From Publishers Weekly
Anthony Award winner Roberts offers another charming and amusing cozy, the 11th to feature Philadelphia high school teacher and part-time sleuth Amanda Pepper (after 2000's Helen Hath No Fury). Amanda and her ex-cop lover, C.K. Mackenzie, who's supplementing their meager income by working as a PI while he completes a Ph.D. in criminology, are finally engaged. C.K. asks Amanda to interview a new client, Claire Fairchild, who wants her prospective daughter-in-law, Emmie Cade, investigated because "I don't know who she is." Amanda agrees to take the assignment with some misgivings, since she herself is about to meet C.K.'s mother for the first time and sympathizes with Emmie. C.K., however, unearths a wealth of disconcerting information about Ms. Cade, whose friends and lovers have been felled by accidents, suicides and even murders. She's a dangerous woman-or is she? Then Mrs. Fairchild dies, officially of natural causes, and Emmie implores Amanda to discover why her life is such a wreck. There's a delightfully worked out parallel between a troubled student in Amanda's class and the even more troubled Emmie. Subplots proliferate. By the time you've learned the solution, so much has occurred that you've lost sight of the problem and are left waiting for the next installment. They will wed, won't they? C.K. and Amanda could be the new Nick and Nora. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Following Helen Hath No Fury (2000), here's another mystery featuring schoolteacher and amateur sleuth Amanda Pepper. This time out Amanda's hired by the wealthy Claire Fairchild, who tells our hero that the impending marriage between her son, Leo, and the beautiful Emmie Cade could be derailed by some anonymous letters suggesting that her soon-to-be daughter-in-law might not be the wonderful young woman everyone thinks she is. Digging into Emmie's past, Amanda uncovers a whole lot of suspicious things, most of which pale in comparison to the murder that happens in the here and now. In many ways, this is a traditional amateur-detective yarn; cosmetically, it looks like just another cozy. But there's one important difference: Amanda Pepper. She's young, sparky, funny, tough--pretty much the antithesis of the grandmotherly stereotype so common in the genre. Amanda is nobody's grandmother. And, as her fans have already discovered, she's nobody to mess with, either. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review

“Claire and Present Danger is a delightful mystery and schoolteacher Amanda Pepper is a clever, engaging sleuth, facing the challenge of in-laws and outlaws and sharing wry observations about life inside and outside the classroom.”
—ROCHELLE KRICH


From the Hardcover edition.


Review

?Claire and Present Danger is a delightful mystery and schoolteacher Amanda Pepper is a clever, engaging sleuth, facing the challenge of in-laws and outlaws and sharing wry observations about life inside and outside the classroom.?
?ROCHELLE KRICH


From the Hardcover edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"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.

SYNOPSIS

In the City of Brotherly Love, nobody knows a thing about Emmie Cade, a young widow who ￯﾿ﾽappeared from nowhere,￯﾿ﾽ 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.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Anthony Award winner Roberts offers another charming and amusing cozy, the 11th to feature Philadelphia high school teacher and part-time sleuth Amanda Pepper (after 2000's Helen Hath No Fury). Amanda and her ex-cop lover, C.K. Mackenzie, who's supplementing their meager income by working as a PI while he completes a Ph.D. in criminology, are finally engaged. C.K. asks Amanda to interview a new client, Claire Fairchild, who wants her prospective daughter-in-law, Emmie Cade, investigated because "I don't know who she is." Amanda agrees to take the assignment with some misgivings, since she herself is about to meet C.K.'s mother for the first time and sympathizes with Emmie. C.K., however, unearths a wealth of disconcerting information about Ms. Cade, whose friends and lovers have been felled by accidents, suicides and even murders. She's a dangerous woman-or is she? Then Mrs. Fairchild dies, officially of natural causes, and Emmie implores Amanda to discover why her life is such a wreck. There's a delightfully worked out parallel between a troubled student in Amanda's class and the even more troubled Emmie. Subplots proliferate. By the time you've learned the solution, so much has occurred that you've lost sight of the problem and are left waiting for the next installment. They will wed, won't they? C.K. and Amanda could be the new Nick and Nora. Agent, Jean Naggar. (June 3) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Because of disturbing anonymous letters, a rich old lady hires Philadelphia schoolteacher Amanda Pepper (Caught Dead in Philadelphia) to investigate the "credentials" of her son's evasive fianc e. What Amanda finds may be murder, both past and present. For all collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews