In the Dead of Summer

Amanda Pepper #6

by Gillian Roberts

"Here's the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers...giving more wit per page than most writers give per book."
--Nancy Pickard
Mellow old Philadelphia, where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have flourished for centuries, now has a new claim to fame. The City of Brotherly Love has been proclaimed number one in the nation...for hostility. English teacher Amanda Pepper, crabbily gearing up for summer school at exclusive Philly Prep, feels she fits right in with the hostility mode.
And it's going to get worse. Amanda gets her first prickling of unease in her own classroom, where a reading of Romeo and Juliet activates some very strange chemistry. Then the computer science teacher begins receiving anonymous "go-back-to-Africa" phone calls. A young Vietnamese boy dies in a drive-by shooting. And late one night, outside a Chinatown massage parlor, student April Tuong is kidnapped.
Random violence? Perhaps. But Amanda refuses to let gentle April vanish without at least asking a few questions, starting in her own classroom.
Gillian Roberts's Philadelphia is the real thing. So, too, are her wit and humor, and her gripping story of Amanda's tenacious search for the missing girl--along the brick streets of historic Philadelphia, in exotic Chinatown, and through the shady, sinister back alleys of the impoverished. The truth, when she finds it, is appalling, deadly, and much too close to home.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Adult Fiction

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philly. I mean the city, not the sandwich. And Ms. Pepper. In my eyes, one does not go without the other. The City of Brotherly Love would be a much lesser place without Mandy, the teacher. Amanda Pepper is looking for some extra cash and decides that teaching summer school is the definitive answer. At least she gets to teach in her own school. Most of the other teachers are from different schools and so Mandy gets to once again try out her social skills. I, like her, detest most of her new colleagues. Except Flora. I feel bad for her because she's such a likable character. To have to deal with hate mongering because she's black must be a horrible thing. There seems to be quite the rash of hat crime happening in Philly that summer. Gang shootings, anonymous letters and graffiti adorning the nicest of buildings.

But back to the teachers. Five is a smug bugger. All the women fall for him, which immediately make him a turnoff for me. And Lowell....well he's just a sniveling weenie. Poor Amanda, getting stuck with him because her mother knows his mother....makes them sound like they're 16! Aldiss - now that's a woman who needs to be wiped off the face of the earth. To imagine, being a teacher in a classroom that has major multiculture happening and being that much of a racist pig!! Every time she opened her mouth I wanted to slap her silly.

I love your books, Gillian Roberts. I love seeing what mess Ms. Pepper gets herself embroiled in. And I love that there always seems to be some moral standpoint behind every novel. Can't wait to see what happens next - both at school and at "home".

[Vita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun books, a little predictable sometimes, other times a little ridiculous how the main character would act/react - almost like she has zero control of her own behavior/doesn't learn from her mistakes/is stuck at the same developmental stage as the students she teaches - but her behavior will fluctuate between books so that is what makes it detract from the story. I felt like "Wait, she wouldn't have still done that/said that/etc. after how she had developed over the previous couple of books. ??"

But overall, very good.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Negative atmosphere

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still enjoying this series but this one wasn’t as enjoyable as the rest, though I can’t say why. Perhaps the subject matter and entire scenario was a bit too real. Not sure. Also, I’m sorry to say that I think Amanda is starting to get on my nerves just a tiny bit.

[Sue Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gripping, good read, full of intellect and wit. The hatred that fuels this sad story is very topical and familiar. An unsettling, depressing book that needs to be read widely.

[Ronda Six Garnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me a couple of chapters to get into it...but once I did..I liked it...

[Monisa Nandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this series because I needed something light and fluffy but novel 6 in the series is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

[Mare · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters just keep getting better and better.

[Martin B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. First time I read this author and her writing is clever and humorous. Time to find another of her stories

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was published in 1994, and it is a reminder that the 90's were a decade of trying to find commonality between diverse types of people. The 90's covered my formative years, and I remember how much hope there was. I was really surprised to see this book tackle these social issues, and it is still so relevant today. Mandy Pepper is teaching "Romeo & Juliet" in her class, and I love that the author makes correlations to that play throughout the novel.

"'It's like how they say we always carry viruses in us,' Flora said. 'We don't notice them. We fight them off. Only sometimes, when our resistance is down, they take over. Well, if hate's a virus, and why shouldn't it be, then that's what it feels [like] is happening now. Something in us has gotten weak, and the virus is running rampant. There's an epidemic going on. A plague (44).'"

Mandy says: "'There's nothing harder to understand. All our plays and novels are attempts to comprehend a little piece of the puzzle. That's why they were written; that's why we read them. And this one...touches on issues that are certainly still relevant, like the hatred that led somebody to shoot that [Vietnamese] boy Friday afternoon. Or, like the hatred...against an African-American woman whose only offense seems to be the color of her skin'" (48).

And for those rooting for Mandy and C.K. Mackenzie, events in this book force them to make a decision about the next step in their relationship.

[Jill Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the series by Gillian Roberts (aka Judith Greber) about Amanda "Mandy" Pepper, an English teacher at the prestigious school, Philadelphia Prep, the students at which are not always distinguished in theeir scholarly pursuits but who are cushioned against reality by their parents' bank accounts. Amanda is spicy, witty, young and attractive, and gifted with rare common sense. She has an on-going romance with Police Detective C. K. Mackenzie, a displaced Southerner who brings New Orleans style and sex-appeal to the North with him. Other supporting characters include Amanda's retired-to-Florida but atill amazingly invasive mother Bea, her sister Beth who has the ideal marriage and family, her unconventional friend and socialite Sasha Berg, and her fellow teachers, colleagues, and students at Philly Prep.

As the story begins, Amanda has been wheedled into teaching English in summer school, and it promises to be a long, hot, humid summer in Philadelphia. Her usual students are supplemented by students from other, less privileged schools in Greater Philadelphia; money and social and cultural pressures quickly separate them into gangs and cliques suggestive of "West Side Story", an interesting coincidence because "Romeo and Juliet" is the Shakespearean play Amanda is teaching her kids over the summer. Some of the teachers are also from other schools and bring their own prejudices with them. One of these--Batholomew Dennison the Fifth (affectionately known as 'Five')--is a handsome charmer who soon has the female staff exercising their wiles in his direction. Fortunately, her relationship with Mackenzie has moved forward enough for the couple to be considering moving in together, so 'Five' fails to draw Amanda in as one of his legion of followers. Furthermore, Mackenzie is recovering from a gunshot wound that shattered his leg and left him in a cast and off duty on disability; he requires some additional TLC and is idle enough to take more than the usual interest in Amanda's career and life.

In class, April Truong, a gifted student who is fascinated by Shakespeare's Juliet, has many pressures outside of school including a nysterious job and complicated relationship with the Vietnamese community and a non-Vietnamese boyfriend. This causes complications with her family, particularly her older brother. When a drive-by shooting takes the life of a Vietnamese boy, the already overheated city becomes even more fiery. A teacher Amanda has befriended begins receiving phone calls telling her to "go back to Africa" and her classroom is vandalized. Then the lovely April is kidnapped outside a massage parlor in Philly's Chinatown, raising questions about her afterschool job and lifestyle.

(more review to follow soon!)

[Fmorlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amanda Pepper lives in Philly. A school teacher, boyfriend a cop and a mother in florida pushing for marriage. She is teaching summer scool english and helping a young vietnamese girl improve her english and prepare for college. During the few weeks of school April disappears, her friend Flora is getting hate mail and warnings. Amanda knows these all are related, she and another teacher begin investigating. Of course the mysterious CK ( we dont know the cops first name yet) gets involved with the investigating. other incidences occur that make amanda more resolved to solve these hate crimes. It has some twists that make this interesting.

[Cindy S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amanda Pepper is a teacher with a sharp wit and a tenacious personality. A student goes missing from her summer school class and no one seems particularly concerned. Other suspicious events start to occur at the school; defaced cars, threatening notes, racist slurs and a drive by shooting. Are these all random events or are they connected? Amanda is determined to discover the truth even if she may also become a target. An interesting mystery with quirky characters.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed this book better had I read it all the way through instead of reading in bits and pieces while waiting at appointments. Too many characters and I kept forgetting who is who, although surprisingly, I kept the action straight. :) Anyway, this was an enjoyable mystery. I appreciate that Amanda makes some dumb choices and then admits to herself that it was a stupid choice.

[Kim Mccarter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, this series is growing on me. I think I liked this one better that the last one I read (#3) because there was more in it about the students than in the last one I read. I have also now read enough about the interactions between Amanda and C.K. to be interested in their relationship. It's a bit sad that it has taken me three books to feel that I'm beginning to understand the main characters.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been to Philadelphia in the summer--ugh!!! She's got that right. This is an Amanda Pepper mystery. Since she's a teacher, I always think I'm going to like the books more than I end up doing. But a pleasant-enough diversion...

[Partridge Public]

Roberts, Gillian

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it. I think that's about all I can say.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some things about it are a little goofy, but the overall feel and the characters are enjoyable and worth reading.