Answered by Sidi Mostafa Azzam
What is a good starter book for a person wanting to study shafi fiqh?
More important than finding a good book is finding a good teacher. If you can find a teacher, the following English texts I suggest you study in the listed order:
The Immaculate Raiment: The Essentials of Prayer.
Sullam al-Tawfiq. (“The Summary of ^Abdullah al-Harariyy” is a text available in English that is based on Sullam al-Tawfiq; in several places it contradicts the school in favor of the author’s opinion; if you have a solid teacher, your teacher can point out to you the errors).
(For women:) The Little Gift: The Fiqh of Menstruation, Childbed, and Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB). (If you understand those three texts, you should have acquired your obligatory knowledge.)
Safinat al-Salah. (I have done a rough translation that is yet to be fixed up.)
The Ship to Salvation: Through Belief and Devotion (a translation of Safinat al-Najah). (After completing these texts, you should know your prayer well.)
al-Risalat al-Jami`ah. (I have done a rough translation that is yet to be fixed up; it is also translated as “Essentials of Islam”, which has many mistakes.)
al-Maqasid. (The latest edition with the seashore on the front is a great improvement over the previous translations).
If you finish these, or you know Arabic, then feel free to ask about follow-up texts.