I first encountered Gillian Robert’s Amanda Pepper mysteries about 12 years ago. I found them a fun read and really liked her feisty heroine. Gillian Roberts in real life is author Judith Greber. She is a former English teacher from Philadelphia who now lives in Tiburon, California. Her mysteries are set in Philadelphia and Amanda Pepper is an English teacher at a private high school called Philly Prep. Many book reviewers have praised Ms. Roberts as having a Dorothy Parker sense of humor. While on the surface the books have a light touch when you get into them you can see a dark undertone as Ms. Roberts explores the world of teenagers, money, and position.
The dramatis personae are as follows. Amanda Pepper is a schoolteacher for a small private school called Philly Prep. She is underpaid, over worked, and stressed out. Her mother is in full out panic mode because Amanda is 30 and not married. Her sister Beth has the suburban lifestyle down with her marriage to a lawyer and two adorable children. Amanda’s mother Beatrice cannot figure out what she did wrong for her youngest child to not be interested in marriage. Maurice Havermeyer runs Philly Prep in the great tradition of anything for a buck. He is pompous and idiotic and knows nothing about teenagers other then the fact that their parents will pay good money to put their underachievers who can’t hack it at a big school in Philly Prep. C.K. McKenzie is a tall good-looking Southerner who happens to be a homicide detective. You can take the man out of Louisiana but you will never get the boy out of the bayou. He does his best to keep Amanda from getting in over her head and tries to keep her safe. Sasha Berg is a freelance photographer, Amanda’s best friend, and a serious candidate for intervention in the always picking the wrong guy category.
The series starts with Caught Dead in Philadelphia. Amanda Pepper is rushing to get to her job when a fellow teacher, Liza Nichols, shows up on her doorstep begging to be allowed to stay for a while. Liza is engaged to Hayden Cole who is running for Senator. Amanda lets her stay there and heads off to work. She returns to find Liza murdered. The book appealed to me on several levels. I majored in theater and the small town theater group was like looking into my past dealings while working with such groups. I also got a sense that the author was slyly putting in some very series social commentary in a humorous way. She skewers the rich and the political people who have no concept of the common man. They have the money and the social position and that makes them above the law in their eyes.
Philly Stakes deals with the aftermath of Amanda’s idea of trying to teach her privileged kids the reality of the homeless and disadvantaged. She wants the kids to work at a food kitchen serving the homeless during the Christmas season. A wealthy parent and Mr. Havermeyer have another idea and it turns into a farce of a rich man playing Santa in his mansion to handpicked homeless. Sandy Clausen ends up dead in a fire and Amanda tries to help the prime suspect, his daughter Laura. The search for the truth touches on unethical businessmen who cheat partners and bankrupt them as the businessman becomese rich. It also explores the painful world of sexual abuse of children and how it destroys lives.
I’d Rather Be In Philadelphia enters the dark world of spousal abuse. Amanda is sorting books for a fundraiser and comes across a book on spousal abuse that has notes in the margin by the owner. She is convinced that the person is crying for help and sets out to try and find her. The book also touches on rich parents who have no time for their children and businessmen who have no time for ethics.
With Friends Like These gives us our first chance to meet the infamous Beatrice Pepper, Amanda’s mother. This book explores the phony world of show business. Lyle Zacharias is a well-known Producer who has walked all over everybody to get to the top. He throws himself a lavish birthday party and invites everybody he knows to celebrate with him. His ego refuses to believe that people hate his guts. He ends up dead and unfortunately it looks like the poison was in the tarts made by Amanda’s ditzy mother.
How I Spent My Summer Vacation gets Amanda out of Philadelphia and into Atlantic City where her friend Sasha gets herself arrested for murder. This book skewers the business world of smarmy financial advisers. It touches on the vulnerable elderly people who have been taken advantage of by businessmen with no consciences.
In the Dead of Summer was the book that convinced me that I was going to read and own this entire series. Amanda is teaching summer school to students not only from the privileged Philly Prep but also from the inner schools. She tutors April Truong who is determined to speak English properly and get ahead. The book touches on gang violence and prejudice. There is a campaign going on in Amanda’s city against anyone who is not WASP. Synagogues are being defaced. An African-American computer teacher is getting hate voicemails. April Truong disappears. The book explores how White Supremacists reach the minds of children and corrupt them.
The Mummers’ Curse is a fascinating look at the New Year’s celebration of the Mummers’ Parade in Philadelphia, one of the nations oldest folk festivals. You get a sense of the passion these people have for the tradition.
The Bluest Blood explores two different worlds. One is the world of the very rich. The other is the world of the holier then thou evangelists who want to censor everything we read. The book touches on the difficulties faced by children torn apart by divorce and children whose rich parents provide the physical needs but ignore the emotional and soul needs of their children.
Adam and Evil explores the dark world that a troubled child will hide in when life becomes too much. Amanda tries to help Adam Evens but runs into a bureaucratic wall and indifference from parents. In her quest to prove him innocent of murder she encounters the ugly world of divorce and the inequality that many women face when their husbands can afford better and slicker lawyers.
Helen Hath No Fury gives an interesting look into book clubs and the people who join them. It also has some good lessons on not jumping to conclusions and judging people without knowing the full story. Amanda tries to prove that her friend Helen could not have committed suicide. Again there is an exploration of what people will do to get ahead and the games people play to get there.
Claire and Present Danger finds Amanda working part time as a P.I. under the tutelage of her now fiancé C.K. McKenzie. Amanda is hired to investigate the mysterious Emmie Cade who has become engaged to one of the town’s most eligible bachelors. The story touches on the plight of the illegal immigrant. It also explores the deep jealousies that can consume a person and twist their mind to evil.
Till the End of Tom is one of the most unusual books. The ending was a surprise to me and although there were a lot of red herrings I had to conclude that the author did play fair in her own Puckish way. The book again plunges us into the world of the very rich. It also touches on eating disorders and how they can leave life long scars.
A Hole in Juan is the crown jewel of the Amanda Pepper books. For anyone who has read Lord of the Flies this book will really resonate. The book touches on so many things. There is a battle of Freedom of Speech when Amanda risks her job to defend a student’s poem on the pain of her favorite cousin coming home from Iraq at the age of 21 and permanently blinded. The book explores the cruelty of teenagers towards each other. The book explores the terrible price many young people face when they are gay. This is just an incredible book.
All’s Well That Ends is the final book in the series. It was one of the weakest books but the author did tie up all the loose ends. Amanda tries to prove that her friend’s former stepmother did not commit suicide. The book explores the lure of gambling and how it can snare the young. A subplot was Hurricane Katrina and the devastation in New Orleans. You can feel the frustration of C.K. McKenzie as he tries to cut through red tape to help his family. The end of the book felt very rushed and you could tell that the author was in a hurry to tie every thing up. Even with the rushed ending though the struggle that Amanda went through to try and help a student was very touching.
These then are Gillian Robert’s Amanda Pepper mysteries. The books do sparkle with a sly wit. In spite of the heavy undertones the books are surprisingly fun reads. They are well written in a deceptively breezy style. It is when you finish them that you realize that this author is one of the 99%. She skewers the rich and unethical. She feels for the children and what they have to face. I heartily recommend this series. You will laugh. You will enjoy trying to figure out who the criminal really is. You will also have your heart touched when you least expect it.
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
6:00 PM |
Young Reader's Pavilion |
The Book Bear |
SUN (hiatus) |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
Bi-Monthly SUN |
Midnight |
Reading Ramblings |
don mikulecky |
MON |
8:00 PM |
Monday Murder Mystery |
Susan from 29 |
Mon |
11:00 PM |
My Favorite Books/Authors |
edrie, MichiganChet |
TUE |
10:00 PM |
Contemporary Fiction Views |
bookgirl |
WED |
7:30 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
8:00 PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
alternate THU |
11:00 PM |
Audiobooks Club |
SoCaliana |
FRI |
8:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
Diana in NoVa |
SAT (fourth each month) |
11:00 AM |
Windy City Bookworm |
Chitown Kev |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |