William Shaw
I'm a crime writer and write the Alex Cupidi series set in Dungeness, Kent and the Breen & Tozer series set in London in 1968-9. I also write under the name G.W. Shaw.My ninth novel is
The Trawlerman
, the fourth in the Alex Cupidi series - if you don't count
The Birdwatcher
.My non-fiction books include
Westsiders
, an account of several young would-be rappers struggling to establish themselves against a backdrop of poverty and violence in South Central Los Angeles,
Superhero For Hire
, a compilation and of the Small Ads columns I wrote for the Observer Magazine, and
Spying In Guru Land
, in which I joined several British religious cults to write about them.
A Song From Dead Lips
was the first in a trilogy of books set in London in 1968, featuring DS Cathal Breen and WPC Helen Tozer. It was followed by
A House of Knives
and
A Book of Scars
.I live in Brighton and play music with Brighton Ceilidh Collective. I also run an online book event called
The Birdwatcher (DS Alexandra Cupidi #0/prequel)
William Shaw
Police Sergeant William South has a good reason to shy away from murder investigations: he is a murderer himself. A methodical, diligent, and exceptionally bright detective, South is an avid birdwatcher and trusted figure in his small town on the rugged Kentish coast. He also lives with the deeply buried secret that, as a child in Northern Ireland, he may have killed a man. When a fellow birdwatcher is found murdered in his remote home, South's world flips. The culprit seems to be a drifter from South's childhood; the victim was the only person connecting South to his early crime; and a troubled, vivacious new female sergeant has been relocated from London and assigned to work with South. As our hero investigates, he must work ever-harder to keep his own connections to the victim, and his past, a secret. The Birdwatcher is British crime fiction at its finest; a stirring portrait of flawed, vulnerable investigators; a meticulously constructed mystery; and a primal story of fear, loyalty and vengeance.
She's Leaving Home (Breen and Tozer, #1)
William Shaw
London, 1968: The body of a teenage girl is found just steps away from the Beatles' Abbey Road recording studio.The police are called to a residential street in St John's Wood where an unidentified young woman has been strangled. Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen believes she may be one of the many Beatles fans who regularly camp outside Abbey Road Studios. With his reputation tarnished by an inexplicable act of cowardice, this is Breen's last chance to prove he's up to the job.Breen is of the generation for whom reaching adulthood meant turning into one's parents and accepting one's place in the world. But the world around him is changing beyond recognition. Nothing illustrates the shift more than Helen Tozer, a brazen and rambunctious young policewoman assisting him with the case. Together they navigate a world on edge, where conservative tradition gives way to frightening new freedoms--and troubling new crimes.
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