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Shannon...
1,282 books | 139 friends

Paul Gr...
4,568 books | 1,071 friends

Susan
8,179 books | 778 friends

Caroline
4,683 books | 264 friends

Ian
Ian
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Linda
7,090 books | 3,694 friends

Hazel W...
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Kelly
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William Shaw

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United Kingdom
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Member Since
August 2008


I'm a crime writer and write the Eden Driscoll series set in South Devon, the Alex Cupidi series set in Dungeness, Kent and the Breen & Tozer series set in London in 1968-9.

My most recent book is The Red Shore, the first I the Eden Driscoll series, set in Teignmouth, Devon.

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
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William Shaw He's absent for Salt Lane but he returns for the next book - as yet untitled. Cupidi has the challenge of helping him return to the community after be…moreHe's absent for Salt Lane but he returns for the next book - as yet untitled. Cupidi has the challenge of helping him return to the community after being incarcerated for murder. Writing it now. Thanks for the very kind words.(less)
Average rating: 4.09 · 20,908 ratings · 2,529 reviews · 21 distinct works • Similar authors
The Birdwatcher (DS Alexand...

4.03 avg rating — 4,694 ratings — published 2016 — 20 editions
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Salt Lane (DS Alexandra Cup...

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,693 ratings — published 2018 — 13 editions
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Deadland (DS Alexandra Cupi...

4.25 avg rating — 2,044 ratings — published 2019 — 7 editions
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Grave's End (DS Alexandra C...

4.27 avg rating — 1,654 ratings — published 2020 — 9 editions
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The Trawlerman (DS Alexandr...

4.26 avg rating — 1,520 ratings — published 2021 — 5 editions
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A Song From Dead Lips (Bree...

3.79 avg rating — 1,641 ratings — published 2013 — 6 editions
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The Red Shore

4.22 avg rating — 1,165 ratings — published 2025 — 4 editions
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The Wild Swimmers (DS Alexa...

4.21 avg rating — 1,054 ratings — published 2024 — 3 editions
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A House of Knives (Breen an...

3.97 avg rating — 1,052 ratings — published 2014 — 20 editions
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A Book of Scars (Breen and ...

4.07 avg rating — 843 ratings — published 2015 — 14 editions
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More books by William Shaw…

The Red Shore, July 3rd

On July 3 2025 I'm launching a new series with a book called The Red Shore: The gripping new Devon-set crime thriller mystery featuring detective Eden Driscoll. It's set in Devon, on a coastline I know very well, and it's really about a man struggling to cope with his responsibilities after he finds himself carer for his nine-year-old nephew. Plus murder, obviously! Read more of this blog post »
12 likes ·   •  8 comments  •  flag
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Published on March 20, 2025 01:47 • Tags: crime, crimefiction, devon
The Birdwatcher Salt Lane Deadland Grave's End The Trawlerman The Wild Swimmers
(6 books)
by
4.12 avg rating — 14,789 ratings

A Song From Dead Lips A House of Knives A Book of Scars Sympathy for the Devil
(4 books)
by
3.95 avg rating — 4,413 ratings

The Hotel Guest
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by Rosemary Hennigan (Goodreads Author)
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William’s Recent Updates

Never To Be Found by Jo Spain
"*A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing*

**4.5 Stars**

This is the first book that I have read by Jo Spain’s and I was thoroughly impressed. It began slowly but gradually built up to become utterly captivating.

We meet Veronica Page, a quiet resident who lives in " Read more of this review »
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The Stepmother by Sheila Bugler
The Stepmother
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Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan
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Witch Trial by Harriet Tyce
Witch Trial
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Deadly Evidence by Marie Cassidy
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The Hotel Guest by Rosemary Hennigan
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The Stepmother by Sheila Bugler
The Stepmother
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More of William's books…
Quotes by William Shaw  (?)
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“They are usually asking quite ordinary questions, like why am I here, why are some people rich and others poor, what happens when I die, why doesn’t anybody like me, and so on. The real question is, how come they’re coming up with such weird answers?”
― William Shaw, Spying in Guru Land: A Journey into the Strange World of Religious Cults

“Later the FBI would talk of ‘bunkers’ built under the compound.”
― William Shaw, Spying in Guru Land: A Journey into the Strange World of Religious Cults

“In the Hare Krishna movement, everything Indian acquires a holiness. Many disciples not only adopt the clothes, but adopt a sort of odd body language too. Spurning the plastic spoons offered, they scoop up their prasadam with their fingers, and thank the servers with palms pressed together. Some even acquire twitchy pseudo-Indian neck movements.”
― William Shaw, Spying in Guru Land: A Journey into the Strange World of Religious Cults

Polls

Which more contemporary English Mystery would you like to read with us during February? Once again, we have some great choices! Please vote here.

 
  44 votes, 43.6%

 
  28 votes, 27.7%

 
  16 votes, 15.8%

 
  13 votes, 12.9%

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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“Adams grew up in the sixties, and the Beatles “planted a seed in my head that made it explode. Every nine months there’d be a new album which would be an earth-shattering development from where they were before. We were so obsessed by them that when ‘Penny Lane’ came out and we hadn’t heard it on the radio, we beat up this boy who had heard it until he hummed the tune to us. People now ask if Oasis are as good as the Beatles. I don’t think they are as good as the Rutles.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

“It was one of those times when the unsatisfactory complexity of the world fades far enough into the distance for the moment to become a thing in itself.”
― William Shaw

148434 Devon Book Club — 610 members — last activity Sep 18, 2026 01:49AM
For book lovers of all kinds who live in, work in or just love Devon and want to be part of this community.
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Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
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message 3: by Susan

Susan Good luck with the book release today!


William Shaw Has it? News to me! Can I get you a copy then, Susan?


message 1: by Susan

Susan I see a new book has appeared on NetGalley - very exciting!


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