Book Description
Publication Date: August 13, 1990
"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 determined to teach the the elusive killer a lesson or two, as well.

I’ve been reading this series out of order. This is #2 (between Caught Dead in Philadelphia and I’d rather be in Philadelphia, both of which I read before this one). It was enjoyable, but my least favorite of the three. Still a worthwhile read. Amanda Pepper, central figure/sleuth in the series, teaches at an exclusive private school and her students live in a cocoon of privilege, with the attitude of entitlement that often entails. Trying to make them aware of and empathetic to those less fortunate is a tall order.

Hope it finds a new reader at the monthly meetup!

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I hope you enjoy the book!

Grabbed this one at today's meetup; many thanks! It opens with "I blame the whole mess on Charles Dickens," with some amusing quips about protagonist/teacher Amanda trying to get her class of privileged kids enthused about a "Christmas Carol"-themed production of some kind - only to have it universally squelched. This leads to an attempt at teaching a real-world lesson about being Scrooge-ish, which also gets squelched by the wealthy parents - and then the wealthiest parent gets himself murdered... I enjoyed some of the quips and snark, but found myself losing interest in mid-story, so I skimmed to the (admittedly very tense) climax; a bit too chatty, that murderer, but not a bad finish.

I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2019 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***