Helen Hath No Fury

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!

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!

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