Book review #TheTrawlerman by William Shaw @william1shaw

I’m a massive fan of DS Alex Cupidi and The Trawlerman is the fourth book in the series by William Shaw. Before I give you my thoughts, here’s the blurb.

The Blurb

A DOUBLE MURDER

The naked corpses of Aylmer and Mary Younis are discovered in their home. The only clues are a note written in blood and an eerie report of two spectral figures departing the crime scene. Officer Jill Ferriter is charged with investigating the murders while her colleague Alex Cupidi is on leave, recovering from post-traumatic stress.

AN ELABORATE SCAM

The dead couple had made investments in a green reforestry scheme in Guatemala, resulting in the loss of all their savings. What is more disturbing is that Cupidi and Ferriter’s disgraced former colleague and friend Bill South is also on the list of investors and the Younis’s were not the only losers.

AN UNLIKELY KILLER

Despite being in counselling and receiving official warnings to stay away from police work Cupidi finds herself dragged into the case and begins to trawl among the secrets and lies that are held in the fishing community of Folkestone. Desperate to exonerate South she finds herself murderously compromised when personal relationships cloud her judgement.

Pacey, intense and riddled with surprising twists, The Trawlerman shows that deceit can be found in the most unlikely places. The brooding waters of the Kent coastline offer an ominous backdrop for this lively page-turner of corruption, mental health and the complexities of human connection.

My Review

As I wrote above, I’m a huge fan of DS Alex Cupidi and she’s one of my favourite fictional police detectives ever. William Shaw puts her through the wringer though and after her last case, Alex is signed off sick with PTSD. William Shaw always examines important themes in his novels and mental health is high on the list in this story.

Police officers are often hyper-aware of their surroundings and impending threats. For Alex, PTSD has taken this to a new level. She spots a woman with a concealed knife long before anyone else and intervenes. But at a restaurant, she shouts out about a knife brought to cut a birthday cake, much to her embarrassment. Her ability to determine threat has gone into freefall. Time off and counselling is meant to be helping her but Alex can’t resist the pull of a double murder and her natural instinct to investigate.

As well as the recent suspicious deaths, Alex is also drawn into a cold case mystery – a trawlerman missing for seven years, presumed dead. But is he? Shaw skillfully weaves between the two cases, using them to draw out the raw, deep-seated fears that Alex has been holding onto. It’s a very different Alex we see here. She’s convinced she’s fine but we see the concern from everyone around her.

I don’t want to tell you too much more about the plot as I want to avoid spoilers. But there’s an unusual feel to this book as Alex is mostly away from the central action of the police investigation and the camaraderie of her colleagues. I found I missed the police station as much as she did!

Shaw continues his tour round Kent and Folkestone is one of the settings, tying in with the missing trawlerman. Of course, it’s still Dungeness that’s centre stage – the wonderfully bleak outlook of the nuclear power station alongside the rich biodiversity of wildlife. It feels as though the two shouldn’t co-exist and it’s a great metaphor for Alex’s life in this novel.

As I’ve come to expect, The Trawlerman, is a stunning read. I’m looking forward to seeing where William Shaw takes Alex Cupidi next. I hope he’s going to be a little kinder to her.

You can buy The Trawlerman here or better still, go and visit your local independent bookshop. My copy was purchased from Bert’s Books as part of The Reading Party. This is an event that allows you to read an extract of the book with the author present. Click on the links to find out more.

The Author

William Shaw has been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger, longlisted once for the CWA Gold Dagger and twice for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year, and nominated for a Barry Award.

His DS Alexandra Cupidi series – and the standalone bestseller The Birdwatcher – are set in Dungeness Kent. He also writes the acclaimed Breen & Tozer crime series set in sixties London. He worked as a journalist for over twenty years and lives in Brighton.

For updates and giveways, subscribe at willliamshaw.com/subscribe.

He’s also the author of several non-fiction books including Westsiders: Stories of the Boys in the Hood, about a year spent with the young men of South Central Los Angeles, and A Superhero For Hire, a compilation of columns in the Observer Magazine.

Starting out as assistant editor of the post-punk magazine ZigZag, he has been a journalist for The Observer, The New York Times, Wired, Arena and The Face and was Amazon UK Music Journalist of the Year.

He runs the online book event Reading Party.

First Monday Crime Book Review – #TheColoursOfDeath by Patricia Marques @marquesp09 @JennyPlatt90 @HodderBooks @1stMondayCrime

After two months of confusion, First Monday Crime is finally back where it belongs – on a first Monday! As we attempt to get back to normal, we have a fantastic panel for you – Imran Mahmood (I Know What I Saw), Dorothy Koomson (All My Lies Are True), Jo Spain (The Perfect Lie) and Patricia Marques (The Colours of Death). Our very own Sophie Goodfellow will be asking the questions and kicking off proceedings on Monday 7th June, 7.30pm BST on our Facebook page. Before I give you my thoughts on our debut book, here’s the blurb for The Colours of Death.

 

The Blurb

The Murder
In the Gare do Oriente, a body sits, slumped, in a stationary train. A high-profile man appears to have died by throwing himself repeatedly against the glass. But according to witnesses, he may not have done this of his own accord.

The City
Lisbon 2021. A small percentage of the population are diagnosed as Gifted. Along with the power comes stigma and suspicion.

The Detective
In a prejudiced city, Gifted Inspector Isabel Reis is hiding her own secrets while putting her life on the line to stop an ingenious killer.

A violent and mysterious crime. Suspected Gifted involvement. A city baying for blood. And a killer who has only just begun . . .

My Review

This is a very accomplished debut by Patricia Marques. Set in Lisbon, we follow Inspector Isabel Reis as she investigates the death of a high-ranking official. But Isabel is no ordinary detective. She’s Gifted. The Gifted are a group of people who have extraordinary powers – either telepathy or telekinesis. Perhaps not surprisingly, they are viewed with suspicion by Regulars or ordinary people. When I first heard about this aspect of the book, I wasn’t too sure whether it would work. But it does and brilliantly so. By the end of the novel, it felt completely natural to have the Gifted around. It’s a very clever way to look at prejudice and stigma and how fear propels control.

Isabel’s Gift is telepathy. There are strict rules around her using her Gift and she’s not allowed to read a witness’s mind without their permission. But she can pick up on emotions and sees them as colours – hence the title of the book. I have to say now, that this is the most beautiful proof I’ve ever seen. And it came with a recipe card! That’s another thing that really centres this book and keeps it in the real world – Portuguese food and family life. It takes energy to power Isabel’s Gift so that involves eating a lot of food. It’s a great way to find out more about Portuguese cuisine. Flashback chapters tells us about Isabel’s childhood and how she adjusted to her new Gift and the effect it had on her family.

The plot itself is a slow-burn initially but as this is the first in a series, there’s a lot to fit in with regards to introducing Inspector Isabel Reis and her back story. It does pick up though as the case develops. Aiding Isabel is Inspector Aleks Voronov. As a Regular who had grassed up his previous Gifted colleague for criminal activity, Isabel is unsure about trusting him. He’s definitely an enigma and I’m sure there’s more to come from him in the next instalment. 

I really enjoyed this book and want to visit Lisbon now, despite the cold weather portrayed in this novel. This was a good way of adding atmosphere as it took us away from the presumed norm of the warm, sunny climate that Portugal is known for.

As we’re left with a possible new investigation at the end, I’m hoping there’s more to come from Inspector Isabel Reis. Although we learn quite a lot about her in this book, it feels as though we’ve only scratched the surface. I look forward to reading the next novel. 

The Colours of Death will be published on Thursday 17th June so you can pre order here or check out your local independent bookshop.

Remember to come and join us on Monday 7th June at 7.30pm BST on First Monday – A Regular Night of Murder and Mayhem for Crime Fiction Folk | Facebook to hear from Patricia herself.

 

The Author

Half-Angolan and half-Portuguese, Patricia Marques was born in Portugal but moved to England when she was eight. As well as an MA in Creative Writing from City University, she holds a BA in Creative Writing from Roehampton. She lives in London and The Colours of Death is her first novel.