Death in a Hot Flash (Bel Barrett Mysteries) [Large Print] [Paperback]

Jane Isenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2002

Professor Bel Barrett has enough on her plate teaching English at a Jersey City community college. Between hot flashes, she's worrying about her two grown kids and whether her significant other is becoming less significant. Yet somehow Bel lets a colleague, Vinny Vallone--part-time Funeral Services Education teacher, big-time undertaker--flatter her into believing that the future of feminism in the funeral business depends on her acting as a role model by teaching his class how to research and write. But before Bel actually gets into co-teaching the inner-city undertaker wannabes, Vinny the undertaker turns into Vinny the deceased.

There's no doubt it's murder, and suspicion is focused on one of Bel's students, a young reformed ex-gangster. Bel doesn't believe the born-again ex-con murdered Vinny and, as always, she makes it her business to right a wrong. With no shortage of suspects, Bel sets out to catch a killer, despite the strong possibility that her nose for news may land her in a hot spot even she can't fan her way out of.

Professor Bel Barrett has enough on her plate teaching English at a Jersey City community college. Between hot flashes, she's worrying about her two grown kids and whether her significant other is becoming less significant. Yet somehow Bel lets a colleague, Vinny Vallone--part-time Funeral Services Education teacher, big-time undertaker--flatter her into believing that the future of feminism in the funeral business depends on her acting as a role model by teaching his class how to research and write. But before Bel actually gets into co-teaching the inner-city undertaker wannabes, Vinny the undertaker turns into Vinny the deceased.

There's no doubt it's murder, and suspicion is focused on one of Bel's students, a young reformed ex-gangster. Bel doesn't believe the born-again ex-con murdered Vinny and, as always, she makes it her business to right a wrong. With no shortage of suspects, Bel sets out to catch a killer, despite the strong possibility that her nose for news may land her in a hot spot even she can't fan her way out of.Professor Bel Barrett has enough on her plate teaching English at a Jersey City community college. Between hot flashes, she's worrying about her two grown kids and whether her significant other is becoming less significant. Yet somehow Bel lets a colleague, Vinny Vallone--part-time Funeral Services Education teacher, big-time undertaker--flatter her into believing that the future of feminism in the funeral business depends on her acting as a role model by teaching his class how to research and write. But before Bel actually gets into co-teaching the inner-city undertaker wannabes, Vinny the undertaker turns into Vinny the deceased.

There's no doubt it's murder, and suspicion is focused on one of Bel's students, a young reformed ex-gangster. Bel doesn't believe the born-again ex-con murdered Vinny and, as always, she makes it her business to right a wrong. With no shortage of suspects, Bel sets out to catch a killer, despite the strong possibility that her nose for news may land her in a hot spot even she can't fan her way out of.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bel is a believable, sympathetic character that all women will be able to relate to." -- --Romantic Times Magazine

"The gifted Jane Isenberg writes with wit and compassion about life transitions that range from menopause to murder." -- --Susan Conant, author of The Barker Street Regulars Mysteries --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jane Isenberg taught English to urban community college students for close to thirty years. She has been writing mysteries ever since she experienced her first hot flash. Her copies of Modern Maturity are delivered to her new home in Amherst, Massachusetts, that she shares with her husband Phil Thompkins.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587242869
• ISBN-13: 978-1587242861
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,571,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, married, moved to Connecticut, and, in 1962 began a teaching career that lasted forty years. The first seven were the hardest and moved me to write a memoir about my experiences teaching high school English in New Haven. Titled GOING BY THE BOOK, it won the James N. Britten Award for Inquiry in English Language Arts from the National Council of Teachers of English in 1996. My next thirty-three years teaching community college students in Connecticut and then New Jersey and my first hot flash drove me to write THE "M" WORD. A comic mystery, it features a menopausal community college English prof as amateur sleuth and is the first of eight novels and a shorter anthologized work that make up The Bel Barrett Mystery Series. HOT WIRED, the last novel in the series was published in 2005 by which time I had retired from teaching and moved to the Puget Sound area. I looked to my new surroundings for inspiration and soon began work on a historical mystery set in Seattle's Jewish community during the Gold Rush and in 1965.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, well-written tale of a middle-aged yenta, December 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Death in a Hot Flash (Bel Barrett Mysteries (Avon Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wry truth and delicious plot on every page, March 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Death in a Hot Flash (Bel Barrett Mysteries (Avon Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great New Series! -- For women facing "change", July 11, 2000

By 

T. A. Cramer "tacsharp" (Central, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death in a Hot Flash (Bel Barrett Mysteries (Avon Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.