Kate Fansler
Kate Fansler is the protagonist of a series of detective novels written by the American author Carolyn Heilbrun under the pseudonym Amanda Cross .
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Like the author herself, Fansler is a professor of English literary studies at New York University with a focus on Victorian Era . As a result, most of their cases are set in an academic setting: the aim is usually to solve the murder of a student or a colleague. As an intellectual who is passionate about literature and languages , she reaches her goal through high-quality discussions with everyone involved. Action-packed adventures are not their thing. She and other characters (such as the professor emeritus of medieval literature Grace Knole in the following example ) make this kind of solving cases the topic of their conversations at length and with pleasure:
- “ If we were in a detective novel, then there wouldn't be a screaming youth in the car, but an adventure. Do you read detective novels? "
- " Sure," said Kate. "[...] Why? "
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“It's interesting,” said Grace, “how little these stories correspond to real life. It's all about that so much is happening in them . [...] We have now witnessed a murder here, but all we do is - of course - we talk about it and walk down the street together ”[.] [...]
- “ The beauty of the detective novel,” said Grace, “is that you read such nice things about what other people do without having to do the same. "
Fansler solves her cases together with her partner, the lawyer Reed Amhearst, whom she also marries in the course of the series. However, she attaches importance to an independent appearance, so that she wears neither his name nor his ring in public. Apart from that, Fansler has a sentimental predilection for children and is characterized by an unhealthy lifestyle: she smokes and drinks and has a weakness for fatty foods. Obviously, this has no effect on her figure, which is described as slim. She does not engage in any sport other than long walks, which she has in common with her creator. In addition to solving tricky, concrete puzzles, she likes to think deeply about old age, aging and the fact that death has something liberating about it. Although such passages are not uncommon in a genre in which traditionally a lot of deaths occur, in this case they gain a special meaning: Kate Fansler's creator Carolyn Heilbrun committed suicide in October 2003. Fansler's statements about death and dying have since been understood as comments on this act.
Works
Kate Fansler appears in the following detective novels written by Carolyn Heilbrun under the pseudonym Amanda Cross :
- In the Last Analysis (Hazardous Practice), 1964
- The James Joyce Murder (In the Best Circles), 1967
- Poetic Justice (A Fine Society), 1970
- The Theban Mysteries (School for Major Daughters), 1971
- The Question of Max , 1976
- Death in a Tenured Position (The Dead of Harvard), 1981
- Sweet Death, Kind Death , 1984
- No Word from Winifred (Alberta's Shadow), 1986
- A Trap for Fools , 1989
- The Players Come Again , 1990
- An Imperfect Spy , 1995
- The Puzzled Heart , 1998
- Honest Doubt , 2000
- The Edge of Doom , 2002