Unlucky Fox: The Wootsie Mystery Series

Author: (British) Minette Walters
United Kingdom / UK
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Minette Walters, the "Queen of Crime Fiction" in the UK, whose works have won the John Creasey Award, the Gold Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain, as well as the Edgar Allan Poe Award and Macavity Award in the United States. Her works have encompassed all possible highest honors for crime fiction across both sides of the Atlantic. Walters possesses the talent to convey tension and excitement even in the most ordinary scenes, and The Fox Does Not Bode Well is a work where the author is at the peak of her confidence and ability.
An elderly Esha Lorrimer is found dead in her garden, clad only in a thin nightgown, with her bedroom window locked from the inside. Her husband, Colonel James Lorrimer, becomes the prime suspect. Although the police find no evidence, rumors persist. The Lorrimer family has long resided in Sainsbury Village, a place with too few people and too many secrets. Why was James so eager to find his illegitimate daughter, the only granddaughter he had, who was adopted at birth? And why did he soon regret it and go to great lengths to prevent the relationship from being exposed?
Family lawyer Mark Ancaster visits James on the night before Christmas. He finds the old man utterly worn out, plagued by phone calls that ring at midnight. The calls either consist of heavy, unspoken breathing or vicious, indescribable accusations. Why would he choose to endure this silently rather than confront the accusations? Could this be the hidden motive behind the murder?