Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #541161 in Books
• Published on: 1997-02-21
• Released on: 1997-02-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Magdalena Yoder, Mennonite proprietor of the PennDutch Inn in Hernia, Penn., returns from Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime for a third mystery with an Amish twist. Magdalena, her worldly younger sister, Susannah, and Freni Hostetler, cousinly relation and cook at the inn, go to Farmersburg, Ohio, for the funeral of Yost Yoder, who drowned in a vat of milk on his farm. Magdalena meets other relatives who recognize her Yoder nose and large feet; she learns of another recent death in the community, that of Levi Mast in a fall from his silo. Since both farmers had been supplying milk to the Daisybell Dairy, Magdalena's suspicions are raised and she decides to investigate, while trying to avoid the sardine-dominated cooking of her hostess and keeping tabs on the nymphomaniac Susannah. The plot is straightforward, almost transparent, in places, and the Amish characters (some of whom seem more simpleminded than simple) are frequently the butt of heavy-handed humor based on physical characteristics, such as Sheriff Marvin Stolzfus's big ears and Magdalena's own clodhopping feet. Also present in this unsurprising tale are Magdalena's love interest, Aaron Miller (known as Pooky Bear), and a sampling of recipes, e.g., Freni Hostetler's Poor Man's Goulash.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Billed as "a Pennsylvania-Dutch mystery with recipes," Myers' story is as sweet as a piece of brown-sugar pie (recipe, page 144). In fact, the recipes are the best part of the book, since the plot itself is a saccharine meringue of country folk wisdom and Amish lore thinly disguised as a murder mystery. Magdalena Yoder, proprietor of the PennDutch Inn, travels to Ohio when one of her relatives is found floating facedown in a milk tank. Soon after she arrives, a second relative dies in a fall from a silo. Magdalena quickly discovers that a rivalry over who makes the best cheese in the county is at the bottom of the trouble. If the humor tends to be kindergarten-simple, if Magdalena's sister Susannah simpers once too often, and if Myers is heavy on annoying alliterations and light on substance, it's easy enough to forgive because Magdalena is so likable and because the story is just so, well . . . nice. Emily Melton

From Kirkus Reviews
Third in a series featuring Magdalena Yoder (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Crime, etc.), the 40-something Mennonite owner of the PennDutch Inn. Called to the funeral of Yost Yoder, an Amish cousin in Farmersburg, Ohio, Magdalena is accompanied on the trip by her wayward sister Susannah and housekeeper Freni. Yost had drowned, naked, in a milk tank on his farm--this only days after young Levi Mast, on the eve of his wedding, had fallen from a silo to his death. There's subdued talk among friends and relatives of the strange behavior of the two before they died. By the time the funeral is over, snow has closed the highway home--a perfect excuse for Magdalena to visit around, asking questions, while Susannah, hormones rampant, gets herself involved with feckless Danny Hern, heir to the once highly praised Daisybell Dairy, now on a slide that had persuaded Yost and Levi to form their own dairy co-op. In the midst of it all, Danny vanishes--escaping from a promised elopement to Aruba, according to Susannah, who manages to make do with big-eared sheriff Marvin Stoltzfus. A lot more happens--little of it making much sense--before a kooky, inept plot is uncovered and Magdalena is reunited with the PennDutch Inn and handsome suitor Aaron Miller--her Pooky Bear. There are poignant moments and an occasional smile here, but the story will be most enjoyed by readers with high sugar tolerance and a fondness for archly self-deprecating stand-up comedy. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.