Sis Boom Bah
Reviews • Inspiration • Read the First Chapter
In the uproarious Sis Boom Bah, Jane Heller captures the true essence of sisterhood--the exasperation and the affection.
When their mother suffers a heart attack, two sisters are forced to stop the squabbling that has defined their relationship since they were kids, and kiss and make up. Deborah Peltz, a soap opera writer in New York, and Sharon Peltz, a wedding planner in Florida, grudgingly agree to a truce for the sake of their mother's health; and, their fragile peace holds--until a man comes into their lives...a man to whom they're both attracted...a man who happens to be their mother's cardiologist.
It doesn't take long before insults are hurled and verbal fists fly. But Deborah and Sharon's bickering takes an entirely new turn when they discover the object of their mutual affection stretched out on the floor of his den--dead. Suddenly, the Peltz sisters go from being each other's enemies to each other's alibis. They're on the police's list of suspects for the doctor's murder, and sibling rivalry or no sibling rivalry, they've got to bury the hatchet and get themselves out of trouble. In the process, they not only find men of their own to love...they find a way to love and accept each other.
In the comic tradition of Jane Heller's previous novels, Cha Cha Cha, The Club, Infernal Affairs, Princess Charming, and Crystal Clear, Sis Boom Bah is as hilarious as it is poignant--a book that will provoke laughter in all sisters, hopefully nudging a few of them to let go of past hurts and mend fences.
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People Magazine
6/14/99
Beach Book of the Week
Reviewed by Amy Waldman
If you've ever wanted to kill your sister, this is the novel for you. At 43 and 45, Deborah and Sharon Peltz ought to have outgrown petty bickering. But for the thrice-divorced Sharon, a wedding planner, and her never-married younger sister, a TV soap opera writer having a midlife crisis, contempt would represent a step forward in their relationship. "If my sister were my husband, I'd divorce her," Deborah says. But they're thrown together when their mother has a heart attack in her Stuart, Fla., home, and then -- surprise -- both sisters fall for Mom's cardiologist, a Porsche-driving stud muffin. When he gets murdered the sisters become prime suspects. Deborah buckles down and tries to solve the crime herself. Sharon, meanwhile, sees good fortune in finding a suntanned (and single) defense attorney who, she hopes, will clear her name -- and maybe even change it.
Heller, a South Florida author (Infernal Affairs, Princess Charming) with a breezy, lighthearted touch and ironic sense of humor, has concocted another delightful summer read -- just the book to pass on to anyone's sis when you finish.
Bottom Line: You'll be shaking the sand off this one
The Palm Beach Post
6/4/99
Reviewed by Marilyn Murray Willison
If you are the type of reader who waits for the next novel by Margaret Atwood or Anita Brookner, the fact that a new Jane Heller novel is in bookstores won't mean a great deal to you. If however, you enjoy fiction that has a bit of mystery, a touch of sarcasm, a likable heroine, and a good dose of romance, then there's reason to celebrate.
Heller has placed her sixth novel in Sewall's Point, an upscale Treasure Coast neighborhood. The book is subtitled Having a Sister Means Always Having To Say You're Sorry, and the novel effectively explores the conflicts that can exist between sisters.
Sharon and Deborah are, respectively, a Boca Raton party planner and a Manhattan soap opera writer. For years and years they have bickered and used every possible opportunity to insult each other, but once their widowed mother becomes ill, they have to learn how to cast aside their hostility and work together. Deborah, the younger daughter, leaves New York and moves to Florida, and that's when the chaos begins.
Unlike most writers of her genre, Heller deftly combines a murder mystery with romantic comedy. It may seem an unlikely combination and in less skilled hands it would produce a horrible ratcheting sound, but Heller deftly joins the two forms without a single false note.
Local readers will enjoy hearing about our small part of the world. For example, " '. . .Why don't you and I have lunch? They must have at least a couple of decent restaurants in Stuart, huh?' He laughed, because he was from Boca and people from Boca think people from Stuart are hayseeds who wouldn't know a decent restaurant from a pig's trough."
When the girls are both considered suspects in a local murder, they are forced to quit bickering and find a way to survive the experience intact. And that's when the action picks up. Medical dishonesty, social climbing and police incompetence all rear their ugly heads. And, as has happened before in Jane Heller books, love appears where it's least expected. Little details, like older gas-guzzling cars, help to add to the aura of authenticity, but Heller never forgets that humor - expecially subtle humor - is what keeps her fans turning the pages.
Heller does an exceptionally realistic job of portraying the difficulties that sisters often face when it comes to dealing with each other. And she's even better at showing how concern and affection, more often than not, rest underneath sisterly sarcasm.
Iris Rainer Dart
New York Times bestselling author of Beaches
"If Susan lsaacs had a hot fling with Tom Robbins, their offspring would be Jane Heller! ... Three cheers for her latest novel, Sis Boom Bah, a laugh-out-loud tale of two sisters who go from enemies to alibis. Once again, Heller has combined comedy, mystery, and romance for a rousing good time."
Julie Garwood
New York Times bestselling author of Ransom
"Brimming with fast-paced suspense, rollicking wit, and loads of charm, Sis Boom Bah is great fun -- and a must-read for sisters everywhere."
Heather Graham
New York Times bestselling author of Drop Dead Gorgeous and Rebel
"For anyone who ever spent any time in a love/hate relationship with a sibling, it's a must. I loved it -- it's funny and fast, an absolutely wonderful, entrancing, and thoroughly entertaining novel. Congratulations to Jane Heller for such an imaginative, top-rate story. Love her characters!"
Sharon J. Wohlmuth and Carol Saline
New York Times bestselling authors of Sisters, Mothers and Daughters, and Best Friends
"Jane Heller has an uncanny talent for tapping into the rich complexities of sisterhood. Anyone with a sister will undoubtedly laugh, cry, and hold her breath as these two sisters come to terms with each other and discover their place in each other's lives. Sis Boom Bah's wisdom, suspense, and humor make it a must-read
The hardcover publication of my sixth novel, Sis Boom Bah, in the spring of 1999 represented my move to my new publisher, St. Martin's Press. The paperback was released in May of 2000.
Set in the city where I lived for nearly seven years, Stuart, Florida, and, in particular, in Sewall's Point, the coastal neighborhood where I lived, Sis Boom Bah was inspired by the numerous stories I heard about sisters who don't get along. Within a period of a few months, at least a dozen friends or acquaintances or business colleagues confided to me that they hadn't spoken to their sister in five years or hadn't been invited to their sister's son's graduation or hadn't been able to resolve a conflict with their sister. It became a theme I couldn't ignore. I thought, what if there were two sisters who were forced to put aside their years of bickering because of their mother's poor health? And then what if, after these sisters finally did make peace with each other, they both fell for mom's doctor?
I made this thorny situation even thornier by killing off the double-dealing doctor and placing the sisters at the scene of the crime. By the end of the book's Part One, they have no choice but to go from being enemies to alibis.
I've had wonderful feedback from sisters who've read Sis Boom Bah -- both from sisters who are close and from those who've had their share of spats -- and the consensus seems to be that the book hits home. 
It's meant to be a funny, lighthearted tale, but if it brings a few sisters together, so much the better.
A People magazine "Beach Book of the Week," Sis Boom Bah was optioned by Julia Roberts's Shoelace Productions for a feature film. The novel has a big fan club in Stuart. The restaurants that are featured in the book are real, as are the shops, streets, local color. If you know anyone who's thinking of moving to Stuart, give them a copy, sort of as a Chamber of Commerce-type gift. And, of course, give a copy to your sis, whether you like her or not.
This photo was taken in the family room of my former home in Sewall's Point, which is a unique community -- a peninsula surrounded by water (the St. Lucie River on one side, the Intracoastal Waterway on the other). Connected by a causeway to the city of Stuart, it has a lush, tropical feel and was the perfect hideaway for a writer.
