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Title: Caught Dead in Philadelphia
ISBN: 0345353404
Author:
Gillian Roberts
Publicate Date: 1988-10-12
Publish: 1988-10-12
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A good start for the series
This is the first novel in the Amanda Pepper series. Most reviewers agree that it is not the best novel in the series, but it is an interesting plot, and it did keep me up late to finish the novel. The writing style is very good, and it is an easy reading novel. You can guess at the guilty party and the ending, but it is not obvious, even when the motive is revealed. As in real life, there are characters in the novel you will like, and characters you will hate.
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2: A Bittersweet Farewell
I am happy to see that the publisher re-released this wonderful Amanda Pepper caper. I tried special ordering it at my local Borders, with no success. The series is dear to me: the protagonist a no-nonsense, endearing personality; the author, a talent whom I have queried on a few occasions about the series. I will miss this interesting creator and her adventurous amateur sleuth/English teacher when the series wraps-up in January 2007 with the final Amanda Pepper adventure, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS. Thanks for all the fun reads over the years. All best!
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3: Nice Little Mystery
Caught Dead in Philadelphia was Gillian Robert's first mystery novel and an instant success. The story profiles high school English teacher Amanda Pepper, an attractive young woman whose life is turned upside down when a co-worker she barely knows comes to her for help, and is later found dead in her apartment. I could not figure out who the murderer turned out to be. Roberts writes in the first person with a lot of humour, although sometimes she overdoes it a little with the jokes. I will definitely be going back for more mystery novels featuring Pepper by Roberts.
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4: An excellent first mystery
This is the third book I've read by Gillian Roberts but the first in the series -- I'm doing it backwards. This was still an excellent book, but not as polished as the two later books I've read. Still, Philadelphia "detective" heroine English teacher Amanda Pepper is just as likeable and funny from the start (although I think the books get funnier), and the romantic chemistry with Louisiana-born CK (in later books boyfriend and meets her as homicide detective in tihs book) is there from the start.
Amanda's involvement with murder mysteries begin when a rain-soaked part-time teacher at her school shows up first thing in the morning on the doorstep of her charming little colonial home. The ditzy visitor (she's an actress) is not making much sense, but Amanda has to get to work and leaves the jabbering woman (unwillingly) in her home where the soon-to-be victim says she's going to take a nap. In no time at all, as the reader discovers in the first few pages, she has been killed. The police at first suspect Amanda -- it was her home, she knew the victim, was the one who found her, and has apparently been telling some untruths to the witchy school secretary. Amanda is quickly drawn up into solving this murder, in part because it becomes clear quickly that her life may be in danger.
I am looking forward to reading the whole series. OK, maybe this is a series for literate women who like funny, gutsy women "detectives" with sexy boyfriends... but the writing is high quality and the plotting improves in future books in the series (in this one, I spotted the killer about half-way through the book, but then I read a LOT of mysteries and like to think I'm good at that.)
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5: A Very Likeable Heroine
Amanda Pepper is a thirty-year-old unmarried English teacher at elitist Philadelphia Prep and an amateur detective. She is a very likeable heroine and the book is consistently funny throughout. It is easy to understand why the author received an Anthony Award for best first mystery for this novel.
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