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She's Leaving Home Audiobook
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London, 1968: The body of a teenage girl is found just steps away from the Beatles' Abbey Road recording studio.
The police are called to a residential street in St John's Wood where an unidentified young woman has been strangled. Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen believes she may be one of the many Beatles fans who regularly camp outside Abbey Road Studios. With his reputation tarnished by an inexplicable act of cowardice, this is Breen's last chance to prove he's up to the job.
Breen is of the generation for whom reaching adulthood meant turning into one's parents and accepting one's place in the world. But the world around him is changing beyond recognition. Nothing illustrates the shift more than Helen Tozer, a brazen and rambunctious young policewoman assisting him with the case. Together they navigate a world on edge, where conservative tradition gives way to frightening new freedoms -- and troubling new crimes.
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“Pop-culture journalist Shaw digsback into the swinging ’60s to solve the murder of a Beatles fan. This debutnovel introduces an unlikely pairing in ‘Paddy’ Breen, anexperienced, albeit cynical, criminal investigator on the London MetropolitanPolice’s Murder Squad, and Helen Tozer, a new deputy constable assigned to thesquad at a time when women were tokens…Although an odd pair, they bond in anunexpected sort of way and soon find themselves puzzling through the case…Shaw’sprofession lends itself to accurately portraying London when the Beatles andRolling Stones ruled the music charts.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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“William Shaw’s powerful debut novel is searing suspense and a haunting look at the ’60s. Murder, politics, international intrigue—the brutal death of a young woman set against the dark background of Abbey Road. The dialogue is razor-sharp and the London scene is brilliantly authentic. She’s Leaving Home is thriller writing at its best.”
— Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author of Terminal City -
“A fine start to what promises to be a rich new detective series.”
— Chicago Tribune -
“This outstanding novel is a reminder of the multiple joys of a straight-ahead, by-the-numbers police procedural with quirky characters, crisp dialog, and, in this case, a healthy dose of period detail (ten-shilling notes and carbon paper make cameo appearances) involving the music scene as well as politics and immigration in those politically incorrect times…[A] satisfying debut.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“A standout job…Keep an eye out for this dynamic duo. Whether you’re a Beatles fan or a mystery lover, this book comes highly recommended.”
— BookPage -
“Pop culture journalist Shaw plays to his strength in his first novel set amid England’s cultural clashes in 1968 with the Beatles craze still going strong, immigration creating new frictions, and the generation gap upsetting many families…Fresh, eager Tozer and stolid, unimaginative Breen make an odd couple as they adjust to each other and work to identify the victim. Alienated Beatles’ fans, supporters of Biafran independence, and adults frustrated by changing mores make for a heady stew of likely and unlikely suspects…[A] promising debut.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“A first-rate police thriller set amidst the seamy underside of the swinging sixties; a young girl’s murder on a bleak housing estate near the Beatles’ recording studio leads an intrepid police duo into a world of inter-generational quarrels, racial tensions, and arms dealing. The totemic year of ‘68 will never seem the same again.”
— C. J. Sansom, author of the Matthew Shardlake series -
“Narrator Cameron Stewart gives a bravura performance in the first book of Shaw’s proposed trilogy…Stewart’s narration skill is truly impressive. He manages high-pitched squeaks and ominous rumblings as the two detectives attempt to solve the murder. With natural-sounding accents for all, he transitions between smooth narrative and rapid-fire dialogue. Characters and settings are multitextured as Stewart takes listeners through ‘mod’ London, mini skirts, shiny white boots, racism, sexism, and more in this 1960s pop-culture mystery.”
— AudioFile -
A first-rate police thriller set amidst the seamy underside of the swinging sixties; a young girl's murder on a bleak housing estate near the Beatles' recording studio leads an intrepid police duo into a world of inter-generational quarrels, racial tensions, and arms dealing. The totemic year of '68 will never seem the same again.
— CJ Sansom, author of the nationally bestselling Matthew Shardlake series and Winter in Madrid
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About William Shaw
William Shaw is a novelist and award-winning pop-culture journalist, writing regularly for the London Times, Independent, and Telegraph, as well as the New York Times, Wired, and Details. He lives in Sussex, England.
About Cameron Stewart
Cameron Stewart has toured in My Grandfather’s Great War, which was nominated for Best Solo Show by the Stage. He has appeared on television in The Turn of the Screw, All Saints, The Inbetweeners, Home and Away, Fallen Angel, Coronation Street, and Young Lions.