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Forensic specialists of one sort or another seem to be a rapidly burgeoning industry amongst crime and thriller writers, spawning inevitable comparisons with authors such as Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs, so I'll take the obvious route, before moving on, to simply say that in my opinion, Fox easily measures up to both of these authors with her creation of Dr Anya Crichton. Crichton is an Australian doctor who specializes in working with victims of sexual assault. One of her clients is a woman who returns from her honeymoon suffering from numerous sexually transmitted diseases, despite the fact that she was a virgin before her wedding night and, to complicate matters further, her husband has tested negative to the same diseases. It soon becomes clear that the woman has been the victim of a sinister and horrific by-product of the type of team-bonding all too prevalent amongst elite sportsmen, having been drugged and raped by a group of her husband's friends. The resulting court case brings notoriety to both the victim and Crichton, which results in Crichton being asked to advise the owners of one of America's biggest football teams on ways of making their own sportsmen more aware of how destructive their own sexual behavior can be. DEATH MASK, like the football players it so vividly depicts, doesn't pull any punches nor does it glamorize the high-earning sports stars that people its pages. Their casual and shocking attitude to women and sex is laid bare, as is their equally repellant homophobia. But at the same time, Fox stops short of demonizing these young men, often from poor backgrounds, who are whisked away from their peers and treated like star-performers from the bloody days of gladiatorial combat. In many ways, they are victims as well, victims of a system that elevates them to vast heights of fame and fortune without providing any form of genuine support, where painkillers and other drugs are eaten like sweets and they are sent back out to play again and again, regardless of injury and the damage being inflicted on their own bodies. A novel dealing with gang rape, sexual abuse and murder is never going to be an easy read, but Fox pulls off the difficult task of producing an engrossing thriller that never drags, peopled by a rich cast of characters, not always likeable, but always well-drawn. § Linda Wilson is a writer, and retired solicitor, with an interest in archaeology and cave art, who now divides her time between England and France.
Reviewed by Linda Wilson, October 2011
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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