I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia: An Amanda Pepper Mystery - Tapa dura

Amanda Pepper's third outing finds her leafing through underlined passages and frantic handwritten notes in a second-hand paperback that might help her find an unknown woman in certain peril. By the author of Caught Dead in Philadelphia.

n the Anthony Award-winning mystery series featuring Amanda Pepper, the resourceful English teacher at Philly Prep.
Amanda is sorting books for a school fundraiser, when she comes across a book for battered women that contains a special and frightening message from its original, anonymous owner. Desperate to learn who donated the books, Amanda's search leads her to deliberate brutality and its cold-blooded consequences.
Gillian Roberts is "the Dorothy Parker of mystery writers, laughing when--especially when--it hurts, and giving more wit per page than most writers give per book."
Nancy Pickard
From the Paperback edition.