubious culdesac just off the busy main road in...
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The Four Symbols
Giacometti & RavenneFrom multimillion copy bestselling authors Giacometti & Ravenne comes a Nazi spy thriller for fans of Dan Brown, Steve Berry and Wilbur Smith"I couldn't put it down ... the aut...
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Easy Beauty
Chloé Cooper JonesFinalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Memoir or AutobiographyA New York Times Notable Book of 2022 Vulture’s #1 Memoir of 2022 A Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA TODAY, Time,...
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The Buried
Sharon BoltonAN OLD ENEMY IS LAID TO REST . . . AND A NEW CRIME IS DISCOVEREDFlorence Lovelady, the most senior serving policewoman in Britain, visits convicted serial killer Larry Glassbrook i...
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Like Mother, Like Daughter
Elle Croft'Utterly absorbing and thoughtprovoking' Caz Frear'What a premise, and packed with suspense' Victoria Selman'A dark, delicious triumph' Niki MackayIf what they said was true, then ...
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Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin
W.J. BurleyWycliffe investigates the disappearance of a young girl and becomes involved in a major criminal investigation . . .Chief Superintendent Wycliffe doubted whether he would enjoy hi...
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Alone with the Dead
James Nally‘IMPECCABLE DESCRIPTIONS MADE THE STORY COME ALIVE … EXHILARATING STUFF’ THE SUNThe first in an electrifying new British detective series starring PC Donal Lynch.Meet PC Donal Lync...
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All My Lies
Sophie Flynn'Perfectly paced, suspenseful and gripping a real pageturner' SOPHIE HANNAH, author of Haven't They Grown 'A rollercoaster ride with a cast of flawed characters an exce...
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Cat And Mouse
M. J. ArlidgeIF YOU THINK YOU'RE ALONE:THINK AGAIN A scratching at the window.A tap on the door.What if, this time, someone is out there? A silent killer stalks the city, targeting those home ...
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Citystates
Chris Guenther & Mohammed Al-ShawafCities are where we build our most ambitious and symbolic structures, where we come together to share experiences and exchange capital, goods and ideas, and where we go in search o...
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Death at the Orange Locks
Anja de Jager'A novel brilliantly evoking the isolation of a woman with an unbearable weight on her conscience' Sunday Times Keeping it in the family...After her painful divorce four years ago,...
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The Blood Is Still
Douglas SkeltonA riveting, immersive thriller from the author of Thunder Bay"If you don't know Skelton, now's the time" (Ian Rankin). When a man in eighteenthcentury Highland dress is f...
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A Rattle of Bones
Douglas SkeltonOld sins cast a long shadow in this unrelenting thriller by the author of Thunder Bay.When banners proclaiming the innocence of James Stewart spring up at the gravesite of his famo...
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Manifesting Michelangelo
Joseph Pierce Farrell“And then it happened . . . a ray of illumination shot straight up and down to the left and the right, forming a pair of axes. My heart began to beat very fast, yet I didn’t blink....
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All Fall Down
M. J. ArlidgeFROM THE MIND OF THE MILLIONCOPY BESTSELLER M.J. ARLIDGE COMES THE BRAND NEW SERIAL KILLER THRILLER STARRING DETECTIVE INSPECTOR HELEN GRACE... "You have one hour to live."Those...
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The Unwanted Dead
Chris Lloyd'A gripping murder mystery and a vivid recreation of Paris under German Occupation.' ANDREW TAYLORWINNER OF THE HWA GOLD CROWN AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE ...
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Her Last Breath
Alison BelshamA gripping new detective series set in Brighton for readers who enjoy Peter James' Roy Grace series.When a young woman is attacked and left fighting to survive in hospital, the pol...
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Romans
Dr. David JeremiahJesus is our salvation...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the book of Romans in a chapterbychapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time it was wri...
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1 Corinthians
Dr. David JeremiahLiving as citizens of Christ's Kingdom...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the book of 1 Corinthians in a chapterbychapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people...
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Matthew
Dr. David JeremiahJesus is the eternal King...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the gospel of Matthew in a chapterbychapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time it w...
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The Wintringham Mystery
Anthony BerkeleyRepublished for the first time in nearly 95 years, a classic winter country house mystery by the founder of the Detection Club, with a twist that even Agatha Christie couldn’t solv...
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Wycliffe and the Cycle of Death
W.J. BurleyA respectable bookseller is found bludgeoned and strangled and it's up to Chief Superintendent Wycliffe to find out why . . .When Matthew Glynn is murdered, Wycliffe is mystified. ...
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We Can See You
Simon KernickIf you like David Baldacci, Stuart MacBride and Peter James, you'll love this frighteningly tense, spinetingling thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Kernick the UK...