Wow. What a start to a series. I enjoyed it alot
I really hope this becomes a great series. This book kept me awake because I wanted to finish it

The Red Shore is the first book in what will hopefully become a new series by William Shaw and it was a very enjoyable and readable outing for Eden Driscoll and friends.

There were sufficient twists and turns to keep me interested throughout in addition to setting the scene for potential future books

Overall a very good read.

3.5 ⭐
It's always good to get on board with what I hope will be a new series.
Eden Driscoll is an interesting character, a decent back story, a few flaws, and now things are getting interesting.
I enjoyed reading the interaction between Finn and Eden.
It was an easy read, well written with some nice twists in the plot.
This one definitely makes me think I should pick up another Shaw book.

Over the last few years, William Shaw has become one of my favourite crime/ detective writers. The recent Alex Cupidi series was excellent and this new book , now moving events to the south west of England is a great read.

The Devon seaside backdrop of Teignmouth is a great location for this new book, The Red Shore. This is another tautly plotted read with more twists and turns than a Formula I race track but not lacking plausibility.

Eden Driscoll works for the Met police but due to tragic circumstances finds himself in Devon meeting his 9 year old nephew, Finn, for the first time. Finn was found alone aboard a boat floating out at sea; locked in a cabin- his mother is missing presumed drowned.

But as Eden digs into the life of his estranged sister,Apple, he begins to realise that all is not straightforward. Events conspire to begin to make it look as though Eden could have been involved in his sister’s death.

The relationship between uncle and nephew is superb and is what makes this new read so good- two individuals thrown together through events beyond their control and trying to find a way forward.

As with fictional detectives, Eden has a back story and this is interwoven into telling his nephew the story about growing up with sister and a father who was coercive and wanting to live a “new- age” lifestyle taking his family on a never ending journey around the Mediterranean but tightly under his control.

William Shaw is a superb crime writer and whilst reading the book, Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves came to mind ( who he coincidentally thanks in the acknowledgements) He has the same depth of empathy with characters in everyday situations that are thrown into disarray . Eden’s emotional conflict as to how he could look after Finn and his career in London highlights this.

Surely, it is only a matter of time before a television series is made from one of his works.

A highly recommended crime/ police procedural with a great plot and strong characterisation .

Another winner

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

3.5 * rounded up. This starts with DS Eden Driscoll (of the Met) leading an undercover trap to capture a criminal who has been violent towards his domestic partner. This thread is largely forgotten until the very end, because Eden is asked to travel down to Teignmouth to care for 9 year-old Finn, a nephew he didn't know he had. His estranged sister has gone missing from her boat, possibly a suicide, although she left Finn locked in the cabin of the boat out at sea.

Eden doesn't feel this makes sense and, given that the local police don't seem to be that interested in pursuing any of the leads he points out, he does some investigating of his own. Then Finn is kidnapped and the local police seem to suspect Eden of murder and possibly drug smuggling.

There is a third thread which is well interspersed into the main narrative, which explains Eden's past and the reasons he was estrange from Finn's mother, as he tells Finn about it all in bedtime stories.

I liked this, but I didn't love it. No one in it had much of a sense of humour, and it felt a bit cosy at times. Finn was well-drawn and his anger and acting out was realistic, as was his need to keep to his mother's rules. I found Eden's character a bit flat, and the 'mistake' he made at the undercover arrest at the beginning, which threatens to come back and bite him at the end was not really accounted for - were we supposed to sympathize? I found his backstory the most interesting part of the book. The Teignmouth setting was strong, although the scene of peril at sea at the end went on a bit long for me.

I hope there will be more in this series, but I hope Eden cheers up and develops a bit more of a personality.