Customer Reviews

Helen Hath No Fury (The Amanda Pepper series, Unabridged on 7 cassettes)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Gillian Roberts is a wonderful mystery writer. In each of her books, there is always at least one point when I laugh out loud at her witty phrasing, and when she's at her very best, as she is in "Helen Hath No Fury," I laugh from beginning to end (look for Roberts' vivid description of the effects of humidity).

Amanda Pepper is a high school teacher in Philadelphia. Although she has a live-in boyfriend (homicide cop C.K. Mackenzie), she is of an age when her friends have been married multiple times, and her own single status is a source of frustration (at least to her mother). When a member of Amanda's book group is found dead of an apparent suicide, the group's suspicions are aroused, and Amanda, in her continuing quest to retrieve her raincoat from the dead woman's house, finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Roberts has cooked up a solid mystery here. At one point, I felt positive I knew the culprit and was surprised and pleased to discover I was completely wrong. For the avid mystery fan, there is nothing better than the surprise ending. Add to that the fun of reading about Amanda, a character whose evolution throughout this series has been interesting and enjoyable without ever overpowering the mystery plot, and you have a real winner.

Gillian Roberts has given readers another treat in HELEN HATH NO FURY. Spending time with Philadelphia high school teacher Amanda Pepper--charming, intelligent, witty, indepedent, with a sense of the gentle ironies of life--is always a pleasure. This series is one of my favorites because Roberts consistently entertains, even as she provides thoughtful exploration of contemporary society. In HELEN, Mandy is shocked by the apparent suicide of a member of her book group. Her attempt to put together a memory book for the dead woman's daughter leads her to wonder if the death really was a suicide. At the same time, one of Mandy's students comes to her with a serious problem. Roberts weaves the two stories into an engrossing , entertaining, throughly enjoyable whole. I'm going to put this one on the list for my book group!

Whodunit? Gillian Roberts' done it with the newest in the Amanda Pepper series! She has crafted a cast of characters that I would like to discover in future books(those who live through this one, that is). However, I did miss Sasha and wonder if she made it to London. This book is a must for anyone having read the series as it answers two questions which have been looming over Amanda in recent stories. And the answers are not what this reader anticipated after reading "Adam and Evil". Ms. Roberts' writing reflects a level of contemplation and a discovery of wisdom in Amanda that began in the last book. It keeps the reader attentive to each paragraph as Amanda reflects on life, its meaning, and our place in it. This makes the series more enjoyable as it causes the reader to reflect on the same issues in his/her life. This reader enjoys the mystery but also appreciates the philosophical side of the book. Thank you Ms. Roberts!

The tenth in Gillian Roberts' witty, Anthony-award winning series featuring Philadelphia teacher Amanda Pepper, "Helen Hath No Fury" finds Pepper investigating the supposed suicide of a member of her book discussion group and fuming, somewhat irrationally, over her lover, C.K. MacKenzie's, anti-marriage views.

Though she doesn't socialize with the group members, Amanda is surprised to realize how much they've revealed of themselves discussing books. Helen, the deceased, for instance, has voiced strong views against suicide. Others are fussy, dictatorial, hypocritical or self-absorbed. What she's not prepared for are the secrets which surface, exposed mostly by people eager to deflect her from their own concerns. Extra-marital affairs, financial schemes, grudges; the whole group seems to have motives in plenty. Meanwhile C.K. is suspiciously supportive.

Cleverly written, classically plotted, Pepper's latest lively adventure culminates in a confrontation both scary and comical. Roberts ("Caught Dead in Philadelphia," "How I Spent My Summer Vacation") pseudonym of mainstream novelist Judith Greber, has a lot of fun writing the Pepper books and this one hold hints of a sea change in Amanda's future.

I love Gillian Roberts' Amanda Pepper series and this is one of the better novels. The characters of both Amanda and her beau, C.K. Mackenzie continue to develop and become more interesting. This novel is especially good because in addition to creating a tightly wound mystery, Roberts gives us a number of wonderfully drawn characters (without needing to create obvious "villains" and red herrings) and introduces several interesting subplots. I can't recommend this mystery series set in wonderful Philadelphia enough--especially this latest installment. If we're lucky, Ms. Roberts is currently busy writing the next Amanda Pepper mystery!

I've always loved the Amanda Pepper mysteries. The characters are very real and they make you laugh! This mystery is centered around Amanda's book club. They are a very strange mix and when one of them allegedly commits suicide the mystery begins. The characters are very well drawn in this story, and it is very difficult to figure out whodunnit. Best of all, we learn C.K. MacKenzie's real name! Read it, you'll fly through it!

I like the beginning as the main character's book club is doing the Awakening by Kate Chopin, published in 1899, in clouds of controversy, which I consider a magnificent book... so I was expecting good things PLUS it has good rating here on Amazon. Where another writer would put ten words, Gillian Roberts is compelled to put one hundred. Maybe five hundred.

I might say it best to say the main character is a very realistic clone of Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives.

At the end of the book, the conclusion if you will, she is caught in the school office with the crazed murderer, who has already killed twice and seriously wounded another, and is after her! She keeps hoping and praying the school secretary will come in... this leads you to believe the secretary, if not carrying a shotgun, will at least call 911 and interrupt what is happening. But no... she says the secretary is a terrifying presence because she denies all the teachers supplies, copying, etc... and all the teachers are therefore afraid of her. (?) I feel compelled to finish a book if I have started it, but never again any book written by Gillian Roberts.

Gag!!!!

"Good books are like Rorschach tests. What each person finds on the page depends on what she's brought along with her." (page 7)

My Rorschach take on this book is "How timely!" - what with the US Senate considering the nomination for Attorney General and all. Of course my ink blots and I immediately recognized RvW in Helen's notes.

Gillian Roberts is the nom de mystere of mainstream novelist Judith Greber ... formerly an English teacher in Philadelphia. Philadelphia - of W.C. Field's ironic epitaph, a title in this series that I look forward to reading - in the state that spawned the Casey case.

Greber/Roberts/Pepper is snappy, literate, and articulate without being arcane or pedantic. I yield respectfully to Debra Rothengast's comment in reviewing the previous installment in the Amanda Pepper series: "Once again Ms. Roberts tickles our social conscience without using a heavy hand. A bright and very human Amanda Pepper takes us down familiar streets with new twists. While reaching out to help a student she is sent alone into a spiral of confusion by the world's apathy and her life, both literally and figuratively, is in jeopardy."

Amanda Pepper is contented with her current life as she lives with an individual she cares deeply about, homicide detective McKenzie. She loves her job as an English teacher at Philly Prep and enjoys her monthly book group meeting.

This month's book club meeting is being held at Philadelphia's fancy Helen Coulter's Delancy Street mansion. The topic for discussion is Kate Chapin's "The Awakening," a literary book written during the Victorian Era about a woman who commits suicide after flouting morality. Helen passionately brings to the table an essay on feminine politics of the times that seems out of character for the female character.

The next day turns into a disaster for Amanda. At the school, a teen admits that she is pregnant before running away. After school, Amanda learns that Helen apparently killed herself. While Amanda knows she cannot do much to locate the missing student, she has experience solving homicides, which is what Helen's death feels like to her. She and her fellow book club members begin an investigation that places their lives in danger from someone who wants the women to stop their sleuthing activities.

HELEN HATH NO FURY is a cerebral mystery similar in tone to Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. Readers of cozies will enjoy this tale as the implied violence occurs outside the printed page. Puzzle fans will relish the process of putting the pieces together in order to understand what is happening. Once completed, the audience will realize the killer was always in plain sight. Gillian Roberts has created an entertaining story that will please series fans.

Harriet Klausner

Gillian Roberts had done it again. With grace and humor, she has written another page turner that her fans look forward to. Although the beginning is a little weak, this book picks up the pace after the 1st chapter and you don't want to put it down. AND there is a definate surprise in this book but I won't say any more and spoil it for all of those other Amanda Pepper fans out there.