REVIEW OF JANE ISENBERG'S
HOT ON THE TRAIL

By P.J. Coldren

Bel Barrett is teaching a "memoir writing" class to a group of senior citizens , which she is enjoying far more than she anticipated when she volunteered to teach the class as a way to get her possibly depressed mother involved in something. One of her students from another class wants her to investigate the death, deemed accidental or suicide by the police, of her father, Dom Tomaselli, a student in the memoirs class. Bel Barret is a "woman of a certain age", and in the process of planning a wedding to her long-time suitor, Sol.

I didn't particularly care for Hot on the Trail. I didn't buy into the reasons Bel was investigating Dom's death. I got tired of hearing about Bel whining, about Bel's hot flashes and stress incontinence, about all the reasons her wedding wasn't getting planned. The plot wasn't bad; the supporting cast was good, the writing was sufficient unto the day. This is book 6 or 7 in the series; I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. Not having read any of the others, I can't say if this is just a weak spot in the series or typical of Isenberg's work. I might read another Isenberg, but I won't make a point of tracking down The "M" Word (first in the series) to see if Hot on the Trail is an aberration or the norm.