British novelist turned curious, turned mocking, with just a touch of heart (7)
I believe the answer is:
murdoch
'heart' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for murdoch that I've seen before include "Rupert --; Iris --" , "Rupert --, media owner" , "Media mogul" , "Author of The Bell" , "Press baron" .)