I don’t know, guys... I think I may need to give up cozy mysteries all together (which bodes ill for the copy of We’ll Always Have Parrots that I have sitting my bedside table) because much like the last one I read, I found this story completely inane.Magdalena Yoder, the Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite-turned-hotel owner, spends most of her time happily fleecing her customers and insulting their intelligence. To liven the story up, though, she still manages to spend a few moments per chapter to remind us that her sister is a lazy selfish whore, her staff is inept, her mother would be rolling in her grave if she was aware of her lazy selfish whore daughter, she’s involved in a strange UST relationship with the local (eighty-year-old) veterinarian, and that her sister is a lazy selfish whore. Ugh. And just in case you were thinking, "Monica, you’re being too harsh. This is a silly little murder mystery. You’re just supposed to be having fun watching her solve the Case of the Two Dead People We Don’t Really Give A Damn About," I have to tell you that actually, our friend Magdalena doesn’t solve the mystery. In fact, she’s completely in the dark about the entire thing, until the Bad Guy literally holds a hunting knife to her throat and outlines his back-story, his co-conspirators, and his nefarious, scheming plot. Ugh x2. As the ridiculous icing on the cake, the vast majority of the prose read like this: "Susannah laughed heartily at her own little joke. Her bony, braless bosom bobbed up and down like a fishing cork on Miller's pond. From somewhere within the powdered plumage of her cascading costume Shnookums sneezed." Clearly, the point here is that if you take a shot every time there's an alliteration, you won't feel so bad about the overall story.So, um... yes. I guess I recommend this book to people who enjoy heavy-handed, plot-thin narratives featuring obligatory bumbling constables, nasty Mennonites, murders that don’t impact the reader in any way, and recipes that use too much butter.
Do You like book Too Many Crooks Spoil The Broth (1995)?
I've been researching my husband's Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, which includes Mennonite, and thought I would enjoy reading a book which combined his heritage with my favorite genre, mysteries.Sadly, I "unenjoyed" this book. The main character is, hopefully, a poor representative of her religion. She lies with impunity, is mean, rude, obnoxious, conceited... I could go on, but why bother? She's not a person I'd like to befriend.For the humor to be more than mostly tasteless jokes there needs to be substance behind the jokes. It didn't even feel like a mystery. It worries me to admit this, but I didn't care that people died! Some readers have mentioned Tamar Myers books have improved over the years, so I may try another in hope that I might like it. It won't be a hardship, as it was a very quick read. I'm afraid, though, that my previously pleasant thoughts of my husband's background may have been permanently damaged.
—Diane
I have developed a great affection for this author. I buy all her titles in both her Penn Dutch series as well as her Den of Antiquity series, just because they are hers. While there are some that will stay with me longer than others, I recommend both series. They are light reads, with some cultural significance, fun puns, and heroines who aren't afraid to joke at their own expense. (Perhaps who are more afraid to take themselves seriously...) I do have a bit of preference for the Penn Dutch series, not only for the recipes (see my other starred rating, for Play it Again, Spam) but also for how the author handles Mennonite and Amish cultural aspects. There is a fine line between being able to laugh at your own foibles and being negative about your origins. She seems to keep a kind, healthy balance there. I grew up in northern Indiana in a county which is predominantly Mennonite and Amish, with many cultural parallels to the setting she uses for this series. While my mother grew up 'plain', I was not raised that way, but close enough to be able to enjoy the jokes and appreciate the respect. Though the books are fluff in many ways, I still enjoy them and find them worth reading. Bon appetit!
—Mary Stueben
Magdalena Yoder runs the PennDutch Inn in Hernia, PA and is related to almost everyone in town, either close, distant, or once removed, etc. Her sister Susannah, who left the Mennonites to marry but is now divorced, lives at the Inn but is very undependable, lazy, and sleeps around. Their parents died in an accident and Magdalena and Susannah are the only ones left in their immediate family.It is the beginning of deer hunting season and they are looking at having a full house, so full that when Miss Brown shows up Susannah has to clean her room so Miss Brown can have that room. A Congressman, his wife Lydia and his aide are expected as are several members of A.P.E.S. (the Animal Parity Endowment Society). Billy Dee Grizzle and Lydia Ream are the nicest of the guests, Miss Brown wants to be left alone, even for meals, and the rest are just strange. The A.P.E.S group is vegan, the Congresman's group and Billy Dee want meat, so this causes problems with Freni, the cook and she ends up quitting and being fired several times.The first night dinner is quite the scene but once every one is in bed, someone hears a thump and Miss Brown is discovered in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. The police are called and the body is taken away so they can do an autopsy. A couple of days later, after Magdalena gets shot at a couple of times, Susannah's dog Shnookums chokes but Magdalena saves him, the hunters have left the Inn each day (if that's what they're actually doing) and the A.P.E.S. group have spent their time looking for the Congressman's group to try and prevent them from hunting, (they never do find them), one of the other guests is discovered dead with her hand gripping a homemade quilt. Susannah discovers her as she is looking for Shnookums pacifier.Now with two deaths, looking more and more like murders happening in her Inn what will happen? Will people still want to come, looking at the reputation she's had up until now, or will they decide it's not the kind of place they want to stay at?Don't judge this book by it's title, the Mennonites are not anything like you'd expect. Magdalena's brain seems to be thinking strange thoughts constantly, it's kind of funny some of the things she thinks to herself. There are some curse words, which really surprised me, not a lot and not 'filthy' ones but if you don't like reading these words, I would suggest you not read this book. If you like cozy mystery's you'd probably really like this.
—Wendy
