The Birdwatcher

Superb description of a haunting, blighted landscape. His best book so far. * C. J. Sansom *
A brilliantly constructed thriller, told part in flashback to his traumatic past, it's utterly compulsive, written in sharp, unsentimental style, and with a wonderfully atmospheric storm-battered setting * Sunday Mirror *
What a pleasure it is when one discovers a writer who combines ironclad storytelling techniques with the linguistic finesse of more literary novelists. William Shaw is surely such a writer, a man whose command of narrative grips the reader by the throat from page one, and never lets go - but also allows every word to register with exactly the right amount of resonance. And that's not to forget the idiomatic dialogue, which is another Shaw specialty . . . The Birdwatcher, it might be argued, is Shaw's most accomplished (and most visceral) book yet . . . [The] unsparing treatment of the personality of South - and the dark drives that can lead people to murder - that is at the chilling heart of this book -- Barry Forshaw * Independent *
a fine, atmospheric, emotionally compelling thriller -- John Williams * Mail on Sunday *
A gripping plot, atmospheric setting, highly believable characters and dialogue you can imagine real people saying, make this a contender for thriller of the year * Sun *
An astoundingly good crime novel * Elly Griffiths *
Packs an emotional punch that hits all the harder because of the absence of histrionics. Crime Books of the Year * Telegraph *
The Birdwatcher: the most gripping book I've read in years. William Shaw is, quite simply, an outstanding storyteller * Peter May *
If you're not a fan yet, why not? * Val McDermid *