No Word from Winifred [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Amanda Cross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1986

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....

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 325 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (October 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089621740X
• ISBN-13: 978-0896217409
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,086,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good story with a surprising ending, February 14, 2001

By 

Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: No Word from Winifred (Kate Fansler Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed this mystery. If I had to state a negative, it would be with Cross's obsession with dairy cows. She overdescribes them in The James Joyce Murders also. Other than that, it was a fast moving suspense filled story. The author really pulled together the wide spread elements of the mystery, from England to Houston to the Berkshires to New York and California, Kate Fansler doggedly pursues any and all clues to finding the missing Winifred Ashby. This mystery was very entertaining, and the ending was suprising. I recommend it highly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amanda Cross Says Plenty in 'No Word from Winifred', June 9, 2009

By 

Jean Sheldon (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: No Word from Winifred (Paperback)

Amanda Cross counsels us that `living is not just holding your breath until life settles down'. In the novel `No Word from Winifred', her character Winifred Ashby does not appear to be someone found sitting around holding her breath. In fact, for the moment, Winifred can't be found at all.

Kate Fansler, Cross' academic sleuth helps her niece search for the missing woman working with vague clues and more information on her deceased aunt than on Winifred herself. As in many Cross novels, the exercise expended to gather clues is usually cerebral and `grilling a suspect' happens in only the finest restaurants. In this book, a myriad of highbrow characters and a few sleazier types join Kate in the search for Winifred.

Amanda Cross (Carolyn Gold Heilbrun) often received unflattering reviews because of accusations that her books are more politics than mysteries. I enjoyed `No Word from Winifred' and many of her books because they are political. They are also good mysteries.

4.0 out of 5 stars So-So Eighth, June 19, 2010

By 

Curtis W. Bobbitt (Great Falls, MT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: No Word from Winifred (Paperback)

This eighth of fourteen mysteries with Kate Fansler has several echoes of earlier novels in the series, some of which may reward fans. The three chapters containing the journal of the missing character of the title and another chapter with letters from another character resemble the epistolary Prologue and Epilogue of Death in a Tenured Position. Leighton (Kate's niece) from that novel is back, as sassy and undirected as ever. One of the plot elements, an in-progress literary biography of a British novelist, is also rehashed from The Question of Max. Four of the minor characters are professors of English literature with positions in high-visibility universities. Cross/Heilbrun includes several stabs at MLA (Modern Language Association) conventions. Readers should expect the same excess of boozing in socially elevated environments as Kate and her intimates guzzle brandy, wine, beer, martinis, and whatever other alcoholic liquids they can swallow.