Fox Evil (Minette Walters, 2002)

Another one from my piles of thrillers, Fox Evil has been sat on the shelf for years in seems. I polished this off in a week, and although I thought it was very strong to begin with, I was less satisfied as it reached it's conclusion - this could be down to the vile cold that has been swamping me for the last couple of days though, fogging my head a bit. 

The novel is set in a small Dorset village, Shenstead, where a group of travellers turns up one Boxing Day. What follows is an interesting character piece that predominantly follows the mystery of Colonel Lockyer-Fox's wife's death some months earlier, the paternity of the Colonel's new-found grandaughter Nancy, and the identity of the title character Fox Evil - a sadistic, criminally-minded stranger who seems to be orchestrating events. 

Told on the whole over the one Boxing Day, events seem to unravel in real time and Walters fleshes out each of the characters in this tiny village, and the travellers too. I thought I knew who Fox Evil was, but when his real identity was revealed it was a bit of a let down. Walters constructs a realistic community and packs the novel full of drama and intrigue yet there's something about it towards the end that lost my interest.