Peter May was born on December 20, 1951 in Glasgow, Scotland. Even from a young age, Peter wanted to be a novelist. He started out his writing career in journalism and won his first award, the Fraser Award, in 1973 when he was only 21 years old. For this he was labeled Scotland’s Young Journalist of the Year. Peter completed his first novel at the age of 26 titled The Reporter, which was later adapted to a British television series in 1978 called The Standard. He met his wife, Janice Hally, when he was working on the television series, Take the High Road. They were married in 1990 and are currently residing in France. Peter’s television career also involves Take the High Road (1980-1992), The Ardlamont Mystery (1985), and Machair (1992-1996). To add to his already prestigious career in television, Peter May’s novel The Killing Room is also being adapted into a full-length feature film. Awards and Nominations The housing around us became more sparse, and up ahead I saw that the street lights came to an abrupt end, leaving only darkness beyond them. Fear sat among us like another passenger. It could only be a matter of time before Andy made his move. However, 50 years later, the murder of an old man in a seedy London bedsit, makes former vocalist Maurie Cohen, who is dying of cancer, feel compelled to return and confront the ghosts of the past and he persuades his two former bandmates to accompany him. Peter May has done it again. He’s created yet another thrilling read, one that pulls you in from the start until the end.

Runaway by Peter May | Goodreads

young men, age 17, have a band in Glasgow in 1965. They runaway from home with the hope of making a big success in the the London music scene. London is the center of a vibrant music, arts and fashion scene. ' The world changed from sepia to psychedelic' Caricatures and lazy stereotypes in the lives of the characters persist throughout the book: the altercation between the main character and his love interest over her use of Heroin and her subsequent, almost effortless, cold turkey; the tripped out kid who thinks he can fly; the improbable job offer; the adoption of the characters into a bohemian collective mere hours after their arrival in London; the abandonment of the Glasgow end of the storyline half way through the book; the arrival of an antagonist out of nowhere to precipitate the event that is presumably the whole point of the story but which feels like an afterthought; and even the denouement, ultimately all ring false. The Enzo Files is a series of five novels with one on the way. The series tell the story of Enzo Macleod, a half-Scottish, half-Italian former forensic scientist that is forced to use his skills once again to solve old cold-cases in France. In the first novel of this series, Extraordinary People (also published as Dry Bones) Enzo is sent on a disturbing scavenger hunt for body parts around France. Peter May has become well recognized for his work both as a novelist and in film and television. His very first award was the Fraser Award in 1973 for being the Scottish Young Journalist of the Year. In 1996, Machair was nominated for the Best Drama Serial Award at the 17th International Celtic Film and Television Festival.

This is a good road trip story and I particularly enjoyed the parallels between the two trips. ‘Runaway’ provides an interesting glimpse into life in 1960s London and could well serve to remind us all to grasp at life, rather than allowing it to drift by. On 15 January, Quercus is publishing Peter May’s latest book, Runaway. Well known for his Lewis trilogy– set in the Hebridean Islands – as well as his recent hit Entry Island which is set on an island in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada, Runaway is a standalone that… umm… really doesn’t feature any islands at all. Instead, it’s the story of a group of friends who run away from life in Glasgow to find fame and fortune in London. That part of the story is semi-biographical, as May did exactly that when he was 17. However, in Runaway wrapped up in that experience is a murder mystery. Below, we bring you a feature by Peter May all about the 1960s, what it was like to run away, how he researched the book 50 years later, and more. And just for a bit of fun, here is one of the out-takes from our attempt to replicate the original photograph. I don’t know how many dozen pictures we took, but we almost invariably broke down in floods of laughter. How we ever managed to get one with straight faces I will never know.

Runaway: a high-stakes mystery thriller from the master of Runaway: a high-stakes mystery thriller from the master of

I’ve read four of Peter May’s novels so far, and enjoyed each one of them. There were a few twists that I didn’t work out in this novel until close to the end: I suspect that I was too busy reading to find out what would happen next rather than paying close attention to the detail. This novel marks something of a change of pace from previous Peter May novels I’ve read. In many ways, the subject matter, social commentary and frequent splashes of humour are more reminiscent of fellow Scot, Christopher Brookmyre: but that’s certainly no bad thing. In a show of distain for his reader, no sooner do our protagonists arrive at their destination, for example, do they bump into not one, but two icons of the era - one of whom happens to be in the process of committing to celluloid the most iconic moment of his career. Are we really expected to swallow that as plausible, let alone likely? Similar events that occur throughout the book feel like unwarranted indulgences on the part of the author to relive his youth and demonstrate his musical chops. But this is lazy. Where he could have evoked London of fifty years ago through careful description of the mundane and profane, he has instead chosen to slap on a massive sign saying "Look, the Rolling Stones are on the Dancette, it must be the sixties!" Nothing, of course, goes to plan. For all of them this will be a life changing journey. Some will benefit from the journey but some will never recover from it. After a few months of traumatic living in London most of the boys make the decision to return home to Glasgow and their worried parents.It is astonishing how youthful ignorance can put adversity so easily aside to breed baseless optimism. Each had their own reason to leave and their experiences test the bonds of friendship, eventually taking a tragic turn. Of the five who left Glasgow, only three will return. Trouble is, most psychiatrists like the sound of their own voices too much, it’s what the patient has to say that’s important. Listening is the virtue. Five of us had run away that fateful night just over a month before. Only three of us would be going home. And nothing, nothing would ever be the same again. This thriller series is popular for the tempestuous relationship between Chinese detective Li Yan, and acerbic American pathologist Dr. Margaret Campbell from Chicago. The China Thrillers landed Peter the only honorary membership of the Chinese Crime Writer’s Association awarded to a westerner for its vibrant portrayal of contemporary Chinese life.

Peter May Peter May

In 2006, Firemaker was runner up for the Best Crime Novel category in the Elle Magazine, Grand Prix de Litterature. Snakehead was the winner at the Salon Polar and Co, Cognac in the 2007 Prix Intramuros (France), and shortlisted at the Salon Polar and Co, Cognac in the 2007 Prix International as well. Chinese Whispers was shortlisted at the Salon Polar and Co, Cognac in the 2008 Prix International. Both timelines have a great feeling of authenticity and, as always with May, the sense of place is done superbly. I hadn't realised May grew up in the Southside of Glasgow (as did I), but the accuracy with which he describes it suggests he must have done. Although he's writing about a somewhat earlier era than my own, the places, attitudes, language and lifestyle are all spot-on. Spookily so, in fact – I kept finding parts of my own life mirrored in the story and spent much of the early part of the book being reminded of events and places in my own past.The Aristokats, with Peter May on the left and Stephen Penn on the right, playing in Glasgow aged 13 or 14. Here they become involved in the experimental treatment of schizophrenics by a celebrity psychiatrist pioneering the use of LSD. This was inspired by the work of RD Laing at the Kingsley Halls in Bow, East London, during the mid-to-late 60s. Laing was something of a media celebrity himself, controversial in his theories and treatments, and was in many ways a quintessential product of that decade. It was interesting that during my researches into Laing I discovered that my wife had been at school with his son, and that Laing and I had been taught to play piano at the same Glasgow music school. The second journey in 2015 with an ailing Maurie in many ways reflects the first, with flashes of humour and heart-wrenching sadness along the way. But for me it is the quiet achiever, Luke, who silently steals the show. The streets of London were not, as in legend, paved with gold, but money walked the pavements and motored the roads.