In the stately nineteenth-century homes on Philadelphia’s Delancey Street, the wilder passions scarcely ruffle the peace. Murder is unthinkable, particularly a murder involving an upscale book discussion group, of which schoolteacher Amanda Pepper is a devoted member. Nevertheless, on the day after a heated discussion of a fictional heroine’s suicide, book group member Helen Coulter falls to her death from her roof garden. Helen’s death is declared a suicide but Amanda is convinced otherwise. Why is this admirable woman dead? And if she was killed, who performed the heinous act? Amanda’s investigations will draw her into a zone of great danger, where Helen Coulter’s ice-hearted killer is once more ready to strike. . . .
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Helen Hath No Fury, the latest outing in Gillian Roberts's Amanda Pepper series (which also includes, most recently, The Bluest Blood and Adam and Evil), finds the Philly Prep English teacher in familiar territory, negotiating the strong egos and stronger opinions of the members of her book club. When, after reading The Awakening, Helen Coulter vehemently denounces heroine Edna Pontellier's suicide as the ultimate cop-out, no one is surprised by her assertiveness (Helen makes sandpaper seem soft). But her plunge from the roof of her house the very next day comes as an awakening of the rudest sort. Although her death is ruled a suicide, the book-club members aren't buying it. When Amanda heads up an unofficial team of sleuths, she quickly realizes that her fellow booklovers have a great deal to hide--from Helen's business partner's bizarre financial dealings to a politician's wife's unsavory past. But are their secrets worth killing to keep?
People simply aren't what they seem, and that's enough to make Amanda long for order and precision: "I envision us like billiard balls--one gets poked and the rest of us are pushed into new and unexpected positions. My version of chaos theory. But now, I renounced happenstance. I became a devout cause-and-effect believer. I needed to." As always, she enlists cop and live-in amour C.K. Mackenzie (attention to devoted fans: the mystery of those darned initials will be solved at last!) to help her ferret out the truth.
What is usually a winning combination for Roberts--breezy humor and a lighthearted writing style--falls a little flat in this latest effort. Amanda reminds one of Lucille Ball--sardonic, goodhearted, a trifle insecure, and completely incapable of standing peacefully by when an opportunity to leap in and meddle presents itself. She has a finely honed sense of irony and an equally sharp appreciation of the absurd. This time around, her appeal is oddly muted; she seems less interested and less interesting, content to repeat ad nauseam her fervent desire for matters to improve and to dither about whether her newly kindled interest in marriage means that she is (gasp!) becoming her mother. With any luck, this stint in the narrative doldrums will be temporary, and the old Amanda will soon return with all sails flying. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In a touching preface, Anthony Award-winner Roberts explains that her 10th mystery to feature spinster teacher Amanda Pepper is largely a tribute to a book group friend who died in a bicycle accident. In the novel proper, Amanda has belonged to a book discussion group for about a year when the unthinkable happens: one of the group's most vocal members, Helen Coulter, falls to her death from the rooftop garden of her grand, four-story house on Philadelphia's historic Delancey Street. When Helen's death is ruled a suicide, Amanda is suspicious, since Helen had just castigated the heroine of Kate Chopin's The Awakening for committing suicide. With the aid of her friend and fellow book group member Susan Hileman, Amanda discovers some disturbing facts about Helen's life. At the same time, Amanda is worrying about a 15-year-old student, Petra Yates, who has confided that she's pregnant and that her family will disown her if she tells them. Then Petra disappears. Torn by self-doubt over the wisdom of her actions, Amanda goes looking for Petra while seeking justice for Helen. Established fans will be happy to note that after Amanda's beau, homicide cop C.K. Mackenzie, finally reveals his first name to her, their relationship enters a new phase. Roberts skillfully negotiates some rather tricky emotional waters in this new addition to a series notable for its smooth mix of traditional mystery conventions with the darker underpinnings of modern crime fiction. Agent, Jean Naggar. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Amanda Pepper series is a continuing delight.,
By
This review is from: Helen Hath No Fury: An Amanda Pepper Mystery (Amanda Pepper Mysteries) (Hardcover)
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.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another winner!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Helen Hath No Fury: An Amanda Pepper Mystery (Amanda Pepper Mysteries) (Hardcover)
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!
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Whodunit?,
This review is from: Helen Hath No Fury: An Amanda Pepper Mystery (Amanda Pepper Mysteries) (Hardcover)
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!
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