A Trap for Fools

The ninth mystery featuring English professor Kate Fansler proves why Cross ( No Word from Winifred ) belongs at the top of her class: it is provocative, literate and insightful. During the Thanksgiving weekend, Canfield Adams, a Middle Eastern professor of culture and literature at the Manhattan university where Kate teaches, is found dead on the pavement seven stories below his office window. While everyone is convinced he was murdered, the only suspect in the case is another faculty member, black political activist Humphrey Edgerton, who has no alibi for the night of the crime. But Canfield was universally disliked. With the prospect of his widow filing a lawsuit against the university and the police inquiry at a standstill, the administration asks Kate to investigate. Before she can discover the culprit, a student who was seen in Canfield's building the day he was killed is pushed from her 10th floor apartment. Depressed by the young woman's death and overwhelmed by her impending failure, Kate faces her greatest challenge as an amateur sleuth. Cross, a keen observer of society, has created a potpourri of well-drawn female characters. This is a mystery offering much more than just a puzzle; it is a strong feminist statement abounding with interesting ideas. (Apr.)