Fox Argall looks like a hero: the handsome, over-educated detective. The past has proved the truth is far different.

On paper, Lieutenant Ellis Cadnon ‘Fox’ Argall, MD, PhD, JD is a hero. He’s handsome, wildly over-educated, eccentric, and adores his wife with epic passion. Fox’s brain is neurospecial, weaving unfiltered webs of complex science with murder and a side of romance through twisty mystery threads. Our compulsive detective drags his ensemble cast on journeys through literal and figurative Florida swamps, where he leaves a trail of irritation everywhere he goes. Well, almost everywhere. He’s very good at a thing or two. Obsession has its benefits.

It’s all exactly his kind of trouble.

In The Ruin of the Watcher, a string of broken children arrive on Fox’s doorstep like offerings, forcing the detective to follow the breadcrumbs to a showdown with an old and dangerous enemy. The last time the two met, Fox ran for his life. This time, it’s not just his life on the line. This time, he can’t run.

The Ruin of the Watcher is the prequel for Fox Argall Mysteries. The books are numbered so the reader can fully appreciate the details of the friendships and failures as they develop, although the books are standalone mysteries and can be read in any order. The Ruin of the Watcher introduces the main cast of characters and their beginnings from the earliest days of their relationships in Columbus, Ohio as young adults. Each subsequent book brings a different murder mystery, always with the main cast, and adds interesting new characters along the way.

My Review

I almost gave up a couple of times. Not because I didn’t enjoy the story, but because much of the dialogue (and the asides in italics) was confusing and I struggled to follow the story around it. All those terms of endearments, the ‘pets’, the ‘darlings’ etc grated on me. And then all the ‘I love yous’ and the hugging and the churchy stuff. And I get he’s Ellis and Fox but why is he also Lad?

Strangely enough, the day I finished the story, I was at my book club and someone asked if I was happy to read a book that was all narrative with no dialogue at all and I wish that applied more here.

I had no problem with Fox being neurodivergent – one of my favourite crime series has a neurodivergent detective (though his autistic characteristics are more recognisable than Fox’s) – it was the writing itself and for that I apologise to the author. I’ve still given it 4 stars because looking at other reviews (most 5 stars), I think it’s more about me, and as I said, the story is very good.

About the Author

Inspired by her own neurodiverse family life, Collings MacCrae wanted to depict autism as it is in real life — complex, human, sometimes isolating, always real — using the framework of a gripping mystery to engage her readers. Her aim was to depict autism as it really is, and not as a cartoon or caricature, and show the real and varied relationships between autists and neurotypicals; how they view each other, how understanding grows, or doesn’t; how finding paths to each other makes life more interesting.   

The Ruin of the Watcher is the first book in the series, with three others already also published and the fifth book, Mad Dog Elegy, publishing later this year. The books are compelling and intricate mysteries that have readers hooked with the engaging and emotionally compelling characters.