=FOX EVIL

Author: (English) Agatha Christie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Mignonne Wootton, known as the "Queen of Crime Fiction" in the UK, has won numerous awards including the John Creasey Award, the Gold Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award and Macavity Award in the US. Her works have received all possible honors from both sides of the Atlantic, representing the highest honors in crime fiction. Wootton possesses the talent to convey tension and excitement even in ordinary scenes, and The Fox Is Laid Bare is a masterpiece where the author's confidence and skill are at their peak.
An elderly Agatha Loyefors is found dead in her garden, clad only in a thin nightgown, with her bedroom window locked from the inside. Her husband, Colonel James Loyefors, becomes the prime suspect. Although the police find no evidence, rumors persist. The Loyefors family has long resided in Sinthian 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 given up for adoption at birth? And why did he soon regret it and go to great lengths to prevent the relationship from becoming public?
Family lawyer Mark Ancreden visits James on the night before Christmas. He finds the old man emaciated, constantly plagued by phone calls that either contain heavy, silent breathing or vicious, unspoken accusations. Why would he choose to endure this silently rather than refute the accusations? Could this be the hidden motive behind the murder?