Tamar Myers – The hand that rocks the ladle

The eighth book in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries with Recipes series, published March 1, 2000.
Genre: cozy mystery
Cover: neutral



Barbara Hostetler was having triplets. And no one was more excited than wily grandma-to-be Freni. But when Barbara went into labor and only two were born, Freni couldn’t accept that it was just a doctor’s mistake. She insisted on a recount…
Now Freni wants innkeeper Magdalena Yoder to find the little one. Magdalena decides to humor her eccentric cook and start searching, but while questioning doctors and nurses, the strangest thing happens: their stories don’t add up. And the only one who seems to be making sense – is Freni. Magdalena better find answers quick before the cradle robber strikes again …


Ever since the fire destroyed the PennDutch Inn, and Magdalena Yoder had it rebuild exactly how it was, she has lost her famous clients. They have gone on to newer pastures. So she has to lower her standards quite a lot, accepting people into her house who would never have been able to pay her fees before. A Doctor (not a medical one!) who totally rubs her the wrong way, a nice Mennonite couple and two sisters from England. But then Barbara Hostetler goes into labor, and Freni has to be there. Which leaves Magdalena with a house full of guests, and no cook.
At first everything seems to be allright, the guests all pitch in (except for the Doctor), and look after themselves. But when Barbara only has two boys come out of her, and not the third one who surely will be a daughter, a granddaughter for Freni who will share her name, Freni is terribly upset. And she blames the hospital staff for loosing her grandchild. Magdalena has no choice but to promise her she will look into it. Surely it must have been a medical mistake made by Dr. Pierce who told them she was pregnant with triplets. But when some of the stories don’t add up, she knows there is more. Especially if some Amish lady is pregnant as well, and she finds out they are giving away their child to God. There has to be something fishy about that!

Magdalena also gets a surprise gift from her would-be boyfriend, the handsome Doctor Rosen, and she is quite taken with it. She has to “cure” her sister from being like a normal housewife, and to go back to her own flaky self, and they even have to work together for a while, when they discover a dead body.

I did like the mystery part a lot, and Magdalena gets into even more scrapes in this book. Getting assaulted by a woman with a shovel in a store, accused of trying to steal her man. Of course her brother-in-law still tries to arrest her for being in the wrong place at the wrong time Magdalena manages to keep out of any real trouble.

I am looking forward to the next book, and what will happen with Magdalena and her neighbours and family.

7 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian