After reading six pages of this novel I thought - damn, is the woman capable of writing a setence without a subordinate clause? This has never bothered me before, but this time.. I swear to God, I read half the book before the short sentences started appearing. I'm a strong believer in mixing it up.
Apart from that it's a charming little book, for those of us who appreciate the kind of intellectual sleuth Kate Fansler is, and don't require the crime to be at the centre of things. Kate tends to ramble through the book drinking whisky (sic) , smoking, talking in subordinate clauses galore, and then suddenly, bam! - crime solved. The solving part is really not the important part. What's important is the thoughts on feminism, middle age, womens' roles in society etc. They're also such an excellent introduction to the American Intellectual - a breed a lot of Europeans don't believe exist. But Kate Fansler can out-quote Lord Peter and Harriet if she puts her mind to it - she can certainly outdrink them, in a refined way of course.
Have another drink, why don't you.
Plotline: a professor at a college for women only commits suicide by drowning. It seems straight-forward enough, but something she's written in her journal makes her biographers uneasy about it. To dispel doubts the president of the college invites Kate to do some sleuthing.
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