The Night Gate

The Night Gate is the seventh (and final?) book in the Enzo Macleod Investigation series by Scottish journalist, screenwriter and author, Peter May. Now married to Dominique Chazal, raising ten-year-old Laurent, and five years retired from teaching, Enzo protests that he has left behind the solving of cold cases when asked by a forensic archaeologist to give an opinion on the scene of an old skeleton exposed by a fallen tree in a park in the village of Carennac.

But it's October 2020, and COVID lockdowns have left him bored and frustrated, so ex-gendarme Dominique encourages him. When at the scene, they become involved in the investigation of the very recent murder of a Paris art dealer just a stone's throw from the park. From the physical evidence, it looks like Emile Narcisse was murdered by young Berlin gallery owner, Hans Bauer. But something about the blood spatter pattern has Enzo puzzled.

This latest instalment spans almost eighty years, ranging over London, Paris, Berlin and the Isle of Lewis, and involving the wartime looting of artworks by the Nazis, and the efforts of the French to keep a certain world treasure out of the hands of a megalomaniac dictator and his lieutenant.

It is told through letters, diaries and an old woman's recall of her mother's much-told story, as well as narratives from many perspectives, including those of two men charged with acquiring that famous painting. Enzo manages to put himself into mortal danger several times.

This is more a wartime story than a contemporary one, featuring only a token amount of Enzo's forensic science expertise. All the major players from the series do make appearances, if brief, that provide a sort of "where are they now" nine years on from the events of the last book. Hans Bauer's result from Google Translate is probably more accurate than what most users would experience. Intriguing and entertaining, as always.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Quercus.