Literature professor Kate Fansler is asked once again to turn her talents to private investigation when Winifred Ashby - honorary niece of Oxford scholar and novelist Charlotte Stanton - inexplicably disappears from her quiet farmhand life.

Using Winifred's journal and Charlotte's novels as her only available sources, Kate must follow a convoluted trail through Oxford to Santa Cruz before finally untangling the secrets of Winifred's past.

But Kate's investigation reveals far more than she anticipated as sinister issues of illegitimacy and inheritance arise . . .

Amanda Cross captivates us with strong women and astounding adventure in this gripping mystery, No Word from Winifred.

'Peopled with strong women . . . rich with ideas' Publishers' Weekly