She's Leaving Home

December 9, 2013
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. Det. Sgt. Cathal “Paddy” Breen, despite being in disfavor among his mates for inexplicably leaving a comrade alone to face a thief with a knife, is assigned to head the investigation of the murder of a “young naked woman” found near the Beatles’ EMI recording studio in London. The addition of Temporary Det. Constable Helen Tozer to his squad doesn’t sit well with the sexist Breen. 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, but some weak minor characters and a thin plot undercut an otherwise promising debut. Agent: Karolina Sutton, Curtis Brown.

December 15, 2013
Pop-culture journalist Shaw digs back into the swinging '60s to solve the murder of a Beatles fan. This debut novel introduces an unlikely pairing in "Paddy" Breen, an experienced, albeit cynical, criminal investigator on the London Metropolitan Police's Murder Squad, and Helen Tozer, a new deputy constable assigned to the squad at a time when women were tokens. The year is 1968, and a body is found not too far from Abby Road and the Beatles' recording studio. Breen and Tozer are assigned to work the case of the dead girl found under a mattress near a housing complex. The two soon develop a theory that she may have been one of the many groupies who spends their time hanging around the Beatles, hoping for a glimpse of the Fab Four. London and the youth culture are changing, and Breen is not ready for the upheaval, but Tozer, who hails from the countryside, embraces the times. Although an odd pair, they bond in an unexpected sort of way and soon find themselves puzzling through the case. Meanwhile, Breen fights his reputation as a coward, earned when he ran away during an attack on another officer. The investigation takes them into strange places, from a wealthy former model's country estate to Beatle George Harrison's driveway to a ball for the benefit of the impoverished nation of Biafra, but eventually, the police pair makes their way through mod London to find out who killed the girl and why. Shaw's profession lends itself to accurately portraying London when the Beatles and Rolling Stones ruled the music charts, but in his hands, the residents of 1968 England (with the exception of Breen and Tozer's parents) wax crude, rude and sometimes vulgar at the tamest of provocations. An interesting, albeit meandering, story about people who like neither the police nor one another.

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Starred review from February 1, 2014

Who were the Beatles? That's the kind of embarrassing question that might arise if this debut mystery by veteran British journalist Shaw should fall into the wrong hands. It's London, 1968. A young woman's naked body is found in a derelict stretch of otherwise leafy Maida Vale. It's steps away from the EMI recording studio made famous by the Beatles. Was she one of the many groupies who haunted the district? The case is shunted to DS Cathal Breen, known widely and snidely as "Paddy." Of late, he's been going through a rough patch. He's been ostracized for having seemingly abandoned an injured colleague. He recently lost his father and broken his collarbone rescuing a kitten. And he's partnered with a terminally chirpy young policewoman, this at a time when policewomen were not allowed to drive while on duty and were automatically assigned the kitchen detail. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to see what's coming. VERDICT 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. Spread the word so that this satisfying debut will end up in the right hands. [See Prepub Alert, 8/19/13.]--Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2014
It's 1968, and a young woman's body has been discovered in an Abbey Road alley, adjacent to the Beatles' London recording studio. DS Cathal Breen, inherently decent and skilled but despised by his fellow detectives, is shocked to be assigned the attention-grabbing case. The girl has no identification, and the scene revealed little physical evidence. Neighborhood gossips and some of Breen's colleagues suspect a Biafran immigrant new to the neighborhood, but Breen dismisses their blatantly racist theory, even though he has no other leads. Then, Breen finds a like mind when Women's Unit trainee Helen Tozer is assigned to shadow him. Together they identify the victim as one of the many devoted Beatles fans in constant vigil outside the studio of the recording company EMI. As they trace the girl's past and her London connections, they find the case's solution in a swirl of world politics, prejudice, and the hope of a generation in the midst of change. Police-procedural fans will revel in the skillfully conjured 1960s police politics, which are instantly absorbing through Breen's incorruptable, introspective, and sometimes naive point of view.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)