📖 Publication Day review ~ The Fox of Kensal Green by Richard Tyrrell

7 January 2026

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

A quiet neighbourhood of London is about to be shattered.

This is a story about people coming together and looking out for each other. No person is an island, including Wilf Kelly, its hero. Many neighbours help him out on the quiet. Also on the quiet, Wilf tames a wild fox and goes on a voyage of self-discovery.

Normally, little happens in these mixed streets of families, retirees, podcasters and gossips. A little group create a community garden. An ageing journalist writes nature columns. A left-wing Scotsman longs for the glory days when he interviewed Castro. A disabled professor plans a book clearance. Supine Mario takes far too many drugs. And Wilf Kelly decides to get a fox as a pet.

When Wilf is accused of an awful crime, he becomes the target of a police and media firestorm. It's a drama that galvanises not just the local community but people from all around London.

A superbly written debut novel with a big heart, that will make you laugh, cry and remind you of the power of community spirit.

📖 My Review…

What a great start to my reading year this turned out to be with the thought provoking and heart-warming story of Wilf Kelly and his attempts to befriend one of the foxes he has seen on one of his regular visits to a local cemetery. Wilf is a quiet man, living in isolation, content within his own boundaries and yet his neighbours hold him in great esteem so much so they rally to his defence when he is suspected of a violent crime. 

Gentle and reflective, there is much to love about The Fox of Kensal Green as not only does Wilf Kelly become so much more than a local hero, he becomes one of those characters who you take into your heart and who stays with you long after his story is told. With an array of characters who each bring their own dynamic to the story I read about Wilf’s connection to the fox, to the nature on his doorstep, to the challenging life he had followed since his mother’s death and to the way his gentle soul had endeared him to a community and to the people who call Kensal Green home.

It’s rare that I start the year with a book that I am eager to place on my favourites list but such is the case with this one. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Wilf, his friend Felicia and all those who flitted into and out of his life. I loved the rapport which developed between Wilf and the community but more especially with the eponymous fox and I must admit to shedding a little tear during parts of the story. Beautifully written and utterly memorable, The Fox of Kensal Green will stay with me for a long time.

☕️ Best read with : A sturdy cup of tea and chips heavy on the vinegar.

About the Author

Richard Tyrrell was born in Ireland. He graduated in science from UCD but then took up writing. His poems were published widely in literary magazines, and he was a trustee of the Poetry Society, serving a year as its first Irish Chairman. He was a finalist in the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and on Channel 4's The Play's the Thing. After many years in commercial writing, he returned to literature with The Fox of Kensal Green, his first novel.

Blue Sky @saltpublishing.com