- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books (Nov 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345440110
- ISBN-13: 978-0345440112
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,328,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Amanda Cross, the internationally acknowledged master of the literary crime novel, introduces fans to a new heroine: Estelle "Woody" Woodhaven. Woody, a private investigator hired to find the perpetrator of a bizarre murder in academe, naturally enlists the help of that indefatigable amateur sleuth, Kate Fansler.
Woody is a fat P.I.--she always beats the client to the punch with that revelation. She's also very competent. But her newest case has left her feeling a bit out of her element.
Professor Charles Haycock, an expert on Victorian literature, is dead from a hearty dose of his own heart medication, slipped into his drink during a party at his home. The mystery is not why Haycock was murdered--very few could stomach the woman-hating, power-hungry prof--but who did the deed. As Woody proceeds, she finds herself engulfed in a quagmire of infighting and deceit, literary allusions and overinflated egos. And it's time to call in the reinforcements.
Enter Kate Fansler, professor and crimesolver extraordinaire. Together, Woody and Kate start to pull at the loose ends of the very tangled Clifton College English Department. Woody's list of suspects is longer than the freshman survey reading list: Antonia Lansbury, the lone tenured woman on the staff--and thereby the target of Haycock's venomous, misogynistic ire; Professor David Longworth, weary of Haycock's controlling ways and now first in line for Department Chair; Rick Fowler, a professor forced out of Clifton because of his liberal views and out-and-proud principles; and Haycock's wife, who was about to file for divorce when her husband gasped his last breath.
As Kate and Woody defuse the host of literary landmines set out for them, Woody suspects they're only scratching the surface of a very large and sinister plot. And it will take both women's expertise and cunning to solve the murder of a man no one was sorry to see go. . . .
Elegant, literate, and darkly humorous, this is one of Amanda Cross's best puzzlers in years--without an Honest Doubt.
Woody is a fat P.I.--she always beats the client to the punch with that revelation. She's also very competent. But her newest case has left her feeling a bit out of her element.
Professor Charles Haycock, an expert on Victorian literature, is dead from a hearty dose of his own heart medication, slipped into his drink during a party at his home. The mystery is not why Haycock was murdered--very few could stomach the woman-hating, power-hungry prof--but who did the deed. As Woody proceeds, she finds herself engulfed in a quagmire of infighting and deceit, literary allusions and overinflated egos. And it's time to call in the reinforcements.
Enter Kate Fansler, professor and crimesolver extraordinaire. Together, Woody and Kate start to pull at the loose ends of the very tangled Clifton College English Department. Woody's list of suspects is longer than the freshman survey reading list: Antonia Lansbury, the lone tenured woman on the staff--and thereby the target of Haycock's venomous, misogynistic ire; Professor David Longworth, weary of Haycock's controlling ways and now first in line for Department Chair; Rick Fowler, a professor forced out of Clifton because of his liberal views and out-and-proud principles; and Haycock's wife, who was about to file for divorce when her husband gasped his last breath.
As Kate and Woody defuse the host of literary landmines set out for them, Woody suspects they're only scratching the surface of a very large and sinister plot. And it will take both women's expertise and cunning to solve the murder of a man no one was sorry to see go. . . .
Elegant, literate, and darkly humorous, this is one of Amanda Cross's best puzzlers in years--without an Honest Doubt.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I adore the Kate Fansler books. I have a small pile of unread stories which I ration so that I can look forward to reading a new one.
I started Honest Doubt with the same sense of pleasurable anticipation as usual, but found it wasn't really a Kate Fansler story. Yes, Kate is there in the background, but it just wasn't the same. The story is a recasting of a very famous detective story - I won't say which, although Kate Fansler says so near the end. The story was well written as ever, but without the usual main characters I felt a bit cheated. I have Honest Doubt about whether this is really a Kate Fansler mystery and I will be very cautious of buying any future books in the series, as I felt very little rapport with the main character of the novel. I will just have to eke out my small stock more slowly.
I started Honest Doubt with the same sense of pleasurable anticipation as usual, but found it wasn't really a Kate Fansler story. Yes, Kate is there in the background, but it just wasn't the same. The story is a recasting of a very famous detective story - I won't say which, although Kate Fansler says so near the end. The story was well written as ever, but without the usual main characters I felt a bit cheated. I have Honest Doubt about whether this is really a Kate Fansler mystery and I will be very cautious of buying any future books in the series, as I felt very little rapport with the main character of the novel. I will just have to eke out my small stock more slowly.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
15 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Honest Doubt
14 Jan 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I was extremely disappointed in this book. Having read all of the previous mysteries written by Amanda Cross, I was looking forward to enjoying her literate and witty style, a thought-provoking plot and interesting character development. This book fails miserably in all three areas. The style is turgid, the plot is almost non-existent with a cop-out ending and the characters are one-dimensional (although I'm sure that Woody would say that she had more dimensions that that--I really did get weary of all the references to her size). I can only hope that the author will go back to creating a well-crafted mystery next time around. But I will first check with other reviewers before buying another book by Cross so that I'm not burned again by purchasing another such boring and poorly written myster.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Read Batya Gur's "Literary Murder" Instead, I beg YOU
5 Dec 2000
Format:Hardcover
I've enjoyed Kate Fansler and her detective work, so I jumped to buy this book, just out. Woefully disappointed. There is no depth of character, not in the narrator nor in Kate. There is no "sitting at the edge of your seat" (or bed) here. It's all tedium punctuated by long disquistions on being fat. Very definitely not up to par. Ironically, I had recently re-read some of Batya Gur's mysteries. In hers, there are echos of P.D. James'--with those wonderful multi-layered characters who are fascinating unto themselves and not one-dimensional, not boring. I hate to damn a writer that I've enjoyed over the years but this is simply NOT a compelling read. The writer was clearly tired as was her prose. Sorry to report the above, but look elsewhere for good mystery and high drama.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Hello Woody, Goodbye Kate
23 Jan 2001
Format:Hardcover
As an avid mystery reader, I grabbed Amanda Cross' "Honest Doubt" hoping to find something literate and engaging. The Cover read 'A Kate Fansler Novel," whom I hoped to add to my list of must-read dectectives. What I found was Estelle "Woody" Woodhaven a fat female detective hired to solve the murder of a pretentious Professor of English Literature. Woody enlists Kate's help to solve the murder as she feels totally out of her league in Academia. While Woody's constant references to her size is annoying;it is her worship of Kate's intellect that eventually made this novel a real bore. One wonders how Woody made it through Law School. The characters are annoying and poorly drawn and the plot convoluted. I Would like to see Woody's Character in another novel sans Kate and with less reference to her size.
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