Weasel Under the Sun

by Kyell Gold

210 pages, Paperback

Published May 22, 2026

About the author

Hi there! I am a writer of gay furry fiction--but you probably know that if you've seen my book listing here. I live in California with my husband Kit, and when I'm not writing, we like to go out to eat and watch movies. We travel a lot, too, mostly around the West Coast, but occasionally to the midwest and east.

I blog at http://www.kyellgold.com/wpblog about upcoming travel plans, upcoming books and news, general writing principles, gay rights, and whatever else seems interesting. And I co-host a podcast, called "Unsheathed," where we talk about the craft of writing and the furry fandom, sometimes at the same time.

If you have a question about any of the books, check the FAQ on my website and then ask away! :)

Reviews

[Xalsier · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If you can’t prove it, then all you have is words, and that’s what I mean. Words can make people feel awful and scared.”

There are some major plot related spoilers in this review!

I received an advanced reader copy a few weeks back. This is the first book by Kyell Gold that I've read, and overall, as a first impression I really liked the writing in this story.

To somewhat summarize my thoughts, the dialogue was very immersive and I really enjoyed the book but I did feel there were parts of the story where the pacing was a bit rushed.... Last spoiler warning!
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The pacing was absolutely not an issue throughout the book (The only time I've seen bad pacing throughout a book as of late was a Kingdom Hearts manga adaptation on a second reading... not to discredit my enjoyment for that series), but it was something I noticed mid way into the story after Portia and Georgette's murder.

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Highlights > LeFou

"Sometimes, she told herself, people will endure anything to be near someone they love or respect." (Chapter 19, Ellie's thoughts on Lorna watching LeFou in the kitchen).

I thought LeFou was a really interesting character. Throughout the book he get's a lot of development through Ellie's perception of him as well as the thoughts of other characters who work with the head chef. In Chapter 8, I think there was a really defining line that helped me understand him.

"We are not labourers here in the kitchen, but craftspeople. We are judged on the quality of our meals. If the family insists on being served a substandard meal, then they are saying, ‘we do not care for the quality of your food.’..."

Throughout the story there's a lot of internal politics in Fortescue Hall, and I felt LeFou was a really entertaining character to read because they somewhat carry their heart on their shoulder. Such as the tail-flick in Chapter 18 or LeFou's ear's flattening in Chapter 9 when Miss Davis reminded him that the house is under Mister Wests orders.

Highlights > Ellie

“I won’t have you sitting around here all day like a vagabond,” she said. (“Don’t vagabonds move around quite a bit?” Ellie whispered. “Shh,” Portia said, but giggled.)

The majority of the story is told through Ellie and their observations. I was largely drawn into the story through the writing of this character in the first quarter of the book, as the slice of life moments were my favorite parts of the book. Such as Chapter 9, when she was waiting for a train to arrive and lent a paw at the greengrocers to help sort through some vegetables.

I also really liked the chapters in the story which included letters to Abby. While this is a character that isn't directly shown in the chapters, they have a presence throughout the book such as Chapter 2 when Ellie was cooking and thought of her. I haven't read The Mysterious Affair of Giles as of when I first received this book, so I can only infer much of Abby's characterization through the letters, brief lines, and the conversation Ellie had with Sergeant Cooke at the end. This left me somewhat with an impression that I was missing part of the story, so eventually I do hope to get to reading that part of the series.

Since the earlier murder mystery is referenced often throughout this story, this somewhat ties in to one of my main criticisms of the book.

Criticisms > Ellie's Reactions and Pacing

Throughout the book Ellie, I believe, is shown to be somewhat empathetic. But after the first murder, and the second, there are segments in the story where it feels like she acts different and perhaps- I don't know how to express it but a little robotic.

“All right.” Ellie scanned the room. Portia’s scent was strong in here and it brought back the memories of talking to her in the pub, sitting on their bed together, seeing her body lying broken on the patio. She steadied herself. “Try the chest of drawers first and then perhaps…under the bed?”

In Chapter 17, when they are doing some preliminary work before they set up the trap for Teddy- we get a brief line where we see Ellie's emotions and then the rest of the chapter moves straight into observation after observation.

And it's this contrast between brutal events and how Ellie reacts to them. In Chapter 14, after Portia dies- and Ellie receives the news, she say's this and begins to investigate the crime.

“Ma’am,” Ellie said, “how does one get to the roof?”

These moments somewhat took me out of the story, and although I imagine given her history of encountering murders in households and reading crime novels she might be a bit desensitized- I wouldn't have gotten the impression it'd be to this degree.

I feel like if some of these moments were given a bit of pause to breathe, I wouldn't have noticed this. But maybe if I read the first book I might be able to understand Ellie's characterization here a bit better.

Criticisms > (Small formatting issue)

The only other criticism I had with this book was a formatting issue I kept encountering while reading the chapters. There was this dividing line that looked somewhat like this "-----". I was reading the book on Kindle with an alternate background color theme. I think it was the beige system theme. Anyways, the dividing line had a white background color with some padding and the image stood out every time the chapter moved on to a different scene.

I think this is mostly a minor issue, and probably wouldn't have happened had I been reading the book with the default white system theme. But if the image had a transparent background, it might have formatted a bit better for this type of scenario.

Final thoughts

One quality of life aspect that I wish this book provided was a list of characters and which animal species they corresponded to. While this wasn't entirely an issue that I really had a problem with- there were moments when I wasn't sure which character was which species. And there was a large cast of characters.

All thoughts considered, I did enjoy reading this story and I do look forward to reading more books by Kyell Gold if they are anything like this book.

[Shiloh Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Topics: Lesbians, Weasels, SFW, Post-WWII Britain, Cooking
Genre: Murder Mystery
Age Rating: PG-13 for some violence and sexual references

You may like this book if you enjoy:
-Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries
-A late 20th century historical setting
-Seeing an author's style evolve over time
-Short books you can read in one or two sittings
-The Great British Bake Off

Review Summary:

The Stone & Cooke mysteries are two short murder mystery books written in the tradition of Agatha Christie. Interestingly, they are written 12 years apart, meaning that you get to see a noticeable evolution in Kyell Gold's writing and mystery plotting abilities. While the mysteries themselves are cozy, meaning they may seem anticlimactic to some readers, lovers of laid back reads, late 20th century history, and Agatha Christie-style mysteries will find a lot to love.

Full Review:

I was sent an advanced eBook copy of Weasel Under the Sun last week, and since it just recently released at Furlandia, and I read The Mysterious Affair of Giles a few years ago, I think it's high time I give them both a review.

I admittedly haven't read many murder mystery books, whether in or outside of furry fiction. Thanks to a certain marten friend of mine I've read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (which was excellent), but the only other one I can remember reading is some Mary Kate and Ashley mystery book from when I was like 8, which, for unknown reasons, lacked the "murder" part of the murder mystery. So I'm a bit of a newcomer to this genre, and I expect many other readers might also be jumping into new territory here. So know that if you're new to murder mysteries, you've found a like-minded reviewer!

The Stone & Cooke mysteries are referred to as "cozy mysteries", meaning that they're closer to slice-of-life stories than thrillers. Instead of thrilling chases, we get to explore a sprawling estate in a historical time period. Instead of dark alleyways we get a well-lit mansion with pleasant architecture. And most importantly, instead of a hard-boiled detective with years of experience in the seedy underbelly of society, we get an assistant cook with an inquisitive mind who happens to read a lot of police novels.

Enter Ellie Stone, a weasel who can't seem to get hired anywhere without someone getting murdered in a nearby room. In The Mysterious Affair of Giles, Ellie works as an assistant cook for Giles and Kate St. Clair at Tremontaine manor in post-WWII Britain. She's part of a team of domestic servants, which also includes her secret lesbian partner, Abby. When Giles St. Clair is murdered, Ellie can't help but start putting her own clues together between her cooking duties, hoping to solve the mystery of who killed her employer.

Ellie is a fun character. She just can't seem to stop herself from putting the pieces of a mystery together. Not only will she work to solve the main mystery, but she'll solve a bunch of smaller mysteries in the process of simply letting her mind drift while cooking, chatting, or just walking around. She doesn't slip into detective mode or do that weird deduction thing Benedict Cumberbatch does in Sherlock. She just happens to be an inquisitive person who can't help but solve a puzzle, and who ends up being pretty darn good at it.

Ellie's personality helps a lot with the coziness of the mystery. Yes, someone has been murdered, but the sun is still out and people are even-tempered and nobody is particularly terrified while they seek out the murderer. It makes for a very chill read where you can enjoy the characters and setting just as much as the mystery itself. I've started gaining a great appreciation for these "low-stress" reads lately. They serve as great ways to untangle my emotions after a more intense read.

I think my favorite part of the Stone & Cooke mysteries though, as a prose nerd, is just seeing how Kyell Gold's writing differs between the two books. These books were released 12 years apart. That's 12 years of writing experience differentiating these two mysteries. While The Mysterious Affair of Giles is good, Weasel Under the Sun is even better for showing how Ellie's inquisitiveness is described in more engaging and illustrative ways, and how the plotting of the mystery is more elaborate and methodical. One of my favorite things to see in any artist is how they evolve over time. In that regard, reading these two books back to back was a treat for me.

So if you're looking for a relaxing read with a dab of murder, give these books a go. Especially if you're interested in seeing how one of the fandom's most prolific writers has evolved in this genre over the decade.

[Dark End · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars with a strong reservation, which I'll explain more on later.

"Weasel Under the Sun" is the latest Kyell Gold murder mystery featuring weasel sleuth Ellie Stone, now under the label of "A Stone & Cooke Mystery," which I hope hints at more of these to come in the future. This is a follow-up to "The Mysterious Affair of Giles."

In this book, Ellie Stone goes to a new house for a few weeks to serve as an assistant cook and hopefully learn some new skills from the vulpine cook LeFou. She barely has time to settle in when a murder happens... or is it really a murder? Someone confessed to doing the deed themselves, in self-defense you understand. The police accept the story and that seems to be that, but Ellie and head of house Mister West are not convinced. So the sleuthing begins.

Kyell Gold's fine character work here is the highlight of the novel: he has populated the cast with people who manage to be both larger than life (so that the suspects may be easily distinguished and the clue-givers can be readily remembered) while also true to life. Even the characters who only show up for a few pages feel as fleshed out as our protagonist. While most of the mystery revolves around the family of badgers who run Fortescue Hall, Kyell gives great attention to the people of the village and the workers of the estate.

Although this is a cozy mystery whose detective is a cook, do not expect the cooking itself to take on the role of a character here. Ellie does not magically find the answer while making coq au vin or interrogate suspects over their morning toast. Food is a key way of grounding the story in place and time and reality. While Ellie is good at detecting and loves reading a good mystery herself, she is ultimately a cook and that is how she relates to the people around her. Her trip into the village to question people is accompanied by a need to buy some onions and, since she is a kind soul ultimately, she stops to help the overworked greengrocer. It's little details like these that make the story memorable.

But on to my one major complaint. This is a murder mystery whose whodunit and howdunit are sadly given short shrift. Where the reveal at the end of Giles had me leaning forward in my chair, turning the pages to keep reading, when we get to the reveal of Weasel, I felt unsatisfied. The confrontation with the murderer lasts under a page and the explanation for why the murder happened is barely a sentence long. The denouement then continues with the unraveling of several other non-murderous mysteries (why was that character acting so oddly if they weren't involved in the killing?), which get so much more attention they almost feel like the focus of the story. Perhaps that was the goal all along, and I, coming to this novel from the wrong subgenre of mystery, had the wrong expectations going in.

Regardless, as I said at the outset, I hope this means more Stone & Cooke Mysteries are in the pipeline. I look forward to reading them as much as I look forward to groaning at the title puns.