Renee at It’s Book Talk began this meme as a way to share old favorites.
This week I’ve chosen “The Birdwatcher” by William Shaw for my Throwback Thursday post. It was first published in May of 2016 by Mulholland Books and was, for me, a 5 star read. I’ve always loved a well-written police procedural, and this one definitely fits the bill. The sequel to “the Birdwatcher” is called “Salt Lane” and it was published just last week! I’m very anxious to get my hands on a copy.
This novel has probably one of the best first paragraphs I’ve read in quite a while:
“There were two reasons why William South did not want to be on the murder team. The first was that it was October. The migrating birds had begun arriving on the coast. The second was that, though nobody knew, he was a murderer himself.”
Wow! Doesn’t this just make you want to keep reading? Well done William Shaw!
William South lives alone in a tiny coastguard cottage in Dungeness, Kent near the nuclear power station. South has been a policeman for over twenty years. An ordinary copper, he is assigned to support the new Detective Sergeant as she is unfamiliar with the area. DS Alexandra Cupidi has just moved to Kent with her daughter. Her previous job was with the London Metropolitan Police.
“Birding had always been his one safe place.”
South, an avid birdwatcher, uses the skills he has learned as a birder in his police work. He writes all his observations down in his notebook, a discipline that all birders work to acquire. Birding has made him patient. Birdwatching has been his passion ever since he was a child. It is an occupation for a solitary boy, and a solitary man.
“Birdwatching was like being a beat copper. You spent your days looking for anomalies. Things that were just a little different.”
The first case DS Cupidi is tasked with is a murder. When William South learns that the murder victim is his good friend, fellow birder, and close neighbor, he is deeply troubled. Bob Rayner had been a nice gentle man, a private man, much like South himself. His murder was brutally violent causing South to re-access his love of the place where he lives.
“It wasn’t just the threat of violence, the idea that the killer was out there still; something dark had been stirred up”.
South lives alone partly because he does not want to inflict his ‘baggage’ on another person. He grew up in Armagh, Northern Ireland during a time when school children practiced running in a zigzag pattern so as to avoid being shot at. Back then his name was Billy McGowan and his father was in the paramilitaries. His experiences in 1978 during “The Troubles” have indelibly colored his life and he lives with guilt on a daily basis.
DS Cupidi works all the hours God sends. As a result her teenage daughter Zoë is often left to her own devices. Zoë harbours a lot of anger at her mother for taking her out of South London and away from all of her friends. She is not getting along at her new school and fights with her classmates. Cupidi enlists South to take Zoë out birdwatching to keep her out of trouble. Much to South’s surprise he finds that Zoë is a natural birder who displays a real interest in the pursuit.
a Dungeness, Kent beach (and the cover photo of the Quercus Books edition of “The Birdwatcher”)
The murder investigation spurs other crimes. Other murders. One of which is connected to South’s past in Northern Ireland. DS Cupidi, at first very friendly toward South, turns distant and decidedly cool. Why? Will South’s career survive the secrets he carries?
This was a great read! All of the characters were so real that you felt compassion for them and you become invested in their fate. The Dungeness, Kent setting was atmospheric and perfectly suited to the story. Like many novels the action was divided between a past narrative (Billy’s boyhood in Northern Ireland), and a present narrative (his adult life as a policeman in Kent). The author skillfully alternated between the two time periods and linked them up in a cohesive manner. The suspense-filled final pages will delight all those who relish crime thrillers and police procedurals. All in all – reading time well spent!
In this novel William South was very much the protagonist and DS Cupidi a supportive character. When I finished reading the book I found myself wishing the characters would return in another novel – though “The Birdwatcher” was touted as being a stand-alone. I then discovered that DS Cupidi is returning in another book entitled “Salt Lane” which is #1 in the DS Alexandra Cupidi series. I’ve already added “Salt Lane” to my TBR.
I received a digital copy of this book from Mulholland Books via NetGalley in consideration of my honest review.
from the author’s Goodreads bio:
William Shaw is the author of the Breen & Tozer series set in London in 1968-9 and has a new book in the series called “Sympathy for the Devil” which is soon to be published.
In 2016, he published a standalone called “The Birdwatcher” .
The non-fiction books he wrote 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 he wrote for the Observer Magazine, and Spying In Guru Land , in which he joined several British religious cults to write about them.
William Shaw lives in Brighton and plays music with Brighton Ceilidh Collective.
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Lynne, your review of The Birdwatcher was so
intriguing I had to purchase a copy ASAP. When
I noticed I hadn’t read it yet I moved the book
to my To Be Read Soon table and (don’t you dare
laugh!!!) I noticed Goldsboro Books had
the next book Salt Lane available and had
to order a copy (I think this is the beginning
of a series with Det. Cupidi as the protagonist)
Lynne, you are wonderful at selling books; I
could never say a word about your book hauls😘
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I’m so pleased that you are going to read this one Gaye. ❤ I’ll be interested in hearing your opinion of this book.
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Your Throwback Thursday books are always so tempting. They keep adding to my TBR. Another new author for me. Definitely need to check it out. Thanks for sharing.
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I really hope you enjoy it Carla.
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I have had this on my TBR: thanks, Lynne
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I have this! I still don’t know why I haven’t read it yet 🙈 Great review!
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Enjoy Janel! ♥
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Great share! Nice that the sequel came out last week. I’ll be sure to add both books! 💖
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Great news 💕
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This is not me type of read but I have to admit that that first paragraph was very intriguing!
x The Captain
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William Shaw is a skilled author.
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Lynne, you’ve managed to write about this book twice and I’m still getting around to just the one post! 😆 I’m hopeful I’ll have it out soon, and it will have a different tack to your excellent reviews through my having been at Dungeness. I wondered if there would be more books featuring these characters. It would be good to imagine that South might also return, somewhere down the line 🙂
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Thanks Sandra. I’m very eager to get my greedy little hands on a copy of “Salt Lane”.
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I’ll be looking out for your review of it 🙂
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Couldn’t resist adding this to my reading pile 🙂
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Yay ❤
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Sounds like a good one!
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