Greer is recovering from her ordeal at the school play in which she was put on trial and branded by the Dark Order of the Grand Stag. This ordeal may have been in her imagination, just like the visits from Henry de Walencourt – the boy who hunted her friends and is supposed to be dead.
Meanwhile Greer’s friend Ty is at Longcross – ancestral home of the de Walencourts and scene of the hunts – and may be in danger. Ty sends a cryptic message telling Greer to ‘find out about Foxes’.
Greer, Shafeen and Nel head to the de Walencourt’s London home where they are welcomed as guests by Henry’s parents. There are stuffed fox heads around the house, and Henry’s father Rollo is determined to thwart a bill that bans hunting with dogs. When he delays it long enough to hold his Boxing Day hunt, Greer and her friends know trouble is afoot.
This series is the ultimate binge read. MA Bennett’s passion for Renaissance plays and their commentary on society shines, and she weaves this into the most compelling stories. The books have been described as thrillers, and certainly we question the main character’s security throughout each book, but these are closer to literary thrillers. Allusions to other texts and historical incidents add layers to the main storyline.
Foxes is the third book in the series. If Dogs was about new characters, Foxes keeps things fresh with new locations. The de Walencourt’s townhouse in London, Christ Church College and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and Westminster Abbey among others. As in Dogs, a historical text is at the centre of the story. This time it is Reynard the Fox by John Masefield, a poem about a fox that gives the hunters a good chase and eventually escapes. This simple fact instantly made me fear for the main characters, who escaped murder at the hands of the de Walencourts and their companions on previous occasions.
A further story line focuses on Shafeen – his father was present at a Longcross hunt in 1969, but the story Rollo de Wallencourt tells about it isn’t what Shafeen expected. Rollo claims to have been fond of Shafeen’s father, who turned the fate of the hunt with his skills. Shafeen isn’t certain and he sets out to find out what really happened all those years ago.
As compelling and deep as the two previous installments. Foxes builds the story and adds to the overall plot. M A Bennett’s writing is something to aspire to. It showcases her passion for literature and history while offering the reader unputdownable drama.
- FOXES by M A Bennett is available now from Hot Key Books. RRP. £7.99 (Book received for review as part of a promotional blog tour
