HOT ON THE TRAIL (Jane Isenberg)

Bel Barrett, Isenberg's post-menopausal amateur detective, is trying to find the time to marry Sol, the love of her life.  When one of her elderly night school students dies in a fall from his roof, Bel is invited by the man's daughter to investigate the tragedy, delaying the wedding yet again.  At first no one except Dom's daughter Flora, another of Bel's students, supects foul play, and Bel herself is skeptical at first.  Like any amateur detective worth her salt, though, Bel changes her mind several times about who might be responsible for Dom's death and she also manages to take several foolish chances in her quest for information.  Women in their 50's and beyond will identify with the physical, mental, and emotional changes that plague Bel and her two post menopausal friends and will especially enjoy the humorous way in which Isenberg portrays women of a "certain age" as lively, competent, imaginative, and adventurous.  readers of all ages will savor the evolution of clues that eventually lead Bel to the killer and to a lifetime of happiness with her soul-mate, Sol.