Thank you to #netgalley and publishers for sending me this new author. I’ve been devouring the others in the series now too! I love discovering a new author.
In the midst of lockdown and the uncertainty of everything we took for granted I found that the only books I wanted to read were police/ crime novels. Why? I agree with an article by Marian Keyes that suggested that when life is going off track, it is soothing to read something with a Knowledge of a definite ending: Bad guys get caught. I also find that the bloody murders are excellent escapism from the worries about a virus! Shaw’s books are a gripping and do this well!
Shaw introduces DS Alex Capaldi, her daughter Zoe and her colleagues who are further developed in the next books in the series (told you I was loving my new author discovery!) the atmospheric surroundings of the Norfolk countryside help set the scene.
Read for murders, twists, surprises and a satisfying ending!

What a great start to a new series. Engaging characters, an investigation that keeps your interest, atmospheric location. I'm already looking forward to reading the next one!

This wasn't first time reading a book by the author. I love Detective books but it takes a lot to impress me at this stage. However, I was pleasantly surprised reading Salt Lane. I really like the main character of Alex and look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

A great start to a new series. Good characters, good plot (although I did guess a few things) - I will definitely be reading more from this author.;

Really enjoying this book. The main characters are likeable, have a great back story that doesn’t overpower the main storyline, and have a good black humour underneath.
Glad I’m starting at the beginning. Looking forward to no.2.

It's always a delight to start reading a good police series. Thank you to Hannah at Quercus for inviting me to read this series. This book was a joy to read. I love the characters and the pace of the story is great. Lots of suspense and twists in the plot and the reader is kept guessing until the end. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

This was a good start to the Cupidi series of police procedurals, although I think the later books show a writer more in stride with his characters. I'm naturally suspicious of male writers who try to write PoV female characters and was very much on the look-out for false notes in Shaw's rendering of his detective Alex Cupidi. But, largely, he gets things mostly right (the exception being her relationship with her troubled teenage daughter, which struck a false note for me and wasn't adequately explained, as I think it was supposed to be, by showing us Alex's equally difficult relationship with her mother). Also, I think the intent of the plot was to show empathy for immigrant workers and refugees, but this wasn't clearly signposted enough (Alex sometimes decides not to challenge anti-immigrant rhetoric from colleagues, for example), so at times it made uncomfortable reading.

I haven't read anything by Mr Shaw before, but I was pleasantly surprised. Will make sure to read some more of his books in the future. This was a good and solid read, recommended.

Gripping and tense mystery thriller with the very topical notion of human trafficking thrown in. The setting of the Dungeness and Romney Marsh area is superbly evoked and is a character in its own right.

Great storyline with good strong characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone.

DS Alex Cupidi has relocated to the Kent Constabulary and the eerie Dungeness coast. Whilst Cupidi is settling in with her team she worries about her teenage daughter Zoe whose only interest seems to be obsessive birdwatching. However when Cupidi gets her first murder investigation she finds her hands full. A woman's body is found in a drainage ditch on Romney Marsh however the same woman apparently visited her longest son a week after she died, mistaken identity of foul play. Then another body is found close by, an illegal immigrant, are the two linked?
Shaw is making a name for himself writing excellent police procedurals, firstly with the retro Breen and Tozier series and now , hopefully, a series about DS Cupidi. The setting is very atmospheric, East Kent is rural and isolated where sea meets land meets marsh, and Shaw uses this to great effect. The plot line is suitably complex and satisfying, the theme of outsiders being exploited is clever and the links to 1980s counter culture well played. I did find the Jill Ferriter character slightly irritating unlike many readers but that is a minor quibble in what was a very good book.

SALT LANE is the first book in the Alexandra Cupidi series. However, Alexandra first showed up in the book THE BIRDWATCHER, which I haven't read (yet). I read a lot of crime novels and I was curious to see if this one would be to my taste. I'm glad to say that I liked this book and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION: http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=66171

Having made the acquaintance of DS Alexandra Cupidi some time ago in The Birdwatcher , a wonderfully atmospheric thriller set against the backdrop of the bleak coastline of Dungeness, prepare to be completely absorbed as she makes her return in Salt Lane. Not only is this a well plotted and compelling police procedural, once again using this particular landscape to its full brooding and slightly sinister effect, but Salt Lane reveals itself to be so much more.

When you cast your eye over the backlist of William Shaw, comprising of his evocative 60s series, and the aforementioned The Birdwatcher, one cannot help but be struck by the skill of his storytelling, and the strength of his characterisation. As well as unfailingly producing absorbing, moving and carefully constructed police procedurals, Shaw also uses either the zeitgeist of the period, or the locations to envelop the reader completely in the atmosphere he seeks to produce. In Salt Lane the desolate, but rawly beautiful, locale of Dungeness once again reveals itself as a centrifugal force in the book, being either a place of safety or danger in equal measure, but also effectively acting as a prism for the emotional state of both Cupidi and her troubled teenage daughter, Zoe. As Zoe seeks to deal with her emotional pain and seeks solace from the landscape, also unwittingly leading herself into the heart of her mother’s investigation, Cupidi herself finds herself at times waging an emotional and physical battle with the unique geography of the area, and the murders that occur within its boundaries.

Taking a backward step for a second, I can’t emphasise enough the weight of emotion, and more importantly the completely plausible emotion that Shaw injects into his trinity of female characters, Cupidi, Zoe and Cupidi’s mother Helen, who will be recognisable to some readers from Shaw’s previous books. I was absolutely blown away by how succinctly and honestly Shaw captured the internal and external emotional lives of these women, as they navigate their differences and similarities in the course of the book. The tension and moments of conflict are balanced beautifully with moments of epiphany in their personal relationship with each other, and the scenes featuring these three exceptional characters are a joy to read, feeling raw, true and suffused with realism. I must confess that I don’t read much ‘women’s fiction’ as that which I have encountered always has a slightly mawkish feel in its depiction of ‘women’s experience’, but I was held spellbound by the resonance of these characters in my interpretation of how women truly are, and how that which separates them, can be seen to actually bind them together more than they initially feel.

As for the plot itself, Shaw is given free reign to expose the worst ills of a Britain caught in a monstrous wave of nationalism and post-Brexit turmoil. Against the Kent location of the book, Shaw weaves a disturbing police investigation into an unflinching and, most importantly, objective appraisal of immigration and exploitation, that boils the blood, and tugs at the heartstrings in equal measure, depending on your political viewpoint. Without resorting to soapbox declarations on the state of Britain, Shaw holds a mirror up to the conflicting sides of the immigration issue, whilst keeping the book solidly on track as a crime thriller. Consequently, Salt Lane is never less than a wonderfully multi-layered contemporary thriller, replete with the highest calibre characterisation, and a looming feel of unease. Highly recommended.

Another excellent story by William Shaw. The setting & main character are the same as his previous book The Birdwatcher so there is a familiarity about this book. The subject matter is topical; immigration & refugees but this is a story about strong females & there is a tenseness that is gripping.

In this well-crafted follow up to 'The Birdwatcher', William Shaw moves DS Alexandra Cupidi to centre stage.
Alexandra is thrown into her first major investigation since relocating from London to the Kent coastline after an ill-judged affair with a senior officer, when the body of a woman is found in the waters close to Salt Lane. Although the woman is identified as Hilary Keen, there is some question over her identity and when the investigation takes a deadly turn Alexandra is drawn into an IPCC investigation. Things are further complicated with the discovery of the murdered body of a North African man in a slurry tank on a farm near to Salt Lane. Are the two murders linked? And what is the connection between the two deaths and the use of illegal immigrants to do seasonal work on the nearby farms?
This is an evocative and enjoyable crime novel that is supported by richly described characters and some great descriptions of Kent and the Romney Marshes. The book moves at a good pace and there are several neat twists. Alexandra is an engaging character, who is troubled by her past failures and her fraught relationship with her teenage daughter. The other members of her team are also well described, especially the young and enthusiastic Constable Jill Ferriter, who develops nicely over the course of the novel.
In all, this is another impressive novel by Shaw who is quickly becoming a leading figure among British crime writers.

Great central character and an incredibly atmospheric setting with a genuinely surprising ending. I'd definitely read more in this series

A very interesting storyline very relevant to the times we live in that gives you an insight to what is happening around us all in England present time. One has to wonder what the outcome, without being political , the effect Brexit will have on the workers and people in the area of this story.! DI Alex Cupidi a welcome addition to the ranks of fictional women detectives.

Salt Lane is the first book in a new crime series by William Shaw and stars Alexandra Cupidi who hadca supporting role in one of the author's previous books - The Birdwatcher.

The story is well written and keeps you entertained throughout as Cupidi investigates the finding of a body which initially cannot be identified.

The story deals with illegal immigrants and some of the issues seen in the country at the moment without becoming too political

Cupidi is a strange character who I felt took a bit of getting used to but I am looking forward to the next story in this series

I am a fan of Wiliam Shaw's Breen and Tozer and was hoping for more of the same. This started very slow and I wasn't sure where it was going until the migrant worker angle came in. Then it becomes a lot more interesting and real, but why do the female protagonists of this kind of book always do rash and stupid things? This aside, the book is a good start to a new series and I am definitely inclined to read the next instalment. Good read, entertaining and realistic at the same time.

Another great book from Bradshaw
Complex characters with involved lives
You'll enjoy it the pacing and the story
Recommended