Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White. I was immediately intrigued by the premise of this one. A detective investigating a serial killer in late 1800’s Europe only to become obsessed with the prime suspect? Sign me up, especially since it includes fantasy elements. lol. Did I love this book as much as I expected to? Read on to find out!

An obsession with a beautiful serial killer entangles a vampire hunter’s daughter in an immortal sapphic romance in this enthralling gothic fantasy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy Undying.

Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing—doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to studying vampires—up until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that plague Anneke every night.

Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest in forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch her mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn’t the only inexplicably dead body. There’s a trail of victims across Europe and Anneke is certain they’re all connected.

But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps some crucial evidence to infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to Anneke, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola. Devil. The obsession is mutual, and all the more dangerous for it.

The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn’t a madman, after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Because as Anneke unearths more of Diavola’s tragic past, she suspects there’s still a heart somewhere in that undead body.

A heart that beats for Anneke alone.

***Thank you to Del Rey for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

The Fox and the Devil was such a fascinating read steeped in history and folklore. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. I pretty much finished the latter half of the book in one sitting. I enjoyed the setting and atmosphere of the story a great deal, and the plot was propulsive from start to finish. The structure of the story was also unique with the main narrative interrupted at times by letters and snippets of the future, which really added to the mysterious aura of the tale.

All of that being said, let’s go ahead and rip the Band-Aid off. The romance in The Fox and the Devil did not work for me at all. It was mutual obsession pure and simple, not love. There was no chemistry between the two characters other than the desperation for one to hunt the other. I think this story would have landed much better for me if it had avoided injecting the romantic angle into the central relationship. The relationship between the two characters and what the obsession with each other meant for them was interesting on its own without tangling the romance in with it.

Despite not loving the central “romance,” I did really like the plot of The Fox and the Devil. The forced suicide murders were brutal and gruesome, and Anneke’s investigations were a thrill to follow. Things got stranger and stranger as the story went on until finally Anneke and her friends had to accept that these were not just normal murders. The supernatural elements came out in full force then, which allowed Anneke to finally piece together the history of Diavola. I do wish things had taken a supernatural turn earlier on in the story, but that’s just a personal preference. Pretty much nothing in this story was as it seemed in the beginning. Some of it was obvious, like Diavola’s true motivations, but other stuff did manage to surprise me.

I also found Anneke’s journey in The Fox and the Devil to be a compelling one. Her obsession with Diavola was rooted in her desire to avenge her father in an effort to posthumously achieve his approval. As the story unfolded, Anneke’s relationship with her father was a major focus, and she was able to work through her need to please him and grew in many ways because of it. She was smart and determined to a fault, and it was clear by the end that she would do so much good now that the shackles of her family’s past didn’t weigh her down.

All in all, I enjoyed my time with The Fox and the Devil. If you’re looking for a supernatural murder mystery with a determined, yet flawed, detective, look no further. While I didn’t love the romance in this story, there were plenty of other things to sink my teeth into. Therefore, I rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White. Have you read this one? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!