Gillian Roberts Books In Order

Amanda Pepper Books In Publication Order

  1. Caught Dead in Philadelphia (1987)
  2. Philly Stakes (1989)
  3. I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia (1992)
  4. With Friends Like These… (1993)
  5. How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1994)
  6. In the Dead of Summer (1995)
  7. The Mummers’ Curse (1996)
  8. The Bluest Blood (1998)
  9. Adam and Evil (1998)
  10. Helen Hath No Fury (2000)
  11. Claire and Present Danger (2003)
  12. Till the End of Tom (2004)
  13. A Hole in Juan (2006)
  14. All’s Well That Ends (2007)

Emma Howe & Billie August Books In Publication Order

  1. Time and Trouble (1998)
  2. Whatever Doesn’t Kill You (2001)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. Easy Answers (1982)
  2. The Silent Partner (1985)
  3. Mendocino (1988)
  4. As Good As It Gets (1992)

Short Story Collections In Publication Order

  1. Where’s the Harm? (1999)
  2. Murder, She Did (2014)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. You Can Write a Mystery (1999)
  2. From Cairo to Coffee: A True Story of Betrayal, and Misplaced Trust (2010)
  3. Prizing Literature: The Celebration and Circulation of National Culture (2011)
  4. Discrepant Parallels: Cultural Implications of the Canada-US Border (2015)

Amanda Pepper Book Covers

Emma Howe & Billie August Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Short Story Collections Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

Gillian Roberts Books Overview

Caught Dead in Philadelphia

Anthony Award winner for Best First Mystery Novel the debut of the Philadelphia set Amanda Pepper series. Amanda Pepper, English teacher at Philly Prep, does not hate her life. But when a fellow teacher who’s engaged to a senate candidate, begs for rest on Amanda’s couch, then dies, things could be better. Then the police suspect her of murder, she begins her own investigation, and ends by teaching a certain blue eyed cop a thing or two…
.’Gillian Roberts is a mystery reader’s dream come true.’Lia Matera

Philly Stakes

‘The central pleasure is Pepper and her catalogue of urban woes, delivered with self depracting savagery and humor in a scathing first person.’THE PHILADELHPIA INQUIRER Book two in the Amanda Pepper mystery series. Amanda Pepper, an English teacher at school for Philadelphia’s filthy rich, is determined to teach the kids a lesson about the true spirit of Christmas. She intends to have them cook and serve a meal to the homeless, but unfortunately a powerful parent takes over, and the simple meal turns into a catered affair topped off by murder. Of course, Amanda wants to solve the crime with her sometime boyfriend and cop C.K. Mackenzie. She’s equally determeind to teach the the elusive killer a lesson or two, as well. From Gillian Roberts, the Anthony Award winning author of CAUGHT DEAD IN PHILADELPHIA, I’D RATHER BE IN PHILADELPHIA, WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE…
, and HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION. From the Paperback edition.

I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia

Book three in the Anthony Award winning mystery series featuring Amanda Pepper, the resourceful English teacher at Philly Prep. Amanda 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. Gillian Roberts is ‘the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers, laughing when especially when it hurts, and giving more wit per page than most writers give per book.’Nancy PickardFrom the Paperback edition.

With Friends Like These…

‘Gillian Roberts is a mystery reader’s dream come true.’ Lia MateraBy the Anthony Award winning author of ‘I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia,’ another Amanda Pepper mystery. Well known Broadway playwright and TV producer Lyle Zacharias is throwing himself a lavish birthday party in his hometown of Philadelphia. Guests include his current wife, ex wives, friends, former partners not to mention Amanda Pepper and her own irrepressible mother, Bea. Yet when Lyle drops dead in the middle of a speech, it appears the likely perpetrator is none other than Bea, whose gift was fifty delicious, but apparently poisoned, tarts!It’s up to Amanda to clear her mother’s name and find the real murderer…
before he or she strikes again! But Amanda herself may be the next target! Who says teaching isn’t exciting? With any more excitement, Amanda will have to retire before she hits thirty one…
if she lives that long!From the Paperback edition.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

‘DELIGHTFUL…
COLORFUL…
Roberts plunks her mystery amid the glitter and grime of casino life.’ L.A. Daily NewsAfter a tough year of teaching at Philly Prep, Amanda Pepper decides to go to Atlantic City with her friend, Sasha Berg. Yet a beach vacation turns deadly when a bludgeoned corpse shows up in their hotel room and Sasha is the prime suspect. So Amanda hits the boardwalk to track down the real killer, chasing down clues around the surf and in the casinos, and discovering along the way that appearances are more than deceiving: they can be criminal and, sometimes, downright murderous…
.’Roberts combines appealing characters, a good puzzle and some serious messages in an entertaining whole.’ Publishers Weekly’The Dorothy Parker of mystery writers.’ Nancy Pickard’Gillian Roberts is a mystery reader’s dream come true.’ Lia MateraFrom the Paperback edition.

In the Dead of Summer

‘Here’s the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers…
giving more wit per page than most writers give per book.’ Nancy PickardMellow 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. From the Hardcover edition.

The Mummers’ Curse

‘Here’s the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers…
giving more wit per page than most writers give per book.’ Nancy PickardIn 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?With Amanda on the scene, the who in whodunit doesn’t stay secret for long. In The Mummers’ Curse, Gillian Roberts is, as always, at the head of the parade.

The Bluest Blood

In her Amanda Pepper mysteries, Gillian Roberts evokes the City of Brotherly Love in all its charm, mischief, and menace. Now she turns her wickedly perceptive eye to the residents of Philadelphia’s posh Main Line district, the legendary land of the rich and well to do, where the wealthy live their very private lives and occasionally commit very scandalous crimes. Aristocratic Philadelphia natives may think The Bluest Blood in America flows through their veins, but sometimes outsiders with large fortunes can buy their way into this privileged company and glamorous newcomers Neddy and Tea Roederer have wealth aplenty. For English teacher Amanda Pepper, the champagne gala on behalf of Philly Prep’s library is a night to remember. After all, it is her introduction to ultra rich society an evening so extravagant that nothing can tarnish the party…
not even a group of protesters outside burning the host in effigy. But Amanda senses deeper trouble, and her intuition is right on target. The Moral Ecologists, who vehemently feel that ‘reading pollutes the mind,’ will do anything to advance their agenda. And Amanda’s new affluent acquaintances prove to be just as deceitful and violent as she learns firsthand that The Bluest Blood bleeds just as red. Especially with murder. With her customary bons mots, elegant prose, and storytelling prowess, Gillian Roberts upholds her enviable reputation as ‘the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers…
giving more wit per page than most writers give per book.’ Nancy Pickard

Adam and Evil

In Gillian Roberts’s captivating novels of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, with its narrow streets and venerable architecture, can suddenly shiver in the icy winds of menace. Then it becomes a startlingly deceptive place, where evildoers masquerade as Old Philadelphians and law abiding folk stand accused of unspeakable crimes. Philly Prep English teacher Amanda Pepper isn’t sure what category her bright senior student Adam Evans falls into, but she fears for him. Increasingly erratic, unkempt, and isolated, Adam is an accident waiting to happen. So when a young woman is murdered at the landmark Free Library while Amanda and her class are touring the premises, Adam now mysteriously missing becomes the prime suspect. But unlike the police including her detective boyfriend Amanda is dead certain that Adam is both innocent and in terrible danger. And he’s not alone. For the more Amanda sifts through the layers of the victim’s life, the closer she comes to losing her own. Stylish, literate, darkly humorous, with a matchless feeling for characters and locale, the novels of Gillian Roberts always deliver the goods. Her sparkling ninth Amanda Pepper mystery proves yet again that she is indeed ‘the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers…
giving more wit per page than most writers give per book.’ Nancy Pickard

Helen Hath No Fury

In the stately nineteenth century homes on Philadelphia’s Delancy Street, the wilder passions scarcely ruffle the peace. Murder is unimaginable, 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 hero*ine’s suicide, book group member Helen Coulter falls to her death from her roof garden. Helen’s death is declared a suicide a shocking end to a perfect life but Amanda is skeptical. In the course of recording the group’s memories of Helen, inconsistencies and questions arise and Amanda becomes convinced that Helen Coulter did not take her own life. Why is this admirable woman dead? And if she was killed, who performed the heinous act? Helen’s life was not an open book, but somewhere among its startling subplots Amanda believes she’ll find the answers. 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. Like all Gillian Roberts’s novels, Helen Hath No Fury is a lot like life scary, fun, and fascinating. Roberts remains ‘the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers…
giving more wit per page than most writers give per book.’ Nancy Pickard

Claire and Present Danger

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. Brilliantly plotted, deeply perceptive, as delicious and sparkling as fine champagne, Gillian Roberts s new Amanda Pepper masterpiece doesn t miss a trick. More than ever, she s the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers…
giving more wit per page than most writers give per book. From the Hardcover edition.

Till the End of Tom

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 fianc , 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 fianc e, 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. To thousands of adoring Amanda Pepper fans, Gillian Roberts s new mystery offers unmitigated delight. A note to the uninitiated: There could be no better time for you to meet the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers…
giving more wit per page than most writers give per book Nancy Pickard. From the Hardcover edition.

A Hole in Juan

No 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. From the Hardcover edition.

All’s Well That Ends

Barring the usual teenage pranks, all seems peaceful at Philly Prep, the private school in Philadelphia where Amanda Pepper teaches English. No doubt the money that appears to be missing from funds collected to aid victims of a catastrophic hurricane Down South will turn up. Probably the rumor that some of Amanda’s students have discovered the thrills of gambling is totally unfounded. In any case, Amanda has other things to think about. Her husband, private investigator C. K. MacKenzie, is struggling to help his Louisiana kinfolk reconstruct their post hurricane lives. Her 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. All s Well That Ends is the final novel in Gillian Roberts s acclaimed Amanda Pepper series. It s also the best, irresistibly intelligent, and richly entertaining. Amanda s farewell adventure brings the genius of the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers Nancy Pickard into full flower, and the bloom is sweet and a wonder to behold. From the Hardcover edition.

Time and Trouble

Seasoned investigator Emma Howe has been in the business so long nothing can surprise her. But her new assistant, an overeducated single mother named Billie August, nearly manages to amaze her. Billie is quick, ambitious, smart. And a lot tougher than she appears. That’s a good thing, because Emma has just taken a case that will rock both of their worlds. Sophie Redmond has come to Emma in a desperate search for her teenage daughter, whom she fears has joined a bizarre cult. In an odd twist of fate, Emma and Billie recognize wheelchair bound Mrs. Redmond as an insurance scammer they’ve been tailing for another client. The woman’s fake injuries are only one symptom of a family plunge into darkness a legacy one troubled girl wants desperately to escape.

Whatever Doesn’t Kill You

Private investigator Emma Howe’s hiring of young Billie August see Time and Trouble, the first book in Gillian Roberts’ new series was an act of desperation. She needed an assistant and could pay very little; Billie needed a job and would take what she could get. But both women were surprised to find that in spite of Billie’s inexperience and Emma’s tendency to bully, they were slowly coming to respect each other. Now they are faced with two cases involving more than the routine surveillance of suspected insurance fraud perpetrators. A young man of deficient mental ability has been accused of murdering a woman who had befriended him on their daily jogging route. Emma has handed this case to Billie, though the evidence against him is convincing and she has no hope that the younger woman can come up with anything new. Emma herself takes on another case that seems destined to lead to a dead end a young woman who knows she is adopted wants to find her birth mother; her adoptive mother refuses to cooperate. There’s not much hope that either investigation will find anything helpful, but both the accused young man’s mother and the adopted woman are eager to try, and the fees will pay the month’s rent. If either detective could extract information from the frightened young man, it would be gentle Billie rather than impatient Emma. Billie, whose own five year old son requires a knowing touch, gradually calms the troubled youth; Emma, meanwhile, is making progress on her own case, and the detectives are not only amazed to find that the two seemingly so different cases are moving closer and closer together, but that they may, indeed, be successful in each. What they also find, almost too late, is that the secrets they are uncovering are leading them into peril.

You Can Write a Mystery

Have you ever thought about writing a mystery, and gave up the idea because you weren’t sure how to start it? Well now is your chance to go out and write that mystery you have always dreamed of. 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.’The ‘rules’ that govern the mystery are the rules that govern all fiction. Every novel needs suspense and drama,’ says Roberts. With this book you’ll learn how to build your story from the grave up. Roberts focuses on what she calls the ‘Seven C’s’, why you need them and how they help your story. She offers examples and exercises that will help you complete your story filled with cliffhangers, intriguing characters and hooks. This book also offers practical suggestions for handling problems likely to arise during the writing process. Along the way, Robert’s will teach you:The 15 commandments for mysteryHow to design your sleuthThe Seven Cs your book can’t do without characters, conflict, causality, complications, change, crisis and closureHow to hide clue, and exploit red herringsResearch techniquesHow to develop a style, find a tone and construct a killer plotYou Can Write a Mystery, offers practical guidance for the first time writer. Its easy to understand format will help the most amateur to become a mystery writer. In addition to the practical writing advice supplied, Roberts also offers expert advice for editing, revising and submitting a top notch manuscript.

From Cairo to Coffee: A True Story of Betrayal, and Misplaced Trust

I have written a true account of a relationship and its despicable ending: that almost cost me my life. That there was, indeed, a relationship is patent. The truth is all around me. A great number of points of interest, irregularities and proof are now in the light that were once in the dark. Having shown that, it is understandable to see, why the betrayal was so devastating. And why my trust was so misplaced. There are also in life acknowledged truths: things we will believe without evidence. It is within acceptable limits to presuppose that in a relationship that had spanned almost eight years, that assurances were given and promises were made. I am no author, no writer, no spinner of tales. The desire to record and write down the truth was a lifeline. I wrote my story because I’m trying to reclaim my life: the book is a benchmark of my progress to date. I nearly paid a terrible price. The relationship that dominated my life is over now, and its despicable ending. I have lost someone I thought I could trust unequivocally. I have lost my home, and my job. And my beautiful cat Cleopatra, I couldn’t take her to where I moved to, so I lost even her. I lost my mind for awhile: and I nearly lost my life. Now I have to move forward, and hope that the grief will loosen its hold, and a brighter future will give a better shape back to the world. In his last e mail to my daughter he said, ‘Today’s disagreements will resolve themselves and become yesterday’s forgotten problems’ I do hope that he’s right. Gillian Roberts September 2008

Related Authors

Leave a Comment