In the woods near the small English village of Beckham, a rare black fox is sighted during cubbing season. Jeremy Biggs, the master of the foxhounds used for the yearly fox hunts, seizes the opportunity to drum up publicity for the hunts by telling stories about black foxes with evil powers. But the fox, Arabella, only wants to be left alone. Arabella befriends a male fox named Finn and the humans Silviana Ionescu, a young Roma widow, and Fiona "Fi" Carroll, the teenage autistic daughter of the honorary secretary of the hunt, and they all fight to have fox hunting banned.
The Black Fox of Beckham contains examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Past: The book is set a year or two before fox hunting was banned in England in 2005.
- Babies Ever After: Arabella and Finn become mates and have kits, one of whom is black like Arabella.
- Character Tics: Fi taps each finger with her thumb, especially when she's nervous.
- Commonality Connection: Arabella, Silviana, and Fi connect because they're all treated badly for being different.
- Eyes Always Averted: Fi can only stand to look at people's faces for a fraction of a second at a time. She's learned to read people's expressions quickly.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Finn's father leads the hunters away from his mate and kits' den, saving them but getting himself killed. When Finn realizes what happened, he vows to avenge the death of his father.
- Humans by Any Other Name: Foxes call humans "furless ones."
- Only Friend: At the beginning of the book, Fi's only human friend is the groom Evan Lockerby, who has been helping her ride horses since she was a little girl.
- The Runaway: Evan has worked for the Carrolls since he ran away from his abusive alcoholic father when he was seventeen.
- Upper-Class Equestrian: Fi lives with her wealthy parents in Kennilwood Manor, a seventy-five-acre horse farm that her great-great-grandfather purchased as a summer home. Fi has read extensively about horses in addition to being a talented rider, and shares a close bond with her horse Franny.
- Verbal Tic: Benton has a habit of repeating every sentence he says, sometimes with minor variations.
- Waving Signs Around: On the day of The Grand Hunt, Benton show up with a sign that says, "Ban killing. Support drag hunting instead." Later, he's joined by other protestors with signs that say, "Ban fox hunting, stop the killing! 76% say no to fox hunting!"
- Witch Hunt: Angus Borg, the farmer on whose land Silviana is living, becomes convinced that Silviana is a wicked witch and Arabella is her familiar. Most people laugh him off, but a few think he's telling the truth.
