Books

	The Bones and the Book Author: Jane Isenberg Published: October 15, 2012 by Oconee Spirit Press Category: Historical Mystery Main Character: Aliza Rudinsk, Rachel Mazursky Widowed by the 1965 earthquake, Seattle housewife Rachel Mazursky translates the Yiddish diary of a murdered young immigrant, Aliza Rudinsk, whose bones were unearthed by the same quake. Rachel shares her translation with the reader so Aliza's distinctive voice alternates with Rachel's own passionate account of her response to the diary. Aliza's story moves Rachel, compelling her to read between the lines while searching 1965 Seattle’s small Jewish community for clues to the young woman's turn of the century murder. Click for more info.

	Hotwired Author: Jane Isenberg Published: November 3, 2005 by Avon/HarperCollins Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey At long last, fifty-something New Jersey community college professor Bel Barrett can kick back and appreciate life with a loving new husband and the kids grown and on their own. But when an angry ex-student posts a nasty hip-hop screed about her on a popular college website, Bel is devastated. In fact, the entire college is up in arms, and the situation spirals out of control when the venomous poet is discovered lying dead on the subway tracks. Click for more info.

	Hot on the Trail Author: Jane Isenberg Published: September 3, 2004 by Avon/HarperCollins Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey, Dom Tomaselli She fell in love in her fifties, and now busy New Jersey community college professor Bel Barrett can barely find time to plan her upcoming wedding to her sweetie Sol--or to read urgently needed e-mail messages on bladder control at mid-life. She must have been crazy to volunteer to teach a writing class to senior citizens. And fitting extracurricular sleuthing into her overbooked schedule should be damn near impossible. Click for more info.

	Hot and Bothered Author: Jane Isenberg Published: September 4, 2003 by Avon/HarperCollins Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey After 9/11, Bel Barrett, a post-menopausal community college English prof, thinks things can't get any grimmer. But when a neighbor and colleague, who moonlights as a stripper, is murdered, Bel knows there's trouble on her block in Hoboken. Can this midlife mama once again prove that brains and a couple of good girlfriends can bring a killer to justice? Click for more info.

	Motherhood Is Murder Author: Jane Isenberg, Mary Daheim, Carolyn Hart, and Shirley Rousseau Murphy Published: March 4, 2003 by Avon/HarperCollins Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey Jane Isenberg sets menopausal mother Bel Barrett loose to solve a case of dasterdly nannycide. "The Proof Is In the Patch" shares a volume with other mini-mysteries by Mary Daheim, Carolyn Hart and Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Click for more info.

	Out of Hormone's Way Author: Jane Isenberg Published: August 8, 2002 by Avon/HarperCollins and Curtis Brown Digital (07/12) Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey What's a midlife community college prof like Bel Barrett doing in the notorious New Jersey Meadowlands? Leading members of the Urban Kayaking Club as they observe flora and fauna native to the infamous swamp. But before you can say "Jimmy Hoffa," the battered corpse of one of the kayakers turns up, another kayaker is wrongly accused of killing her, and Bel is hellbent on bringing the real murderer to justice. The trail leads from the Secaucus Outlets to the banks of the Hackensack River where, thanks to her wisdom, her wiles, and her estrogen patch, Bel narrowly escapes with her life Click for more info.

	Midlife Can Be Murder Author: Jane Isenberg Published: September 6, 2001 by Avon/HarperCollins and Curtis Brown Digital (07/12) Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Betty Ramsey, Illuminada Guttierez, and Ashley Roberts It's murder having a midlife spiritual identity crisis, especially when you're Jewish fifty-something community college English Prof Bel Barrett. Bel has barely begun to prepare for her adult bat mitzvah when former student Ashley Roberts turns up in her study group. Ashley's close dot-com colleague is dead and before you can say oy vey, Bel turns the world of high tech internet start-ups upside down to trap the killer. She's soon caught in a web it will take a Solomon to untangle and a Samson to survive. Click for more info.

	Mood Swings to Murder Author: Jane Isenberg Published: November 9, 2000 by Avon Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey, and Louie Palumbo While Professor Bel Barrett and her live-in lover Sol Hecht are strolling along Hoboken's Sinatra Drive, they literally stumble upon the body of a dead ringer for the famous but now dead singer and native son. Someone has slain an Ol' Blue Eyes impersonator, and Bel is drafted by one of the suspects to find out who. She already has her hands full with summer school classes, a mother who beats the odds in Atlantic City, a gen Xer living at home who's driving her nuts, and another who's about to make her a mother of the bride, a mother-in-law and a grandmother all at once. Click for more info.

	Death in a Hot Flash Author: Jane Isenberg Published: January 14, 2000 by Avon Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey, Vinny Vallone Bel Barrett's back! Click for more info.

	The "M" Word Author: Jane Isenberg Published: March 1, 1999 by Avon Series Name: The Bel Barrett Mystery Series Category: Traditional Main Character: Bel Barrett, Illuminada Guttierez, Betty Ramsey Can fifty-something English prof Bel Barrett track down the killer of River Edge Community College President Dr. Altagracia Garcia while having hot flashes and senior moments? Bel needs to clear the bad boy culinary arts major accused of icing the president instead of the cake before the real perpetrator stops her and her own goose is cooked.Join Bel, her students, sidekicks, live-in-lover, and "adult" children as Bel prowls the mean streets of Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey in (very) hot pursuit of the murderer. Click for more info.