Salt Lane

Shaw, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316563501 ISBN 13: 9780316563505

Publisher: Mulholland Books, 2018

An "excellent," darkly-told crime novel in the tradition of Tana French and Ian Rankin (Wall Street Journal)

Sergeant Alexandra Cupidi is a recent transfer from the London metro police to the rugged Kentish countryside. She's done little to ingratiate herself with her new colleagues, who find her too brash, urban, and--to make matters worse, she investigated her first partner, a veteran detective, and had him arrested on murder charges. Now assigned the brash young Constable Jill Ferriter to look after, she's facing another bizarre case: a woman found floating in local marsh land, dead of no apparent cause.
The case gets even stranger when the detectives contact the victim's next of kin, her son, a high-powered graphic designer living in London. Adopted at the age of two, he'd never known his mother, he tells the detectives, until a homeless womanknocked on his door, claiming to be his mother, just the night before: at the same time her body was being dredged from the water.
Juggling the case, her aging mother, her teenage daughter, and the loneliness of country life, Detective Cupidi must discover who the woman really was, who killed her, and how she managed to reconnect with her long lost son, apparently from beyond the grave.

Review:

PRAISE FOR WILLIAM SHAW AND THE BIRDWATCHER
"One of summer's chilliest thrillers... Shaw's prose still sinks its hooks in."--Entertainment Weekly

"Discreet, thoughtful prose... by its theatrical but moving conclusion, The Birdwatcher... [is] an excellent read."--USA Today

"William Shaw is, quite simply, an outstanding storyteller."--Peter May, Barry Award-winning author of the Lewis Trilogy

"Salt Lane is taut, terrifying and timely; the emotional tension never slackens."--Val McDermid

"William Shaw is one of the great rising talents of UK crime fiction. This is his best book to date, instantly engaging, beautifully written with really well observed and rounded characters."--Peter James

"Excellent....The combination of great characters and a gripping plot will leave readers eager for a sequel."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"DS Alexandra Cupidi is complex, conflicted, and conscientious... Shaw's rattling good writing will hold readers to the very end. Fans of the author's Breen and Tozer series as well as aficionados of atmospheric police procedurals will enjoy this series launch."--Library Journal

"Salt Lane was my introduction to William Shaw, and when I finished it I instantly went to his backlist. He is a meticulous, thoughtful and insightful writer. I can't wait for Sgt. Cupidi's next case."--Sara Paretsky

"A modern crime master.... Shaw scores subtle political points in this atmospheric, state-of-the-nation thriller that, as always, features intricate plotting, realistic dialogue and believable characters."--Natasha Harding, The Sun (UK)

"Excellent.... Reverses readers' expectations: Rather than having all their roots in the distant past, these crimes have more to do with the evils and inequities of the modern world."--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

About the Author:

William Shaw is an award-winning pop culture journalist, who has written regularly for the UK's Observer and Independent, as well as the New York Times. He is the author of the Breen and Tozer series and The Birdwatcher, his previous novel featuring Sergeant Alexandra Cupidi. Shaw lives in Sussex, England.