Catch Us the Foxes

Thank you to NetGalley & Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to obtain a free copy of Nicola West's debut novel in exchange for a review.

How to review without ruining the story???

Catch Us the Foxes is based around Marlowe and her desire to solve the murder of her best friend. They live in a town where lies and secrets are everywhere. I found myself unable to sleep as I was wanting to know who the killer was.

The story flows well, and finishes at a point that you walk away satisfied yet wanting more at the same time.

I look forward to seeing what Nicola West brings out next.

There is a great and abiding darkness in Catch Us the Foxes by Nicola West which belies its setting in the bucolically sunny climes of the NSW South Coast, specifically the popular tourist town of Kiama, known most famously for the Blowhole which attracts sightseers from around the country, and in pre-COVID times, the world.

The darkness is readily apparent almost immediately with Marlowe “Lo” Robertson and her friends seemingly at edge on what should be a fun outing to the town’s annual show.

What you might think would be a typically riotously fun and escapist jaunt from the banal tones of the everyday instead feels suffocatingly inadequate with Lo clearly not happy that she is still living in the town, and dissatisfied with her relationship with her father, the local police chief, and with her internship at the local paper whose limited reporting outlook the nascent journalist is eager to escape.

But wanting to escape and actually getting away are two completely different things, and when Lo’s childhood bestie, Lily, is found murdered at the show’s stables, it becomes apparent that the protagonist’s inner darkness might in fact have an outer manifestation stalking the town.

Quite that this is best left to the reading of brilliantly thrilling novel which keeps unsettling you just when you think you know where it’s heading and that its outcome will be, proof that West is not inclined to simply tell a quietly unassuming mystery that goes from A to B with only a few mild bumps along the road.

In fact, what you get with Catch Us the Foxes, which takes its title from the Bible book The Song of Solomon 2:15, is a narrative that builds up to one supposedly clearly evident point before whisking the tablecloth out from under your feast of mystery and tension and heading in an entirely different direction before switching back again until you don’t know if you are coming or going.

In the context of a thriller, this is an exceedingly good thing given the propensity of many mysteries to build and build to a certain point and finish there, a resolution pleasingly reached but with minimum fuss or sense of upset.

There is nothing wrong with this Agatha Christie-ish approach and indeed, there are many occasions where clearly-reached and fully-sustained justice is an intoxicatingly reassuring antidote to the chaotic uncertainties of life.

But by constantly upsetting the mystery-solving apple cart, and taking immersively compelling deep dives into the dark places of the human soul, and there are many in evidence here, West gives us in Catch Us the Foxes, a mystery thriller that sustains the tension endlessly and with only minor breaks while still reaching a fantastically unsettling conclusion.

For all its pell-mell hurtling into the blackened reaches of the world around us and the inner depths of people with whom we share it, Catch Us the Foxes isn’t populated by one-dimensional characters simply put there to service the plot.

In fact, there is a pleasing complexity to the likes of Lo, exiled gay artist Jarrah Walton whose relationship with his hometown is complicated to say the least, Lo’s best friend Dan, whose holding tight to a secret of his own, and Lily’s father Michael Williams, the local psychiatrist who it is alleged might be the mastermind behind something diabolical and terrible that lies of the very heart of Kiama’s seemingly innocent town life.

It is the richness of characterisation and the time West takes to build the world of the town and its people that alleges a pleasing amount of substance to the story.

So, while we get our thrills and spills, our ever-building sense of something wicked this way comes, we are able to enjoy it more fully because the people who bring it to life (and, of course, death) are so fully and engagingly realised.

One of the central themes that emerges from the book is the way people react to being in small, easly-known environments.

Some residents, like Michael and Sharon Williams, who have been in the area since white people arrived in the area, are wholly subsumed into and consumed by the town, happy to stay put for the full extent of their lives and never look further afield.

By way of stark, narrative-propelling contrast, however, there are those like Lily, who has just won a cadetship at a major newspaper in Sydney, Jarrah, whose art career has sent him far from the town that treated him so badly, and Lo who will do whatever it takes to get away to somewhere that is not where they grew up.

In the context of a book like Catch Us the Foxes this comes with a tremendous cost.

For Lily, it is her life but for Lo, it is her willingness to sell out her soul to break what could be a career-establishing story, one whose full ghastly extent is suggested by strange symbols on Lily’s back which her father swears she will never mention to anyone.

Quite why that is, and the secrets that their revelation might unleash, forms the darkly alive heart of Catch Us the Foxes which is unrelenting brutal in its depiction of the terrible things people will do to realise their particular version of a good and successful life.

The novel thus spends much of its engrossing time beneath the pretty surface of a tourist town, happily exposing how far people will go to build their lives and to protect the secrets that inevitably sustain them while taking on a nerve-wrackingly vibrant dash from one beguiling set of possibilities to another.

Catch Us the Foxes is a seamlessly good mystery thriller that goes dark and goes there hard and without hesitation, crafting a story that weaves in and out of the seen and the not seen, constantly playing with what we think and what we see, to the point where, when it reaches its captivatingly unsettling end, we are left wondering just what it is lies beneath and whether we even want to raise the reassuring rug of familiarity to see.

Twin Peaks meets The Dry is an apt comparison! I’ve never read anything quite like this. I was captivated, chilled and thrilled! It wasn’t what I expected, but I was totally there for it every step of the way. Highly Recommended!

Catch us the Foxes is the first novel by Aussie author Nicola West is a lively mystery/thriller and is certainly worth a read.

This story centres around the small coastal New South Wales town of Kiama located approximately 90km south of Sydney. The main character here is a young journalist called Marlowe “Lo” Robertson, the daughter of the local police officer. Incidentally, the author is also the daughter of a rural copper. Lo discovers the body of her best friend Lily Williams after a dodgy ride on the ghost train at her town’s annual fairground show. Lily’s body has some ‘cultish’ looking images carved into her back. Lo uses her journalistic skills and natural curiosity to find out who is responsible for this horrible crime, sometimes putting herself in peril. I really liked Lo, and felt like I was with her every step of the way.

The author skillfully introduces the reader to several likely suspects. All are gradually introduced in believable aliquots, particularly as the story moves into its latter stages. Of course, the dodgy markings on Lily’s back introduce the possible concept of a local cult being responsible. There is a real dark, moody atmosphere created here – not unlike the well-known 'Wicker Man' tale. It all sounds a bit horrible.

The pacing of this book is very good, it reads quickly due to the gripping narrative. It’s fair to say there isn’t much in the way of detailed descriptions of this beautiful part of the world, as this story is largely dialogue based. That’s okay – it works. I really like the Australian-ness (is that a word?) of the exchanges between the characters, naturally I found that very familiar. Especially the bits involving the wonderful city of Sydney.

I won’t say if there is a massive shock or surprise when one discovers the final reveal, but I will tell you – there are several credible suspects throughout, it certainly kept this reader totally engaged and guessing. Make sure to read the Epilogue!!

I have one small gripe. Ms West referred to a ‘tap’ as a ‘faucet’ – I’m afraid if the latter was said in Australia most people would be left scratching their heads. This was obviously to indulge our American friends.

A really good read, most enjoyable and highly recommended.

4 Stars

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers Simon & Schuster Australia for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a review

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for providing me with a copy of this eARC.

This is the kind of book I tend to go for - mysteries, secrets, and one intrepid person digging to the bottom for answers. This book, however, was more than that. It opens with Marlowe “Lo” Robertson getting ready for an interview about her book, and then we get a book within a book. It finishes off with the conclusion of the interview, which I thought was different but in the context of the ending it makes perfect sense.

The content was pretty heavy. The author has a way of painting pictures with her words and I could almost breathe in the claustrophobic small town atmosphere, the type of town where everyone knows everyone else and their business, and your friendships in school are dictated by events that happened between grandparents 50 years ago. The characters aren’t likeable. They are flawed and selfish and gray and unreliable (Lo especially), but it also makes them feel more real.

Without giving too much away, the big town secret is also pretty heavy and tends to be a topic I avoid. However, rather than wanting to throw the book down, I wanted to see what would happen next and what Lo would discover.

But, may I say, that ending was brilliant and I wasn’t expecting it although I really feel like I should’ve!

CW: episodes of harm towards children, homophobic slurs.

Thankyou NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Australia and the author, Nicola West, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Catch Us The Foxes in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Wow!!!! . What an incredible debut novel.
When I first started reading this book, I was at work. BIG mistake !!! I had trouble putting it down.
I loved the storyline. Was well written and thought provoking. I certainly wasn't expecting it to go where it did.
I also enjoyed the settings described. Growing up in Wollongong, Kiama is a place I know well.
I certainly can't wait for more from this author.
Well worth a read.

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes,that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes.

An eerie dark suspenseful gothic book that is based around satanic ritualistic cult symbols.
Set in the town of Kiama and surrounding areas, young journalist Marlowe "Lo" finds her friend Lily's body lying "beautifully" mutilated in the horse stables during the town's local show.
After Lily's murder has been released to the public and social media, Lo wants to get justice for her friend's death, she does her own investigating.

Can she catch the fox or foxes who murdered her friend?

I really enjoyed this book and there is so much I want to discuss about this book, but I'm worried I'll ruin the book for future readers. I'll just give a few highlights that I enjoyed about the book

I love that the main setting is at the showground, but here comes the chill factor. The area where the show is, is right next to the cliffs edge. I thought it was very fitting for the book.

I love foxes, and although there are no actual foxes in the book, I love that there are scenes with people wearing fox attire outfits. 🦊

It kept me second guessing everything, everytime I thought I figured it out, I was wrong and I was wrong again.

Nicola West, a new Australian author debut novel Catch Us The Foxes is now on pre-order or can you wait until the published date 7th July 2021.

A big thankyou to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster Australia and Nicola West.