I’ll be honest, I hadn’t read the blurb before requesting this one because I have that much faith in my ability to love (almost) anything T Kingfisher publishes. However, if I had had to put money on who the villain of this story was going to be, it would not have been a road runner. As someone who has never once felt the inclination to visit an actual desert but who has seen many an episode of Looney Tunes, I was horrified to find out they look closer to dinosaurs than bright blue peacock/ostrich hybrids, and that they’re actually nasty, avian terrorists.

It’s not even a spoiler. It’s literally the title. Did you know that road runners eat rattlesnakes? In a vicious, stab them repeatedly even after they’re dead sort of way? Horrifying.

Snake-Eater follows Selena as she arrives in Quartz Creek, the tiniest desert town on the outskirts of nowhere, in search of her estranged aunt. When she discovers that Aunt Amelia has died, Selena is at a loss for what to do. She bought a one-way ticket to escape the life she couldn’t stand any longer and hadn’t planned for this particular hiccup. Luckily for Selena, the residents of Quartz Creek are nothing but welcoming and Selena finds herself staying in Aunt Amelia’s strange house, unpicking her strange life with the help of Grandma Billy (Amelia’s lovingly cantankerous neighbour) and the diaries Amelia left behind. 

The portrayal of domesticity as Selena adjusts to the unusual normality of Quartz Creek blends seamlessly with the unsettling elements of this story in a way that makes you forget that the supernatural elements aren’t entirely plausible. It also gets bonus points for avoiding my least favourite trope of Nobody Believes The Protagonist When Something Weird Happens which was beyond refreshing and made it even easier for me to sink my teeth into the story. 

Kingfisher doesn’t shy away from little practicalities in her novels and they only add to the character and charm of the story. Whether Selena’s dealing with scorpions in the cupboards, the logistics of getting from a desert train station to the nearest town, or finding the resources required for surviving desert temperatures with a dog in tow, she does her best not to get overwhelmed. She has to lean on some supporting characters though, and they take their roles very seriously. 

Grandma Billy is the kind of no-nonsense, endearingly horny old woman I would expect to find in a Kingfisher novel and she does not disappoint. She’s the perfect counterweight to Selena’s nervous anxiety and together they haul the plot along and lay the foundation for some brilliant moments of hilarity and sweet, sweet vindication towards the end of the book. The things I would do to have a friend like Grandma Billy in my life.

Another source of hilarity is Selena’s loyal dog, Copper, who is constantly having very canine reactions to the human nonsense going on around her. Kingfisher describes these moments in precise little nuggets of prose that elicit some brilliant mental images. She does this with Selena’s very prevalent anxiety as well, making her an easy character to relate to. I, too, would have to constantly pull myself out of mini anxiety spirals if I ended up in Selena’s position, particularly if I had to worry about where to buy dog food in a desert.

Kingfisher delicately handles the theme of emotional abuse threaded through the story as well as the lasting toll it can take on people. While there are limited examples on page, it haunts the story in a way that may prove uncomfortable reading for some. Kingfisher is no stranger to this theme in her writing and Snake-Eater shines a light on a subtler, more insidious facet of emotional abuse that is easy to dismiss. 

Snake-Eater tows the line between cosy and unsettling and makes you wish you knew people as cool as some of Selena’s new friends. Fans of smart-mouthed characters, a little mystery, and a whole lot of vindication should absolutely pick this one up.

Snake-Eater is due for publication on 11th November. You can pre-order your copy on Bookshop.org