Customer Reviews

Death in a Hot Flash (Bel Barrett Mysteries (Avon Books))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the first Jane Isenberg book that I have read, but it won't be the last. She has a way of catching you at the very beginning and holding your interest until the last page. It's refreshing to find an entertaining sleuth "of a certain age" who has zany friends but yet has the same worries all women of this age have - worry about young adult children and aging parents. Her crotchety mother is a real kick and her boyfriend Sol is a winner. I can't wait to revisit the gang in the rest of the series. You will not be disappointed with this mystery.

What a delightful mystery read! The plot is well-constructed and timely with many unexpected twists,while the characters are both genuine and distinctive. At the same time, the life situations of protagonist Bel Barrett, her family and her multicultural friends are ones that every mature reader will recognize with a blend of empathetic sadness and rib-tickling laughter. I recommend this highly satisfying book to all mystery fans, and especially to sandwich-generation empty-nesters, slice-of-urban-life afficionados, and those who know that 50-something women have the most interesting lives--even when they aren't stumbling over bodies. Bel Barrett and her creator Jane Isenberg go from strength to strength, and I can't wait for the next book in the series. Keep them coming, please!

I think this is a heroine for our times! This is not one of those young, pouty-lipped, long-legged, blondes with whom every other male character falls in love. This is a real character with whom you want to meet for lunch and dish the dirt. This will be one of those you pass on to other female friends of a "certain age." I don't think men will like this one. They just won't get it. I also like the use of letters and emails to start off each chapter. It really helps move the story.

This is a great idea for a series- The heroine gets flashes of inspiration, or are they hot flashes? highly entertaing characters make this a great fun read. The symptoms of Bel Bartlet are ones I can laugh at, and see it great that they are incoporated. Just because women get older doesn't mean they disappear! I t just means that they have a greater craving for chocolate and may forget a few things, but are still active crime-solving members of Mystery fiction, and the world. This was a quick, fun read. Perfect for the beach or doctor's office while you await the news.

Professor Bel Barrett is a nice woman and so are her friends, her children, and her mother whose brain cells just needed a slight realignment. Jane Isenberg perfectly captures the multi-cultural ambiance of a community college and the dedication of those who teach there. The mysteries in this series are solid and fun. Bel is obviously enduring the joys of menopause and her references to it throughout will strike a chord with the similarly afflicted. The grimy setting of Jersey City, New Jersey is not ideal, but Isenberg almost makes the place sound appealing. I even like the author's photo on the back page. Like I imagine Bel to look, Isenberg has the kind of face you want to see on your friends-kind, bright, and smiling. The series is a fun way to pass a rainy weekend.

Peppered with fun, spiced with Jewish ethnicity, there is earthy comfort in Bel's sharp-eyed realism as she faces the hard and comic mysteries of maturity. We can relate to the multigenerational trap between her adult kids and prickly aging mom, we can laugh at the loony loving friendships, and we are entertained from page one to the last as we follow Bel sleuthing through the back alleys of Hoboken, NJ on the trail of a new mystery. This is Nancy Drew grown into a warm and nurturing protagonist, one with spiky insights into life and love, a woman as real as your own best friend. Her voice - at once sophisticated and borderline-bawdy - is addictive. Once you've picked up the book it carries you to the end; once you've reached the end, it carries you to the next in the series. Keep writing, Jane, I want to keep reading!

The River's Edge Community College faculty is shocked when the body of part-time professor and funeral director Vinny Vallone is found floating in the Hudson River. English professor Bel Barrett is especially shocked, since she is co-teaching a course with Vinny. At first, rumors are that Vinny may have committe suicide, but the medical examiner finds that Vinny was killed by a blow to the head. When one of Bel's students becomes a prime suspect in the murder, she and her sleuthing friends Illuminada and Betty decide to investiage, in order to clear Bel's student Henry.

Meanwhile, Bel has lots of other personal problems to deal with. Her father dies suddenly of a heart attack, prompting Bel to move her octagenerian mother to New Jersey to live with her. Plus, Bel's daughter Rebecca has a major accident and ends up in the hospital. Finally, Bel is constantly worried about her son who is living in a kibbutz in Israel. Did I mention that Bel is having trouble with the man in her life, too? In spite of all these diversions, Bel and her friends try to get to the bottom of Vinny's murder.

Bel and her friends are just delightful. I disagree with the other reviewers who dismiss this book as boring. "Death in a Hot Flash" is another thoroughly enjoyable story about a woman "of a certain age." I definitely recommend this series!

This was a fun, character-driven mystery featuring Bel Barrett, that menopausal professor with the two great friends. Bel ends up trying to find out who killed one her colleagues at the college. Could it be one of her students? Combine this with her father dying, mother coming to stay with her, son living in a kibbutz and what you have is a fun,well-thought out story. Just gotta love anyone that loves to munch on M&M's.

When I began reading this book something about it seemed familiar. When the characters began dancing around the only plot point, and if they hadn't there would have been no story, I realized I had read an earlier book by this author and, if possible, this was even lamer. There is no plot, just a below average writer who thinks all a book needs is unusual characters.

I had read a critic's complaint that too many authors did just that, now I know what he meant.

Bel Barret teaches writing at a community college in NJ. Her friend Vinny Vallone talks her into teaching a class of funeral director wannabes with him. Vinnie is murdered and it seems that most of the suspects are in the writing class. Bel risks her relationships and her life to solve the mystery.

This was a pretty quick read and I enjoyed it. The characters and the setting are quirky and interesting. A good series.