Carolyn G. Heilbrun is the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities Emerita at Columbia University. She wrote a powerful critique, Writing a Woman's Life a few years ago. (If it means that much to you, I'll look up my review and send it to you.) Her most recent book is a biography of Gloria Steinam.
For years she secretly wrote mysteries under the name Amanda Cross. When she was confident that her professional reputation wouldn't be smudged (or didn't care), she let that little fact become public. I hadn't seen one of her mysteries in a long time. Then I found one in a bookstore next to the University of Maryland campus. The same week Nancy found it in a Minnesota bookstore. We have two.
I was looking forward to An Imperfect Spy because of my memories of Cross/Heilbrun's earlier books. One of her mysteries did not even involve a murder, but was a mystery of authorship. In spite of the absence of one human killing another, the story was compelling and fascinating.
An Imperfect Spy does not involve a murder either, just the suspicion of one. It wasn't as satisfying or as interesting as the earlier mysteries. And the book and plot seemed to be an excuse to parade for readers the worst of the academic/legal world's male chauvinists. These law school "teachers" were such pigs that it was hard to believe they were real; even harder to believe they were all in the same institution.
Well, I gave Cross/Heilbrun some slack after talking to my sister-in-law Mary. She began telling tales of the sexist crap she has to confront in her role as a VP in a large financial institution. Okay, I'm naive and I work with a bunch of liberated men. Maybe Cross/Heilbrun didn't make this all up. The story still wasn't that good. Maybe if you read it and tell us what you think, we'll learn something new.
Carolyn Heilbrun page from BooksnBytes
Wellesley honors class of '47 graduate Carolyn Heilbrun
