Rating: 
Summary: Not Her Best
Review: Amanda Cross usually writes excellent mysteries, but this one is not very good. The plot is contrived, and all the political views expressed are annoying. The only redeeming quality is the cast of characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring and cliched
Review: An unbelievable plot and frequent political lectures don't make for engrossing reading. The investigation into the kidnapping is ludicrously linear - think of a motive, investigate, reject. In the meantime, no one thinks to call in the police. The private detective's idea of a clever "cover" is adopting a St. Bernard. This is pure drivel, and I can't believe the NY Times, of all papers, gave this book a good review. Yuck! Don't waste your time!
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best Amanda Cross
Review: Apparently I made a mistake starting with this as my first Amanda Cross. The politics are intrusive - and I'm not any Rush Limbaugh/Bob Grant follower. As an antidote I would recommend Fool's Gold by Jane S Smith which makes good fun of the feminist left. The plot is initially concerned with the politically motivated kidnapping of a left-wing professor's husband but becomes complex and ulimately more ingenious than plausible. Nevertheless this contains some witty dialog, memorable characters and sharp obervations on the academic scene. An excellent dog.
Rating:
Summary: Personal politics in book from good mystery fiction writer.
Review: As a lawyer, Wife, Mom and Nana, I have little time for fiction and choose it carefully. My favorite is sophisticated mystery and Amanda Cross has long been a favorite of mine. However, in her last two Kate Fansler books she has inserted her personal politics and harped upon them. It is not that I particularly agree or disagree with her political position, it is just not WHY I am reading a mystery novel. Cross me off (no pun intended) of her list of devoted readers!
Rating:
Summary: If you prefer feminism to mystery, this book is for you!
Review: Can you believe the Christian Right is so upset with Kate Fansler (a leading feminist) that they kidnap her husband and inform Kate that the ransom is Kate must cause a notice to be printed in the public press that she has renounced feminism! Silly. The author has often "pushed" feminism in her novels, but not to this extent. The ostensible mystery is really no mystery at all. The author did much better with THE IMPERFECT SPY, THE JAMES JOYCE MURDERS, POETIC JUSTICE and IN THE LAST ANALYSIS. Those novels were each a 10! The author's prose is ALWAYS delicious and that was the saving grace on this novel (otherwise this novel would rate a 1 from me).I am giving this author up; if I want to read about feminism, there is enough non-fiction around.
Rating:
Summary: A polemic, not a mystery
Review: I have enjoyed Amanda Cross' previous work, finding her mysteries both literate and amusing. So _The Puzzled Heart_ is especially disappointing. Its plot is absurd, as other reviewers have pointed out -- Kate's husband Reed is kidnapped and she is supposed to write a paper publicly renouncing her feminist beliefs in favor of "the family values of the Christian right" (p. 73). She does not contact the police, and he spends his captivity rejecting the sexual advances of female undergraduates. The second half of the book is slightly more believable, as Kate and friends try to find out who could be behind this silly plot, but the culprit when revealed has an even less realistic motive than the political and religious right, who were apparently brought into the first half of the book primarily so Kate could make impassioned speeches against them (e.g. "Leslie, the right wing in this country, Christians though they may call themselves, are besotted with their message. They are like fundamentalists everywhere, certain of their correctness and of being ordered by God to destroy those who disagree with that certainty. I think perhaps we should stop fooling ourselves about them" (p. 10). Though another character argues that very few on the right condone violence (108), the stereotyping of political and religious conservatives throughout the book is jarring, if not irresponsible. This is not a novel as much as it is a polemic against fundamentalism, conservatism, and turncoat feminists. While Cross may use her fiction as a medium to bash her ideological foes, the weak plot, stilted dialogue, stereotyped characters, and portrayal of Kate as her university's lone beacon of liberalism reduce the power of that medium and hence, its message. If you're searching for a good mystery, don't bother with _The Puzzled Heart_. If you want to snort at the right, you might want to stick to _The Nation_.
Rating:
Summary: Stick with the early ones
Review: I loved the early Amanda Cross books, literate, witty and well written. Unfortunately the last few have become little more than a platform for proclaiming a constant conspiracy against feminism and feminists. I bought this book and opened it with great enthusiasm but as soon as I began to read it, I remembered that I had decided against buying or reading any more Kate Fansler books. I heartily recommend the earlier books but this one is very disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I too am an Amanda Cross fan, but this book was just awful. When I got to the part where Reed & Kate were discussing his enticing kidnappers, I just had to quit. The author's political inserts really didn't bother me, but the terrible plot and unbelievable dialog did. Thankfully I borrowed this book from the library--and gave it a speedy return!
Rating:
Summary: Trite, cliched and tedious
Review: It was a struggle to read "The Puzzled Heart." The plot lacked substance and surprise and it was too easy to guess the culprit. The constant dribble about the evil "right-wing" made this book especially tedious as it was trite, offering little more than generalized preaching. Obviously, this novel is more of a forum for the author to espouse her shining liberalism than it is a mystery, well-crafted or otherwise. If I recall correctly from reading earlier works, the characters did not resort to using expletives and a few were thrown in for a reason I cannot fathom; especially because they did not fit with the usual dialogue. I found it distracting and gave me reason to believe the author has become sloppy with her writing. The only thing enjoyable about this book is the constant flow of single malt Scotch. Perhaps I would have found the book a better read if I had imbibed.
Rating:
Summary: Stick with the early ones
Review: This is the first Kate Fansler mystery I've read, and I'm hooked. There were so many twists and turns in this mystery, that I couldn't figure out the murderer. A great read!
|
