Amanda Pepper's friend Sasha has a photography assignment in Atlantic City, and she invites her broke schoolteacher friend to come along for a free mini-vacation. But the two quickly discover there's more to lose than money at the shore when Sasha finds a stranger bludgeoned to death in her bed. When a witness identifies Sasha as having been at the scene, she Goes Directly To Jail and does not pass "Go." Under the boardwalk and between the slot machines, and sometimes with the help of a motley crew of gamblers, Amanda works to unearth the truth and free her friend.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - An Amanda Pepper Mystery, #5

Books 13 and 14 in the award-winning Amanda Pepper mystery series are now available in one volume! This collection includes: A HOLE IN JUANNo matter the season, the Philadelphia private school where Amanda Pepper teaches English is never a center of tranquility. But with Halloween and the annual Mischief Night party only days away, the hope is that nothing more than old-fashioned vandalism and pranks will take place. No such luck. Trouble erupts long before the witching hour, as the school is plagued by a series of mishaps ranging from the trivial to the potentially deadly-and most of which seem to center on a group of popular seniors. A fire alarm rings during a test; all the orange and black paint is stolen from the art room; the mustard packets are taken from the cafeteria. Perhaps more serious: chemicals and equipment disappear from the science lab, as does one of Amanda's exams and her attendance book. And the dapper new science instructor, Juan Reyes, receives a threatening message recalling that a teacher was once flayed to death by his students. As Amanda juggles teaching, moonlighting as a private investigator with her husband, C. K. Mackenzie, and coping with C. K.'s visiting sixteen-year-old high school-dropout nephew, she tries to find out what, or who, is behind the ominous events. Before she can unmask the tricksters, the turmoil in the school increases when students rise up against the administration's censuring (and censoring) of a campus poet. Then unrest escalates into a lethally explosive menace, and Amanda receives a warning that there is more-and far worse-to come. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDSAmanda's friend Sasha's stepmother has just committed suicide-although, according to Sasha, Phoebe Ennis would never have killed herself, especially not while having a drink and wearing a red silk blouse and red sandals with four-inch heels. Amanda isn't persuaded, but reluctantly agrees to help investigate the woman's demise, though the evidence for foul play is slim. True, the middle-aged compulsive collector of knickknacks wasn't universally loved. Phoebe's own son hated her, and she bored her friends to death with hints of her "royal" lineage. And with four marriages behind her, she was already preparing to announce her renewed availability on the Net. But when another woman is found dead in Phoebe's house, it becomes clear that something is indeed murderously amiss, and much closer to home than Amanda or anyone else could have imagined.

The Amanda Pepper Mysteries: Bundle #5

The first three novels in the award-winning Amanda Pepper mystery series are now available in one volume! CAUGHT DEAD IN PHILADELPHIAThe debut of Philly Prep English teacher and accidental sleuth, Amanda Pepper, (and of C. K. Mackenzie, homicide detective) won the World Mystery Convention's "Anthony" for best first mystery. When the body of a colleague is found dead in Amanda's living room, she has to clear herself of suspicion-and make sure she isn't the next victim as well. And all she's got as a clue to the real killer's identity is a locket shaped like Winnie-the-Pooh. PHILLY STAKESAmanda attempts to instill the spirit of Christmas by having her students prepare and serve a meal for the homeless, but her plan backfires. A wealthy and politically ambitious parent, Alexander "Sandy" Clausen, turns the event into a lavish, catered publicity and personal photo-op. Worse, his party ends in fire and death with his daughter, Amanda's student, one of three people who insist they alone started the fire. Amanda wants to solve the crime with her sometime boyfriend and cop C. K. Mackenzie, and is equally determined to teach the the elusive killer a lesson or two as well. I'D RATHER BE IN PHILADELPHIAAmanda is sorting books for a school fundraiser, when she comes across a book for battered women that contains a special and frightening message from its original, anonymous owner. Desperate to learn who donated the books, Amanda's search leads her to deliberate brutality and its cold-blooded consequences.

The Amanda Pepper Mysteries: Bundle #1

In the City of Brotherly Love, nobody knows a thing about Emmie Cade, a young widow who "appeared from nowhere, " and in the blink of an eye was engaged to Leo Fairchild, a middle-aged bachelor with a fortune. However, as her marriage date approaches, Emmie's mother-in-law to be, the ailing, autocratic Claire Fairchild, receives anonymous letters. They suggest, none too subtly, that there's a great deal to learn about the mysterious young woman, none of it good, and much of it involving the violent deaths of the men in her life. Enter Amanda Pepper who, after completing her day of teaching English at Philly Prep, now moonlights as a P. I. along with C. K. Mackenzie, former homicide detective, current graduate student at Penn. The two of them are hired by Mrs. Fairchild to find out who the charming but evasive Emmie Cade really is. At thirty-two, the young woman has changed her address and name more often than some women change nail polish-and deliberately or not, she's provided no clues or access to her past. For Amanda, becoming C. K. Mackenzie's investigative partner is an exhilarating change from the politics and problems of the new school term, and a welcome distraction from the ordeal of meeting her own prospective in-laws. She's determined to prove herself an able investigator by ferreting out Emmie Cade's secrets, but almost immediately, instead of looking at events of the past, she's forced to deal with the here and now-including murder.

Claire and Present Danger - An Amanda Pepper Mystery, #11

Traditionally, Old Philadelphians keep a low profile. They associate with one another and leave life as discreetly as they have lived it. So Philly Prep English teacher Amanda Pepper, who thinks her only current problems are keeping her well-meaning family from hijacking her wedding, is understandably stunned to discover a perfect specimen of the species dying at the foot of the school's marble staircase. It is anybody's guess what led to Tomas Severin's apparent fall and, indeed, why he was in the building in the first place. More questions arise when Amanda enters her otherwise empty classroom and finds a take-out cup of herbal tea laced with the party drug her students call roofies. Why would a middle-aged Philadelphian have a date-rape drug in his tea? Why does he have Amanda's name scribbled in his pocket notebook? Hired by a member of the Severin family household, Amanda and her fiancé, C. K. Mackenzie, realize that many people felt their lives would improve if Tom's life ended--making it seemingly impossible to determine who'd been harassing Severin with threatening phone calls. Tom Severin leaves behind angry ex-wives, one recently dropped fiancée, and the current (about to be exed) Mrs. Tomas Severin. As secrets are unearthed, and cruelties old and new revealed, it's apparent that the end of Tom is just the beginning of the grief he caused.

Till the End of Tom - An Amanda Pepper Mystery, #12

Books seven through nine in the award-winning Amanda Pepper mystery series are now available in one volume! This collection includes: THE MUMMER'S CURSEIn her new novel starring Philadelphia schoolteacher Amanda Pepper, Gillian Roberts once again mixes mystery and mirth. This time Roberts explores Philadelphia's unique flesh and blood "historical monument"- the Mummers, who live (and perhaps are willing to die) for a few hours of glory every New Year's Day. The famous Mummers' Parade is an extravaganza that draws enormous crowds who cheer through chattering teeth, as more than thirty thousand clowns, string bands, and fancy brigades strut their stuff up Broad Street. But this year, while the music blares and the Mummers dance, a reveling Pierrot suddenly sinks to the ground, shot dead. Amanda is, at first, only a horrified spectator. But when the prime suspect-her friend and fellow teacher at Philly Prep-falsely claims to have been with her at the time of the murder, Amanda can no longer stay on the sidelines. Is the murder a flare-up of deadly rivalries? Is it connected with the disappearance, the week before Christmas, of another Mummer, the heir to a meat-packing family? Does someone disapprove of the Mummers' feathers, sequins, and string bands? And why is no one in the tight-knit world Amanda investigates willing to tell the truth about anything? THE BLUEST BLOODThe ultra-elegant fund-raiser in a fabled Main Line mansion benefits Philly Prep's Library, and gives Amanda a chance to play Cinderella for a night. The first clue that all might not go well is the host's figure hanging in effigy outside the estate, put there by the Moral Ecologists who have a long list of classic books that "pollute the mind." When murder follows, Amanda becomes enmeshed in old secrets and young lives. ADAM AND EVILIncludes a new introduction from author Gillian Roberts and an exclusive interview with Amanda Pepper herself! When a high school senior shows signs of mental illness, Amanda attempts to get him help, but she's rebuffed by his parents. When the same boy then becomes the prime suspect in a murder at the Philadelphia Main Library, and runs away, Amanda, who knows he's confused and in need of help-whether or not he committed the crime-has no choice but to run after him. And to run into the possibility of becoming the next victim herself.

The Amanda Pepper Mysteries: #3

Gillian Roberts has been recognized and presented with multiple awards for her Amanda Pepper mystery series. Now, collected here for the first time, are 14 short stories by this bestselling mystery author. From cats to marriages and dogs to dentists, these stories cover a wide range of themes and all are infused with Roberts' well-known sense of humor. Pulled from out-of-print anthologies and recovered from magazines, these stories represent 25 amazing years in the writing career of one of the mystery genre's most-beloved authors.

Murder She Did: 14 Killer Short Stories

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.

Helen Hath No Fury - An Amanda Pepper Mystery, #10

Have you ever thought about writing a mystery, and gave up the idea because you didn't know where to begin? Now is your chance to write the mystery of your dreams. You Can Write a Mystery, written by Gillian Roberts, author of the Anthony Award-winning Amanda Pepper series, will help you start your mystery, and guide you through to the end. With this book you'll learn how to build your story from the ground up, based on what Roberts calls the "Seven Cs." Examples and exercises will help you complete your story-filled with cliffhangers, intriguing characters and hooks. This book offers practical suggestions for handling problems likely to arise during the writing process. You will learn: ·The Seven Cs your book can't do without-characters, conflict, causality, complications, change, crisis and closure·The Fifteen Commandments for mystery·How to design your sleuth·How to hide clues and exploit red herrings·Research techniques·How to develop a style, find a tone and construct a killer plot In addition to practical writing advice, Roberts offers expert guidance for editing, revising and submitting a top-notch manuscript, whether for traditional or independent publishing. With its easy-to-understand format, You Can Write a Mystery will help take you from writer.to accomplished mystery writer.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - An Amanda Pepper Mystery, #5

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