Adam and Evil

In her ninth adventure (after The Bluest Blood), Philadelphia Prep's English teacher, Amanda Pepper, is distracted by a mid-life crisis--so much so that readers will solve this novel's mystery before she does. Amanda has been having trouble with Adam, an intelligent but erratic student who tests her resolve to continue teaching. Adam's behavior has become disturbing: his essays are nonsensical, and he is acting hostile. Amanda thinks he should be getting professional help. During a meeting with his parents, however, they accuse Amanda of being the problem. The next day, while Amanda's class is in the library, an assistant librarian in the Rare Books Room is strangled, and Adam goes missing. The police are sure Adam killed the woman, but Amanda isn't convinced. To exonerate the boy, she determines to find out more about the victim, who was a friend of Amanda's sister, Beth. The siblings compile a list of possible killers, including an ambitious former husband, who took everything in the divorce, and a sister to whom the dead woman loaned money. In the meantime, Amanda is having problems with her live-in lover, C.K. Mackenzie, who believes Adam is guilty and is trying to track him down. She is also in trouble with her principal, at first for angering Adam's parents, then for bringing unwanted media attention to the school. Although Roberts tidily ties up the strings of this divergent plot, readers may be dismayed to find that at its core lies just another predictable tale of middle-age angst and greed. Agent, Jean Naggar. (July)