This is such very sad news. Peter May, one of my favorite mystery authors and friend, passed away suddenly Saturday. He was truly one of a kind.
I had the pleasure of hosting Peter at several literary salons when he and his wife Janice were in town. Peter won our Macavity Awards for The Black House, and, of course, he won many other awards. He also contributed many articles to both the Mystery Readers Journal and Mystery Fanfare. His essay Why France? appeared in the most recent issue of Mystery Readers Journal: Mysteries set in France.
He was an amazing writer, a kind and generous supporter of other writers, and a friend. Multi-talented, we kept in touch, and I know he said his upcoming novel, Island of the Dead, was to be his last, we all hoped it would not be. Alas, it will.
My heart and sincere sympathy go out to Janice, his family, his friends, and the entire mystery community.
From Janice Haley May and Jon Riley, his publisher and friend:
I have to convey the most awful news. Peter, my soulmate, my partner, my greatest love, has died.
There was no warning, we had just spent a perfect day together. He was taken by a heart attack after giving Daftie his evening walk. Paramedics and doctors arrived quickly and fought for an hour to revive him but to no avail.
I have no words to express the loss, so I enclose here the statement from his long term publisher and dear friend, Jon Riley, who pays tribute: Riverrun, an imprint of the John Murray Group, has announced the sad news of the death of the Sunday Times bestselling Scottish crime writer Peter May, on Friday night at his holiday home in the south of France.
Peter May was one of the most popular, and loved writers of crime fiction of his generation, and his books have sold around 15 million copies around the world. The novel which he had announced would be his last, Island of the Dead, is to be published in January 2027.
May began his career as a journalist in Scotland, winning Young Journalist of the Year aged twenty-one, and published his first novel, The Reporter in 1976, at the age of twenty-six. After it was adapted as a BBC drama series, he quit journalism for television, and in the fifteen years that followed he became a successful scriptwriter and producer on two seminal series, Take the High Road and the Gaelic-language, Isle of Lewis-set Machair. It was while working on location on Machair, that his love for the Hebrides, which informed and influenced so much of his writing was formed.
He returned to fiction with a series of China-set thrillers, which was followed by the French-set Enzo Files, both of which featured characters who reflected his growing interest in forensic science. However, it was the publication of the Lewis-set thriller The Blackhouse in 2011, that brought international fame, and bestselling success, and resulted in The Lewis Trilogy. He published a bestseller almost every year between The Blackhouse and his last book, The Black Loch in 2024. His writing will always be associated with the Isle of Lewis, and the Hebrides.
Peter published twenty-six books with Quercus, and his workwas hugely successful in his adopted homeland of France, where his work garlanded many prestigious literary awards.
Peter was a talented musician, and in 2025 he released a CD,‘Towards the Light’, which reflected in song many of his interests as a novelist.
Although he had announced his retirement, which he was looking forward to sharing with his beloved wife, the writer Janice Hally, May found there was one more novel in him, and he delivered Island of the Dead in July this year. He was preparing for a farewell tour of Scotland and Lewis to coincide with publication in January 2027.
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. His kindness, generosity and largeness of spirit, loyalty, engagement with life, and the world, made him a much-loved,as well as much- admired figure. He is irreplaceable.
