No Word from Winifred — Amanda Cross

At a stuffy law firm party given by her stuffy brother, Professor Kate Fansler hears of an intriguing mystery.

It seems that a woman named Winifred is missing. The honorary niece of the renowned British novelist Charlotte Stanton, Winifred had been, of all things, milking cows on a New England dairy farm when found by the young woman who wants to write Charlotte Stanton's biography. But soon after agreeing to cooperate, Winifred disappears. And the would-be biographer desperately needs Kate's help in finding her.

So Kate must look for clues -- in Winifred's journal, in Charlotte Stanton's novels, and finally at an enormous MLA convention in New York City, where secrets and intrigue prove far more interesting to Kate than lectures on such esoteric subjects as sixteenth century Spanish mysticism. Mysteries -- and this one is pure delight -- are much more to Kate Fansler's liking.