About the Author

Amanda Cross is the pseudonymous author of the bestselling Kate Fansler mysteries. As Carolyn G. Heilbrun, she is the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities Emerita at Columbia University. She has served as president of the Modern Language Association as well as vice president of the Authors Guild. Dr. Heilbrun is also the author of Writing a Woman's Life, Hamlet's Mother and Other Women, The Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem, and the New York Times Notable Book The Last Gift of Time: Life Beyond Sixty.

Product Description

When Winifred Ashby, the honorary niece of renowned British novelist Charlotte Stanton, vanishes after traveling to London to help a young woman named Charlie get appointed Stanton's official biographer, Kate Fansler investigates the disappearance

From Publishers Weekly

Cross presents a welcome addition to her mystery series (Death in a Tenured Position, Poetic Justice, etc.), featuring Professor Kate Fansler, feminist and sleuth. In Kate's brother Larry's law office, says her niece Leighton, something odd is going on: Charlotte Lucas, a word processor in-putter, has vanished. In addition, the legatee of one of the firm's clients has also disappeared. The former is easily found, but the latter, a woman named Winifred Ashby, who is somehow related to the famous, now-dead English author Charlotte Stanton, is more elusive. The reclusive Winifred had been serving as "hired man" on a New England farm until she went to England in connection with a will, a trip she neither completed nor returned from. Why has no one heard from Winifredis she, as Kate feels "in my bones" dead? This entertaining and highly literate novel is peopled with strong women and other interesting characters, and is rich with ideas, though at times the plot can be confusing. Kate Fansler, who can on occasion be a bit stuffy, is not at all so here.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

When I read THE JAMES JOYCE MURDER, I instantly became a fan of Amanda Cross and her protagonist, English professor Kate Fansler. And I continued to devour this wonderful series: THE QUESTION OF MAX, DEATH IN A TENURED POSITION, NO WORD FROM WINIFRED -- and onward. In time, I (and many other readers) came to realize that "Amanda Cross" is a pseudonym for Dr. Carolyn G. Heilbrun, the revered Columbia University professor whose WRITING A WOMAN'S LIFE and other nonfiction volumes are recognized as ground-breaking classics in literary criticism and feminist studies. My admiration for the author grew and grew -- in both her guises. And then a few years ago, I had the great good fortune to become the editor of her "Amanda Cross" half. Which has given me many opportunities to get to know Carolyn personally (it helps that we live only a few blocks from each other). So I've been in the company of this widely beloved author for autograph parties, bookstore events, an honorary dinner, and recently at the ALA (American Library Association) conference, where scores of adoring fans -- librarians and educators -- patiently queued up to get personally autographed copies of THE PUZZLED HEART, the latest Fansler mystery, as well as backlist titles in the series. Even with the resultant writer's cramp, it was a great day for "Amanda." And another cherished memory I have of this charming, gracious, and multitalented author.

--Joe Blades, Associate Publisher

From the Inside Flap

When Winifred, the niece of a renowned British novelist goes missing after she agreed to be interviewed for her esteemed aunt's biography, the biographer taps Kate Fansler to find her. Kate spots clues all right, but finding the person is a lot trickier than she thought....