The Fox Wife: A Novel

The fox lady is a shapechanger/spirit (Snow) and she is seeking revenge against a photographer that paid someone to catch a fox, which happened to be Snow's daughter, and she died from the injuries inflicted by the hunter. Snow meets the owner of a medicine shop, and befriends the woman. Meanwhile, the detective, Bao, is hired to find out the name of a woman who died on his doorstep, to break a curse/bad luck. Bao's childhood sweetheart is the owner of the medicine shop, and all the characters come together at the end. Snow reunites with her husband, and her husband's best friend (who are also foxes). It's a different type of book from what I normally read, but it was lovely!

A beautifully written book about grief, love, and regret.

2.5 stars rounded up. I was so excited to read this book. Started strong and ended in jumbled, confused mess with so many loose ends. It was such a hot mess for the last half to third of the book. The book is told by 2 points of view. Bao's story is told in 3rd person and Snow's story is told in first person. By the end of the book, I didn't care for either of these characters. The focus was more on looks than making sure that there was consistency in character traits and following through on plot lines. This book suffered from not having a good editor to point out all the flaws. I was thoroughly irritated and frustrated. There was so much potential.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Beautiful writing, interesting characters, and a great introduction to Malaysian folklore. It tells of story of motherhood, grief, revenge, forgiveness, and connection. I loved the investigation arc as well.

A beautiful fairytale and mystery.