Fox Evil - Reviews

'Now firmly established among the ranks of the best British practitioners of the tale of twisted psychology, Walters veers with uncanny prescience between the domains of urban and rural crime. Acid Row dipped like a scalpel into the world of sink estates and evils of paedophilia, while Fox Evil turns to an isolated Dorset village where the fox-hunting community feels threatened by outsiders. A rave brings unwanted attention to the village when an elderly woman is found dead in her garden. Her husband, a brute, is the obvious suspect. Even though he is cleared at the inquest, suspicion remains and his London solicitor attempts to unravel the secrets harboured in the past of the family and the environment. Children cut out of wills, an illegitimate grandchild once put up for adoption, a wicked campaign of whispers: occasions for mischief abound. Walters carves a careful plot through the layers of truth.'
Maxim Jakubowski Saturday January 11, 2003
The Guardian

'Minette Walters, unfailingly, tells wonderfully rich stories which tend to illuminate the murkier aspects of our social structure or individual and collective psyche. Very often the aspects which are best left unspoken by lesser writers. But, for me at least, her less acknowledged gift is her ability to write herself authentically into a wide range of social situations...'
Bob Cartwright
Read full review at: ShotsMag.com

'Walters, perhaps more than any other crime writer today, possesses the gift of conveying tension and menace in the most humdrum scenes. Everyday conversations become suffused with feelings of unease. Ordinary people acquire an aura of being on the edge, with mental and emotional disintegration imminent. The countryside itself becomes an enemy of goodness. Walters's world is dark and unambiguous; Fox Evil is the work of a writer at the peak of her confidence and supreme ability.'
Marcel Berlins, The Times

'Minette Walters patrols the darkest areas of the human heart. Her writing demonstrates an acute grip on psychological truth at the point where violence meets domestic gothic, plus an unrivalled capacity to conjure up evil and terror that almost punches you in the face . . . At heart an old-fashioned murder mystery, Fox Evil has a tightly constructed narrative and is fleshed out with beautifully drawn characters, but its language, sensibility and setting shine a disturbing light on who we are now.'
Daily Mail

'Minette Walters is clearly on a roll. Each novel differs from the one before in style and subject matter but remains the same in the sheer verve of the writing and the thrills she provides. Engrossing'
Observer 2002 Round-up

'Walters has woven together a tight, psychological tale of greed, evil and fear. Yet it is also a story of hope and the unbreakable ties of family. From start to finish, the suspense is unrelenting. The author goes from strength to strength. Fox Evil is outstanding.'
Romantic Times

'With compelling characters and an exceptionally surprising ending, this is one of Walters' best works. I couldn't finish the book fast enough and yet didn't want it to end.'
Book Tales (USA)

'... compulsive page-turner... Walters... is an expert at ratcheting up suspense while she portrays credibly confused and terrified characters meeting their fates. Great psychological activity in a hair-raising suspense story.'
Booklist

'Walters' latest thriller includes a fantastic plot and brilliant character development... an enjoyable story... good fiction'
Melbourne Weekly

'This novel is pure Minette Walters at her best. I thought it would be impossible for her to repeat the success of Acid Row, but I have been proved wrong again... thank goodness for us, her fans!'
Armidale Express, Australia

'This psychological thriller... should satisfy both aficionados of the traditional English cosy and readers who prefer mysteries with a grimmer edge ... [Walters'] many fans will thoroughly enjoy this hefty, stand-alone mystery'
Publishers Weekly

'Walters' characters vibrate with the envy and spite of their pent-up grievances.'
New York Times Book Review

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