Tamar Myers – The crepes of Wrath

The ninth book in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries with Recipes series, published January 1, 2001.
Genre: cozy mystery with recipes
Cover: fun



If there's one thing the folks of quiet Hernia, Pennsylvania, agree on, it's that local Lizzie Mast was the world's worst cook. But when someone poisons her to death with a bad batch of crepes, even her critics think that someone's gone too far. But who would care enough to murder Lizzie, just to get her out of the kitchen? That's what newly "deputized" investigator Magdalena Yoder, proprietor of the PennDutch Inn, is determined to find out-even if it means pestering the wrong people, ignoring the new arrival of demanding guests at the inn, and stirring up the wrath of a clever and determined killer.


Magdalena’s brother in law Melvin has asked her to find out who is dealing drugs amongst the Amish youngsters and who has killed Lizzie Mast. He really wants her help, as he is running for city council. Magdalena’s sister already envisions them living at the White House! And Magdalena even promises to contribute to their campaign.

And so Magdalena sets out to investigate some “English” who have recently moved to Hernia, and the sons of one of her neighbours who might know more about this.
And how about her suitor and new neighbour, the Jewish doctor Gabriel? Why is his car at the barn where the teenagers are meeting for their illegal parties? Is he involved?

The new guests at her Inn all seem to hide something as well, but they seem happy enough to be there and try to live like the Amish do.


Magdalena is getting into all kinds of strange and embarrassing situations, but she is smart and solves the cases almost always to my big surprise. She sticks her big nose into everyone’s business, while still running her famous PennDutch Inn. The little bits of Amish and Mennonite culture are nice to read about, but I have no idea how accurate this all is.
Especially now that she has this kitten living in her bra, like her sister has that hideous little dog living in her bra too. It is just too much.
I do like Magdalena’s conversations with her old cook Freni, who is real Amish and distrusts everything remotely worldly. Her sister is something else completely. And then there is the gorgeous Jewish doctor who is Magdalena’s new neighbour and seems to be courting her. It is fun, and there are so many misunderstandings.

Tamar Myer’s humor is not really my cup of tea, but I will try to persevere in reading all the books I bought so far. If only she would not shriek so much …

6 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian