Brighton author promises international escapism

William explains: “It’s a thriller in which a hapless translator finds he has been employed by a violent multi-national scammer who, in turn, comes up against a ruthless multinational crime syndicate. The only power my hero has is language. Can he use it to save himself – and the lives of others around him? It’s set in a multi-millionaire hideaway in the Austrian alps.

“Having made a name for myself writing crime fiction as William Shaw, I wanted to try and revive a genre which was big when I was a teenager - the romantic adventure stories of writers like Hammond Innes, Alistair Maclean, Desmond Bagley and Neville Shute.

“Times are tough right now and I think we want the kind of international escapism that those books brought us. Last year I published Dead Rich, set on an oligarch’s superyacht. It’s probably a lockdown thing - the books were written when I was dreaming of not being in a room in my house.”

More details about William and his books on http://williamshaw.com/

“The Conspirators is my eleventh novel. Previous books included my DS Alexandra Cupidi series set in Dungeness. Books in the series have been long listed three times for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year and The Trawlerman was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger in 2022. The fifth book in the series, The Wild Swimmers, will be published in May 2024.

“I spent years writing terrible novels that were never published so it’s great to have been able to do this full time for the last ten years. I’ve also written non fiction, including a book about my time spent in South Central Los Angeles, Westsiders, and a book which involved joining several cults, Spying In Guru Land.

“With my fellow author Elly Griffiths, I programme and host the Fatal Shore crime writing festival at Shoreham Wordfest that takes place this year on October 14 and includes authors like Richard Osman, Nicci French, Janice Hallett, Jack Jordan, Ruth Ware and Helen Fields.”