The Valley of the Fox

Collier Spymasters

by Joseph Hone

After decades in the British Intelligence, Peter Marlow no longer has the heart for conflict. He retires to the countryside with his second wife, Laura, and her daughter, Clare, an eleven-year-old autistic girl who reminds Peter what he spent all those years fighting for. But Peter’s past is not through with him—a killer has come to seek revenge for a long-forgotten feud. His bullet misses Peter but strikes Laura, destroying in an instant what had taken Peter a lifetime to build.

With Clare in tow, Peter disappears into the woods, going underground while he plans his revenge. Armed only with a bow, camouflage, and his knowledge of the surrounding woods, Peter prepares to confront his old enemy. Although he’s lost his appetite for espionage, he will risk everything to protect Clare.

The Valley of the Fox is the fourth book in the Peter Marlow Mystery series, which also includes The Private Sector and The Sixth Directorate.

309 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Joseph Hone (b. 1937) is a British author of spy novels. Born in London, he was sent to Dublin in 1939, and spent most of the next two decades living in Ireland. His first novel, The Private Sector (1971), introduced the globetrotting spy Peter Marlow—the character for whom Hone would become best known. Set during the Six Day War, The Private Sector was well received by critics, who have compared it to the work of Eric Ambler, Len Deighton, and John le Carré. Hone published three more titles in the series—The Sixth Directorate (1975), The Flowers of the Forest (1980), and The Valley of the Fox (1982)—before moving on to other work.

In addition to his espionage fiction, Hone has found success in travel writing. His most recent books include Wicked Little Joe (2009), a memoir, and Goodbye Again (2011).

Reviews

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was the forth book in a series until I'd started to read it. It started out good, and I remember thinking I'd go back and start from the beginning. But I ended up not liking the story or characters. It just seemed to stall out and then all this 'too weird' stuff.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is a sequel to "The Oxford Gambit," though it stands on its own. It is an odd but interesting book about a man on the run from what he judges to be his former employers--the British espionage establishment--following the murder of his wife. The book shares a lineage with Geoffrey Household and P. M. Hubbard: the English chase novel. The man, Peter Marlowe, goes to ground in a self-contained patch of forest that is located on the grounds of an estate owned by an American heiress, Alice Troy. The heiress is a remarkable character, as is Marlowe's preteen step-daughter, who appears to be autistic, and who joins him on the run. The book casts a strong spell because, as Jim Thompson once said about crime novels, "all is not as it seems." The characters are both attractive and, perhaps, psychologically damaged beyond easy repair. The book, like its setting, exists as a self-contained world in which standards of behavior are stretched well beyond the norm. I liked it, though it also frustrated me because it is a tragic book in a couple of respects with, perhaps, a bit of light in the future.