Murder Between the Covers

What to eat: Chocolate. Chocolate is a vegetable. Eat your vegetables.

What to drink: Screwdrivers made with Florida orange juice. Absolut Bawls (see recipe). Coffee.

What to wear: The T-shirt that expresses your true self. Floridians do not wear their hearts on their sleeves, but their opinions on their chests. Some favorites: "My boyfriend's out of town." "I divorced my husband for religious reasons -- he thought he was God." "My child is an honor student at the County Jail."

(1) Helen Hawthorne is a strong woman with a sense of her own identity. She has had many failed relationships, starting with her ex-husband. Yet she continues to look for romance. How successful is Helen's search? Is Sarah correct when she says Helen needs stop looking and to heal first? Is Helen capable of a fulfilling relationship? If not, why not?

(2) Discuss the termite attack in Helen's apartment and how it mirrors the destruction of Florida, as well as the turmoil in the lives of the characters.

(3) What role does Madame Muffy's prediction play? Is she a real psychic or a fraud? Do you believe in psychic phenomena?

(4) What is Helen's relationship with her coworkers? With her customers? Has she turned the Coronado residents into a substitute family? If so, has she duplicated her own fragmented family, or has she successfully refashioned her family structure?

(5) The responsibilities of employers and employees are a theme in this novel. How do you think the employers behaved? Do they have any responsibilities except to their company? What do employees owe their employer? Was Matt morally right to walk out on his coworkers when his check bounced?

(6) Love and death is another theme. Helen says, "Death was forever, not love." Do you agree with her?

(7) What did you think of Margery's statement that Page Turner's stud reputation is based only on men's opinions -- no one ever asked the women he'd slept with?

(8) Madame Muffy is looking for a father. Melanie is looking for a powerful man to advance her career. Peggy is looking to live down her past. Do these women achieve their goals? If not, is what they find better or worse?

(9) Have you ever worked a retail job? As a customer, how did you feel about Helen's view of customers?

(10) Helen writes about a phenomenon she calls "clerk abuse," where ordinary well-dressed, well-mannered people take out their frustrations on hapless retail clerks. Do you believe clerk abuse exists? Have you ever encountered it?

(11) Compare MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS to other contemporary mysteries for women. To what extent does it echo and reinforce these novels? How does it depart from traditional women's mysteries?

(12) One sign that a novel works is when you find yourself thinking, "That is so true" or "That happened to me." What are those moments in MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS?

(13) Some critics say this mystery had to be set in Florida, because the characters could not exist any other place. Do you agree? Why? Do you believe that Florida novels are different from novels set elsewhere? Do readers have different expectations about Florida novels, especially humorous ones?

(14) MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS talks a lot about "real Floridians." Peggy says, "Nobody is from Florida. But some of us know we belong here. We can tell the moment we step off the plane or get out of the car. It feels right -- the sun, the light, the humidity. June is the real test. That's when the tourists go home. The people who live here but aren't real Floridians go somewhere cool. The rest of us love it. No crowds at the beach, less traffic on the roads, and we can get a decent table at our favorite restaurant. Florida is ours again until winter." Do you agree with that statement?

Absolut Bawls Recipe

MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS features bookstore owner Page Turner. His favorite drink is Absolut Bawls, a gutsy cocktail I invented. It's a variation on the current fashion of mixing booze with caffeine-rich energy drinks, such as Red Bull. The buzz keeps you going all night long.

I used an energy drink called Bawls to create Absolut Bawls. Bawls comes in a distinctive cobalt bottle. It contains caffeine and Guarana, a Brazilian berry that has many unproven properties. Guarana is said to help with weight loss and enhance sexual performance. It's chemically similar to caffeine. The flavor is slightly citrus-y. Absolut Bawls is not for the weak of heart -- literally.

Absolut Bawls

• One sixteen-ounce bottle of Bawls, high-caffeine Guarana beverage
• Ounce to an ounce-and-a-half shot of Absolut Vodka
• Key lime (regular lime can be substituted)
• Ice

Fill a tall glass with ice and Bawls. Add Absolut Vodka to taste.

Garnish with Key lime.

Favorite Florida places in
MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS

Butterfly World, Tradewinds Park, 3600 West Sample Road, Coconut Creek. Sarah says a visit to Butterfly World is "better than Valium." She and Helen walked among the five thousand live butterflies in the fragrant gardens. Some butterflies are so tame, they'll land on you. Butterfly World is best on a warm day, when the butterflies are more active. Admission is $18.95 for adults, $13.95 for children 12 to three. Kids under three are free.

Taverna Opa, 410 North Ocean Drive, Hollywood. On weekends, the police have to direct traffic into this incredibly popular restaurant. Everyone watches the handsome servers dance on the tables. If you're brave or fueled by ouzo, you can join them. Good Greek food, great mini-dramas. I once saw a middle-aged guy bump his wife off a table so he could dance alone with a young waitress. Moderately expensive. 954-929-4010.

Hollywood Beach, off A1A, between Sheridan Road and Hollywood Boulevard. One of Florida 's best beaches, with a terrific boardwalk lined with little shops, bars and restaurants. Remember the hot scene where Kathleen Turner meets William Hurt at the bandshell in "Body Heat?" That was filmed on this beach. You'll see people Rollerblading, biking, and walking their parrots. Anything can happen -- and will. Gene Simmons of KISS stopped in at a boardwalk shop called Poorly Drawn Stickman. The young woman behind the counter asked him to stick out his tongue, but Simmons said his insurance company, Lloyd's of London, wouldn't let him.