The Bluest Blood (Amanda Pepper Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Gillian Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999 | Series: Amanda Pepper Mysteries

For English teacher Amanda Pepper, the champagne gala on behalf of Philly Prep's library is her introduction to the ultrarich Main Line society--an evening so extravagant that nothing can tarnish the party . . . not even a group of protesters outside burning the host in effigy. The Moral Ecologists, who vehemently claim that "reading pollutes the mind," will do anything to advance their agenda. And--when her affluent new acquaintances, Neddy and Tea Roederer, prove to be just as deceitful and violent--Amanda learns firsthand that the bluest blood bleeds just as red. Especially when it comes to murder. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Something isn't quite right with Philadelphia bluebloods Neddy and Tea Roederer, benefactors of the Philadelphia Prep School library. Philly Prep teacher and amateur sleuth Amanda Pepper sees the first signs in the Roederers' son's glum manner. Then a more urgent problem appears: the crusade of the Reverend Harvey Spiers' book-burning Moral Ecologists--the same Reverend Spiers whose stepson, Jake, is best friends with the Roederers' son. As Amanda talks with both boys, she realizes there are much deeper problems, and when the crusading Reverend Spiers is murdered, she knows things have spun out of control. Amanda finds no shortage of suspects: Spiers' Moral Ecologist rival and erstwhile lover, his hysterical wife, his hulking stepson, even Neddy and Tea. Pepper is an engaging and forthright heroine; there are some nice bits of humor here; and the focus on First Amendment rights and censorship will hit home with librarians and library supporters. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

If Neddy and Tea Roederer lived in Boston, they wouldn't have to speak to anyone but the Cabots and the Lowells. In Philadelphia, though, their millions can't insulate them from contact with Amanda Pepper's spineless colleagues at Philly Prep, where their adopted son Griffin attends school, or from the Moral Ecologists, the censorship mavens who'd be ludicrous if they weren't so dangerous. Now that Amanda has talked the Roederer Trust into settling a nice piece of change on the Philly Prep library, Neddy and Tea are on a collision course with Moral Ecologist loudmouth Rev. Harvey Spiers--a collision course that begins with the hanging of an effigy and leads up to the real thing. As the Philly Prep staff and the Moral Ecologists (``Don't pollute minds!'') trip over each other in their haste to embarrass themselves, and Amanda and her favorite cop, C.K. Mackenzie, sort out the zanies from the murderers, the unlikely friendship between two lonely boys--Spiers's stepson Jake Ulrich and Griffin Roederer--emerges as the heart of this story. It's a strong heart that, together with Roberts's unusually firm mystery-mongering and pointed use of clues, makes Amanda's eighth case (The Mummers' Curse, 1996, etc.) her finest hour yet. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345423151
• ISBN-13: 978-0345423153
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.6 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #852,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, up to a point, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bluest Blood (Amanda Pepper Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a big fan of this series, but this one really ended flatly and was unsatisfying on the whole. Without giving away the ending it is only possible to say that Ms. Roberts was not at her best when she wrote the "woman in jeopardy" finale. It just didn't make any sense at all. The overall sense of dissatisfaction arises out of the protaginist not growing as the series continues. While the relationship between Amanda and her policeman boyfriend does move along, Amanda herself seems stuck in Book 1. It's time for Amanda to find a new job so the author can expand the character and the series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty and funny and fast-paced!, February 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bluest Blood (Amanda Pepper Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This book was a delight. The writer can really write--I loved the phrases and language--as well as keep up the pace of a good strong plot. Also the author knows how to set a scene! I'm going to backtrack and read the rest in the series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Censorship Leads To Murder., April 19, 2005

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bluest Blood (Amanda Pepper Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Clothes may made the man, but they remake the woman. Amanda had rented a bronze silk evening dress from A-list discards place to go to see how the bigwigs entertain in Old Philadelphia, known as the City of Brotherly Love. Her beau Mackenzie matched her in his rented tuxedo.

They pandered back and forth with a bit of naughty gossip about old Benjamin Franklin. Mark Twain is reputed to have remarked that "in Boston they asked how much a man knew." In New York, it was more important how much he was worth. In Philadelphia, the thing which mattered the most is "who were his parents?" Mr, Roederer's middle name was Franklin, which turned the blood in his veins 'cobalt blue.'

Amanda had led the faculty in gaining support for the grant to obtain materials for the media center. They had received a windfall from a Trust to replenish the shelves of the library. Two of her students, adopted son Griffin of the Roederers and the preacher's stepson, Jake, were best friends.

Griffin's parents were wealthy with pedigrees a mile long and prestige to match their money. They oppose the Moral Ecologists over what books might 'pollute young minds' led by the Reverend who is involking the First Amendment. After the book burning , there is a murder, but not one of the 'blue bloods.'

The beautiful cover has an illustration by Lisa Falkerstern of two classy ladies and one of the two men looks like the movie actor, Robert Taylor.