The combination of diverse personalities makes Amanda Pepper's monthly book group the source of spirited debates. But this month's book, Kate Chopin's The Awakening, seems to be particularly disturbing to club member Helen Coulter. She rails against what she sees as the book's anti-feminist message -- that women who step over the line sexually have to be punished. At the close of the book group, Helen promises to refrain from more agitated outbursts at the next meeting. But there is no next meeting for Helen. The very next day, she is dead, after a plunge off the roof of her four-story home.

A note scribbled in Helen's notebook indicates that her death was a suicide. Amanda is struck by how little she knew her fellow book-club member. She can't believe that the fiery Helen would have ended her life that way. In trying to memorialize Helen for her grief-stricken teenaged daughter, Amanda and the other book group members discover numerous secrets. Some of the facts they didn't know about Helen (and about each other) do indeed point towards suicide, but others are more puzzling. Eventually they add up to a rationale for murder, and the clues lead directly to another high profile member of the book group.

While Amanda is puzzling over Helen's death, she also finds herself reluctantly drawn into the problems of one of her students who is "in trouble" in the old-fashioned sense, with no hope of support from her father and stepmother. And Amanda's live-in lover, policeman C.K. Mackenzie, insists on telling Amanda how happy he is that they aren't tied down by marriage -- which is just fine, really, because Amanda isn't ready to get married. Really. But does C.K. have to sound so overjoyed about their non-marital status?

With her usual panache and wit, Roberts, who is also author Judith Greber, makes Helen Hath No Fury a quick, enjoyable read. But underneath the dry humor is quite a bit of substance as well. She combines a good mystery with some more thoughtful moments as Amanda struggles with the basic truth that we don't really know the secrets behind the public personas we all adopt. As in her previous mystery, Adam and Evil, Roberts poses difficult questions without easy answers. She also has a bit of fun as one of Amanda's fellow book-club members, an aspiring mystery writer, tries to protect Amanda by reminding her of various mystery clichés. Somehow, even though she's been forewarned, Amanda can't help finding herself in those stereotypical situations.

Readers who are unfamiliar with Amanda, Mackenzie and the assorted craziness at Philly Prep High School will catch on quickly. There are a minimum number of recurring characters, and no cliffhanger endings. Readers who have followed the series from its inception will definitely not want to miss this installment, as the central mystery of the series -- C.K. Mackenzie's real name -- is finally solved, in a very funny moment that also serves as a milestone in finally moving the couple's relationship along to a new level. After ten novels, some series become stale, but Amanda Pepper and Gillian Roberts show no signs of slowing down.

--Susan Scribner