Some secrets you try to hide. Others you don’t dare let out…
Ambitious young journalist Marlowe ‘Lo’ Robertson (aptly named after Raymond Chandler’s famous sleuth, Phillip Marlowe) would do anything to escape the suffocating confines of her small hometown. While begrudgingly covering the annual show for the local newspaper, Lo is horrified to discover the mutilated corpse of her best friend—the town’s reigning showgirl, Lily Williams.
Seven strange symbols have been ruthlessly carved into Lily’s back. But when Lo reports her grisly find to the town’s police chief, he makes her promise not to tell anyone about the symbols. Lo obliges, though it’s not like she has much of a choice—after all, he is also her father.
When Lily’s murder makes headlines around the country and the town is invaded by the media, Lo seizes the opportunity to track down the killer and make a name for herself by breaking the biggest story of her life.
What Lo uncovers is that her sleepy hometown has been harbouring a deadly secret, one so shocking that it will captivate the entire nation. Lo’s story will change the course of her life forever, but in a way she could never have dreamed of…
I love a great thriller as much as the next person, but there’s just one problem: I have a canny eye for plot twists and can usually spot them coming from a mile away. This was not the case with Catch Us the Foxes. In Nicola West’s intriguing psychological thriller, the twists come hard and fast, building to a shocking—and completely unexpected—finale. It’s a deliciously dark and twisted debut, perfect for readers of Twin Peaks and The Dry.
The novel is framed as a story within a story, introducing us first to Marlowe Robertson, a celebrated true-crime author promoting her new book ‘The Showgirl’s Secret,’ and then to rookie journalist Lo, several years earlier, as she attempts to uncover what really happened to Lily Williams. In Marlowe, West has created a sensitive yet ambitious and richly nuanced protagonist who will apparently stop at nothing to uncover the truth and ultimately escape the small town she calls home.
The story is set in the bucolic town of Kiama. West herself actually grew up in Kiama, and she draws on this experience when crafting her setting, bringing the town to vivid life. However, she’s taken more than a few creative liberties, transforming Kiama from the idyllic coastal town I’ve visited on beach trips to a dark, mysterious place, shrouded in secrecy and rife with rumours of cult activity – the perfect setting for a murder. West also cuts to the heart of small-town life here, offering a searing examination of the xenophobia and prejudice that is often prevalent in smaller communities.
Dark, gripping and wonderfully wicked, Catch Us the Foxes is an impressive debut from Nicola West that will keep readers guessing until the very last page.
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