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In 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 show more 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.
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I enjoyed the story. I will not rate this novel due to a glaring error.
As a former librarian, copy editor and reader, I am extremely disappointed in the writing by an author - a former teacher -within paragraph in Chapter 9 as follows:
" The visitors from a far planet continued to shuffle in, their eyes bleary, as if irritated by the vision of the dark months stretching ahead with nothing filling them but school. One could hardly count the February closures to commemorate Martin Luther King and long-dead presidents. Single-day breaks weren't oases worth anticipation."
Perhaps we don't share the same calendar views but the last time I was aware, there are January/February single-day closures of school.
"Day (officially Birthday of Martin show more Luther King, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15."
"Washington's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February, meaning it can occur the 15th through the 21st inclusive, in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States, who was born on February 22, 1732. Colloquially, it is widely known as Presidents Day and is often an occasion to remember all the presidents, not just George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is also in February. The term "Presidents Day" was coined in a deliberate attempt to change the holiday into one honoring multiple presidents."
"Although Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, nearly half of the state governments have officially renamed their Washington's Birthday observances as "Presidents' Day", "Washington and Lincoln Day", or other such designations. (In historical rankings of Presidents of the United States Lincoln and Washington are frequently, but not always, the top two presidents.) However, "Presidents' Day" is not always an all-inclusive term and might refer to only a selection of presidents."
For more information: please see this reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington's_Birthday show less
As a former librarian, copy editor and reader, I am extremely disappointed in the writing by an author - a former teacher -within paragraph in Chapter 9 as follows:
" The visitors from a far planet continued to shuffle in, their eyes bleary, as if irritated by the vision of the dark months stretching ahead with nothing filling them but school. One could hardly count the February closures to commemorate Martin Luther King and long-dead presidents. Single-day breaks weren't oases worth anticipation."
Perhaps we don't share the same calendar views but the last time I was aware, there are January/February single-day closures of school.
"Day (officially Birthday of Martin show more Luther King, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15."
"Washington's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February, meaning it can occur the 15th through the 21st inclusive, in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States, who was born on February 22, 1732. Colloquially, it is widely known as Presidents Day and is often an occasion to remember all the presidents, not just George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is also in February. The term "Presidents Day" was coined in a deliberate attempt to change the holiday into one honoring multiple presidents."
"Although Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, nearly half of the state governments have officially renamed their Washington's Birthday observances as "Presidents' Day", "Washington and Lincoln Day", or other such designations. (In historical rankings of Presidents of the United States Lincoln and Washington are frequently, but not always, the top two presidents.) However, "Presidents' Day" is not always an all-inclusive term and might refer to only a selection of presidents."
For more information: please see this reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington's_Birthday show less
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22+ Works 2,444 Members
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- Canonical title
- Mummers' Curse
- Original publication date
- 1996
- People/Characters
- Amanda Pepper
- Important places
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, USA
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- Members
- 171
- Popularity
- 191,073
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.43)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 2
