Fox hunting. Urgh. Anyone doing that deserves everything they get, in the opinion of this humble blogger, so it’s a bit of shame that on the day of the Kenmore Fox Hunt, it’s not one of the hunters who falls foul of a killer. [To be clear, I’m not advocating fox-hunters should be murdered, just get chased defencelessly by giant foxes who are armed to the teeth once in a while to see what it feels like].

When the fox is chased onto private land, owned by farmer Elias Grimshawe, something far more interesting is found in a fox-hole – for some reason, someone has stuffed the naked body of a young woman into the hole, and chopped off her head for some reason. Local doctor Hugh Westlake finds himself hunting for a murderer who is more than happy to murder anyone (or any horse) who gets in his way…

It’s not clear, but I don’t think the fox makes it, by the way… but I read the rest of the book anyway…

Fox hunting. Horse murder. Blimey, there’s a lot not to like about the murderer in this one. It’s the first Jonathan Stagge mystery novel, one of the pseudonyms of Hugh Wheeler and Richard Webb, all of which feature widower Dr Hugh Westlake and his somewhat irritating young daughter Dawn. I’ve read three to date, the less than impressive The Stars Spell Death and the rather good Death My Darling Daughters and Death’s Old Sweet Song, but they’re as rare as octopus wings in this country, so when I see one that doesn’t break the bank, I’m going to buy it. Hopefully this isn’t a Belton Cobb situation where it seems I read the best ones first…

Overall, it’s a decent small-town American Golden Age mystery. The cast is fairly distinctive and…

…okay, I need to address the problem with it first. There is something of a twist in the story, revealed just before the murderer. And it is so obvious from far too early on that my attention waned with my impatience for it to be confirmed. I never doubted I was right, and I was right. What I was wrong was how it related to the murder, so it is entirely possible I wasn’t giving the book my full attention in the second half, as I figured it was just going through the motions until it peaked at a very flat “Ta-Da!”.

I was wrong about this because spotting the twist is not the same as spotting the murderer, so I’m kicking myself a bit for drifting off. Never mind. All in all, this is a decent mystery novel, so if you read it, dear reader, and if you start thinking “well surely…” let me tell you, in a vaguely spoilery way, “yes, you’re right about that bit but it’s not the whole thing by some distance”.

The motive for killing the horse seemed a bit harsh though…