June 29, 2010
“A shot exploded in the hushed twilight and grumbled through fog in the hollows.”
So begins The Kill, Jan Neuharth’s third mystery novel set in the famed foxhunting country of Middleburg, Virginia. All the familiar landmarks are there: The Coach Stop, Books and Crannies, Middleburg Tack Exchange, The Upper Crust. You want to keep clear of Goose Creek and the Foxcroft Road, though. Bad things happen there.
The popular and much loved Master of the Middleburg Foxhounds is murdered right out of the starting box, so to speak, or more accurately in the steward’s stand at the race course. Neuharth develops, unfolds, and reveals the mystery—and the love story—slowly and confidently. Her protagonists are likable, we care for them, and, although the evidence and motive point to one of them, we root for them. Even if you haven’t read her two previous offerings, The Hunt and The Chase, populated by some of the same characters, you can start right in with this one. It stands on its own.
Speaking of characters you know, you’ll recognize many of the types drawn to foxhunting for the myriad of right and wrong reasons. They are authentically portrayed by the author. Neuharth is the founder of Paper Chase Farms in Middleburg, and her husband, Joseph Keusch, is a highly respected ex-MFH and superb horseman to boot.
There are the newcomers to Middleburg, who have constructed yet another McMansion in the hunting country, despite the many lovely “mature” properties available that would have saved the pouring of yet another foundation in the Piedmont. They may not know the hounds, but they know that new linen tablecloths from Tyson’s Corner are much more appropriate for the race officials’ luncheon than the tattered, old linens previously used.
One newbie already has her husband’s new scarlet coat secretly waiting at Horse Country. True, he’s only been hunting there for a season, but look at all he’s “done” (i.e., spent) for the hunt. And there are the old families, born to the saddle, the country, and the traditions, who try to coexist with the new pressures.
If you need a foxhunting fix this summer, here it is in the company of a satisfying mystery/romance and a riveting finish.
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