The Puzzled Heart (Kate Fansler) - Softcover

Cross, Amanda

3.33

268 ratings by Goodreads

9780345418845: The Puzzled Heart (Kate Fansler)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345418840 ISBN 13: 9780345418845

Publisher: Fawcett, 1998

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Kate Fansler's husband, Reed, has been kidnapped--and will be killed unless Kate obeys the carefully delineated directives of a ransom note. Tormented by her own puzzled heart, Kate seeks solace and wise counsel from both old friends and new. But who precisely is the enemy? Is he or she a vengeful colleague? A hostile student? A terrorist sect? The questions mount as Kate searches for Reed--accompanied by her trusty new companion, a Saint Bernard puppy named Bancroft. Hovering near Kate and Bancroft are rampant cruelties and calculated menace. The moment is ripe for murder. . . .

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Review:

Feminist scholar (and senior citizen) Carolyn Heilbrun has been writing and lecturing for years about the unique freedom women gain from being old and thus "invisible" in our culture. Writing under the name of Amanda Cross, she continues to explore this theme in another of her popular academic mysteries featuring feminist professor Kate Fansler. In The Puzzled Heart, Fansler's husband, Reed, has been kidnapped, and the ransom demand requires Kate to give up her left-leaning politics and join the Christian Right. Instead, Kate turns to septuagenarian detective Harriet Furst, a woman whose advanced age allows her to "move about the world unseen" as she gathers clues. It doesn't take long for Harriet to find Reed, but discovering who was behind the kidnapping proves more difficult. In the course of exposing the culprit, Cross entertains her audience with the kind of highly literate, witty writing and outspoken politics that have been hallmarks of Kate Fansler mysteries for the past 30 years.

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

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