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Title: Fox Evil by Minette Walters ISBN: 0-399-15054-4 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 12 May, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.89 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: lighter than her other works, but still a great read
Comment: Previous reviews have covered the plot outline quite thoroughly, so no need for me to do that. I just wanted to voice my opinion that I totally enjoyed this book, aside from the fact that I started it as bedtime reading and ended up staying up to 3AM to finish it. I haven't said that about a mystery in quite a while. Granted, fans of Walters' earlier books may be disappointed by the lighter tone she uses in "Fox Evil", but I was completely satisfied with the characters interactions, the plot, the ending, the quality of the writing. Those who love the "English village" style of mysteries and shun the gruesome will find this a delightfully fresh adaptation....no Miss Marples (not that I don't enjoy her in the right mood). Only warning is references to animal cruelty, but Walters did not beat you over the head with it and for those who avoid brutality in mysteries, those passages are easy to gloss over. I was left at the end wondering how the cast of protagonists got on (though there were plenty of hints). I can't remember how long it has been since I cared enough about one character, let alone an ensemble, to wonder about their futures. I even wondered about what happens to some of the "bad" chacters. "Fox Evil" is not "The Sculptress" or "The Scold's Bridle", but I bet there are many who would enjoy it.
Rating: 3
Summary: Okay..a good read in a storm
Comment: FOX EVIL is Minette Walters latest book and like some of her earlier books you can read it in a sitting or two. I read it with a flashlight during the Isabel-caused-East-Coast-blackout this past week so you can deduce that the book is entertaining enough to get your mind off the lack of light and air conditioning, and presence of rotting food. However, you can read this book under the covers at Girl Scout camp after lights out-its definitely PG-13.
Oh, I thought Walters was going to go somewhere with her plot. I expected the worst. I expected some of these characters to be the 'people of the lie'. But, this is not 'The Sculptress' or 'The Ice House' and this is definitely not the 'Scold's Bridal.' Has Walters returned to writing text for day time tv? Granted, there are some violent scenes involving a fox or two, but what would you expect from characters who get their kicks chasing one poor little helpless animal through the underbrush with a pack of dogs. Other than that, violence or the threat of it is largely nonexistent.
There are a few unnerving scenes, but the protagonist has just returned from a stint with the army in Bosnia, so the reader might not feel as concerned as if the stalker had come upon a little old lady in her nightgown-which he does early on and which is related after the fact. I can't say too much more without revealing the plot, but Walters might have made this book at least as scary as those ghost tales we told round the campfire at Scout camp if she had given Edgar Allen Poe a closer reading
Rating: 5
Summary: always a pleasure to read a book by Walters
Comment: The plot summary on the jacket cover describes the death of an elderly woman, found outdoors wearing only her nightgown, with blood on the ground nearby. I was expecting to read an investigation into the circumstances of her death. But, since Minette Walters is the author, I should not have been surprised to find much, much more going on here, and the book jacket blurb doesn't even come close to summing this one up.
Set in a small rural community in the southwest of England, with an uneasy mix of residents. Farmers and wealthy landowners who have lived in the area for several generations now have neighbors who moved out from Britain's larger cities, investing retirement funds in country houses, and imagining themselves the new lords and ladies of the manor.
New arrivals on the scene are a group of "travelers" who live in camper type vehicles, moving from place to place. Their self appointed leader has discovered a small plot of land with an uncertain ownership history, and has convinced the group that if they manage to inhabit the plot long enough, they can claim ownership.
The stage is now set for what follows. The plots in Walters' books are always hard to categorize. This is not precisely a murder mystery, although we eventually do learn the true circumstances of the woman's death, and it wasn't pretty. "Fox Evil" is a portrait of sadistic manipulation and psychological torture. The itinerant leader together with residents of the community embark on a campaign to badger the elderly widower unmercifully with an eye to obtaining all his wealth. His two estranged adult children may or may not be part of what is going on.
His attorney and granddaughter struggle to convince the old man to fight against his attackers, and are eventually assisted by a woman who is a member of the "travelers" group.
The novel also addresses animal rights, child abuse, the rights of adoptive children, embezzlement, and privacy issues. The local police force is portrayed as insightful and efficient.
Some features of "Fox Evil" harken back to "Shape of Snakes" as Walters doesn't flinch at portraying cruelty to animals. But like the conclusion of "Acid Row" she portrays a softer, gentler side. Some of the characters whom the reader grows to admire, like and respect also get their just rewards. And I was smiling as I read the last few pages.
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Title: A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George ISBN: 0553801309 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 29 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Close to Home : A Novel of Suspense by Peter Robinson ISBN: 0060198788 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Now May You Weep: A Novel by Deborah Crombie ISBN: 0060525231 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Babes in the Wood: A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery by Ruth Rendell ISBN: 140004930X Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Shutter Island: A Novel by Dennis Lehane ISBN: 0688163173 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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