Detective Sergeant George Gunn is called to investigate the death of a lov
ely young teenager, Caitlin Black, who has fallen to her death from a clifftop along the rocky shore. She was pregnant. She had gained fame for videos she and a friend made about “exploring the coastline of the islands from the sea”.
Gunn is resisting retirement despite the entreaties of his wife. He is slowing physically.
Fin McLeod has left his position in security for a large estate on the island and is working in Glasgow on a computer seeking out the sites of child pornographers for criminal prosecution.
Fin, now past 50, is also aging with “his once-blond curls thinning now and turning quietly silver”.
Fin and his wife, Marsaili, return to Lewis when their son, Fionnlagh, has been charged with murdering Caitlin.
They are shattered. They cannot believe their son is a murderer though his relationship with Caitlin was scandalous.
Detective Chief Inspector, Douglas Mclaren, is leading the investigation. Gunn describes him as a “clever bastard”.
Marsaili says Fin has a duty to prove Fionnlagh is innocent. He recalls his grandfather’s words:
You bring someone into this world, Fin, you have to be there for them. No matter what.
Caitlin was the daughter of Fin and Marsaili’s high school classmates, Niall and Ailsa (Maclean) Black.
Fin’s thoughts turn to his late teens when he joined Niall and other boys in a disastrous illegal venture. A pact of silence was made, uneasily on Fin’s part. It has haunted them for over 30 years.
Family responsibility is not limited to your own children. He reflects on his Aunt who raised him from a young boy through his teens after the death of his parents. While single and ill-equipped to be a parent she took on his care.
Fin meets with Aisla and Niall who are long separated. It is hard for them to disassociate the sins of the son from the parents. The conversations are credibly hard.
Fin wonders “whether it was worse to lose your daughter or have your son accused of her murder”. I know my answer.
In his efforts to prove his son innocent Fin seeks out conversations with all who knew Caitlin. If not his son, who had a motive to hurt and kill the beautiful Caitlin? Fin has no difficulty confronting those he believes are not being truthful to him.
Salmon farming is now a big business in Lewis. There are 1.2 million salmon in the 12 cages of the farm Niall’s company owns. They have cages “all over Scotland”. Is there a connection to the industrial salmon farming operation of Niall? Evidence is being assembled about the profound environmental issues of the operation.
Fin is a hard man. The flinty Calvinism of his youth in the Crobost Free Church is still present in him in his middle age. While he has rejected the Church there is still an Old Testament attitude about him. He decries the current pastor, a childhood friend, as self-righteous but Fin is just as judgmental.
Forgiveness is rare in the Hebrides. The admonition of Jesus to forgive is not a common part of Lewis life.
The investigation does drive Fin to be reflective about his mortality. He is nearer the grave than birth. He finds himself depressed as he reviews his life. Regrets are hard to overcome for the uncompromising.
Relationships ache through The Black Loch. Most have suffered great losses. Marsaili recalls being told by her first mother-in-law:
No one should expect to be happy, Marsaili.
None of the characters, young and old, are happy.
The Black Loch is fine Celtic noir but grim. I did wish there was at least a touch of joy in the Hebrides.
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May, Peter - (2003) - Snakehead; (2014) - The Blackhouse; (2014) - The Lewis Man; (2015) - The Chessmen; Bookmark Inspiration for the Outer Hebrides; (2020) - Firemaker; (2020) - The Fourth Sacrifice
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