Crazy like a Fox

Bestseller Brown’s meandering 10th Sister Jane mystery (after 2014’s Let Sleeping Dogs Lie) is more about the rarified world of Virginia fox hunting than murder. After the discovery of a cell phone video depicting Hunting Hall of Famer Wesley “Weevil” Carruthers playing a hunting call on his vintage scrimshaw horn, the horn itself is found to be missing from a museum display case. Bafflingly, the video shows a handsome man in his early 30s, but Weevil disappeared in 1954 and would be in his 90s today. Most think he was murdered, but his body was never found. Has Weevil actually returned from the dead, and if so, why now? After Weevil appears to a few elderly locals who may know something about his long-ago disappearance, Jane Arnold, Master of Hounds of the Jefferson Hunt Club, decides to investigate. Brown’s animal characters, including horses, hounds, and foxes, have as much to say as the people, and Brown never misses an opportunity to interject her own social commentary. This will appeal mainly to fans of Brown’s Sneaky Pie novels, which also feature talking animals. Agent: Wendy Weil, Wendy Weil Agency. (Nov.)