Customer Reviews

Assault And Pepper (Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found Assault And Pepper even more fun than the other six or seven Tamar Myers PA Dutch Mysteries I've read and laughed out loud more than once. The part where Magdalena thinks she's been "left behind" is a brilliantly written piece of humor. This author is all about fun: She never takes herself too seriously and even better, she makes it clear she doesn't expect the reader to get all bogged down in seriousness either. Tamar's books are categorized as Mysteries with a humorous twist...but for me, the broad and often farcical humor is the reason to read her books--the mystery is there only as a form to wrap the humor around. That being so....If you're looking for a serious mystery with a complicated plot to puzzle over--look elsewhere. If you want a slightly silly (okay ALOT silly), light hearted reading experience, written by a wise and warm hearted woman who so obvoiously has fun writing her books and wants you to have fun reading them--- then this (or any other Tamar Myers) book may be exactly what you're looking for.

I've read all of the books in this series and enjoyed everyone but of all of them, this is the best!

Magdalena Yoder hasn't lost any of her tart personality in this clever turn of direction of the series. In this one she gets away from the inn while trying to find out who killed Reverend Schrock. He died when someone put peanut butter (to which he was allergic) into the chili he was tasting for the annual chili bake off.

Many secrets are revealed - some of them very surprising to fans of this series.

Magdalena is still Magdalena but the book is fresh and absorbing.

A must read if you've read any of the others in this wonderful series.

The whole town of Hernia is shocked when the Reverend Schrock dies at a church supper or, as Magdalena Yoder says, "my peppy pastor plotzed in the peppery pot"! Melvin Stolzfus, the chief of police, decides to quit and asks Magdalena to solve the murder. As she interviews those closest to Reverend Schrock, she discovers that he was practicing many of the sins that he preached against. She is shocked and dismayed, and she begins to realize that many people had a grudge against Schrock and were glad to see him dead. Before the madcap bed-and-breakfast owner is through with her investigation, she uncovers many closely-guarded secrets in the tightly-knit Mennonite community, some of which concern those nearest and dearest to Magdalena herself. Fans of this series are in for a surprise when they read this latest in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Series.

I was left wondering if this is the end of the series?
Ms. Myers leaves us in a place where she could end it, or continue on in a somewhat different direction. She can't exactly pick up and keep going the way she was been so far with each installment.
I liked the fact that it was more low-key than the previous ones. I had been kind of turned off that Magdalena had turned into such a greedy, scheming person; here we learn that she has been very generous with the "loot" she has fleeced from those celebrities.

Magdalena Yoder looks forward to the Beechy Grove Mennonite Church annual chili supper cook-off but her anticipation turns to horror when her beloved Reverend Schrock dies after sampling one of the dishes. His widow is convinced that he was murdered and that someone put peanut butter, which everyone knows he was allergic to, in one of the dishes. Magdalena doesn't want to believe that someone hated the preacher enough to kill him but she agrees to investigate the case even if she doesn't like the widow.

To her surprise, her brother in law Hernia's chief of police "Melvin the Mantis" tells her he's quit his job and he wants her to investigate the case because after testing products, it was found that peanut butter was in one of the chili dishes. After talking to various people she finds that the Reverend Schrock was not the saint she thought he was. His crimes include embezzlement, bigamy, spousal abuse, his refusal to perform a marriage ceremony and much more. When Magdalena gets close to unveiling the perpetrator, he kidnaps her friend and cook and wants to exchange her for one million dollars in getaway money.

Readers are going to want to buy ASSAULT AND PEPPER just to find out who the killer is. Nobody will guess the person's identity and it will come as a total shock to fans who have read this charming and delightful cozy series. Tamar Myers has changed the entire direction of the series storyline keeping it fresh and original. This reviewer will definitely want to read the next book in the series to see what direction the author takes her heroine next.

Harriet Klausner

the last couple of the books in this series have been disappointing. Seems Magdalena spends more time talking to yourself than others, if she is SO UGLY how does she have the "babester" the earlier books in this series were much better, my favorite I think was the SPAM one. They were enjoyable, things were centered around the Inn. It is also like she owns the town only because she is a millionaire and she flaunts it. Magdalena has become VERY annoying!!!
Annette

I love this series. Very funny and a great read. I also collect cook books so I love that these books have recipes in them. I only wish I had more time to try the recipes.

When Reverend Schrock dies while judging a chili bakeoff, his widow, convinced that someone murdered her husband by putting peanut butter into the chili (he was allergic) asks Magdalena Yoder to investigate. Magdalena has been helping her brother-in-law, police chief Melvin Stoltzfus, solve cases for years and is happy to oblige. When Melvin tells her he is quitting her job, Mags find herself working alone. As she works to solve the case, Magdalena uncovers many secrets about Reverend Schrock that shock her. Little does she realize that more surprises will come her way, including a long buried family secret. But the biggest shock of all will come when she realizes who murdered Reverend Schrock.

"Assault and Pepper" is an entertaining mystery. Magdalena, a somewhat naive Mennonite with a taste for hot chocolate, is a hoot, especially as she discovers that Reverend Schrock was not quite was he seemed (not only was he a bigamist and an embezzler, but (gasp!) he was a bowler!) As always, the supporting characters are larger than life, especially Melvin, but are still fun to read about. Magdalena can be a bit acerbic, but the affection between her and her cook, Freni, and even her sister Susannah keep her lovable. Author Tamar Myers even pokes fun at herself, as astute readers who have visited her website will notice.

Unfortunately, while this book is better plotted than some of the other books in the series, which sometimes rely too heavily on humor, the plot still has some flaws. The motive for a second murder is never explained and Magdalena looks for what is supposedly a key piece of evidence, but why it is so important is not explained either.

Still, flaws aside, Assault and Pepper is a good read, with a surprising ending (in more ways than one) which may take the series in an entirely different direction.

***contains some slight spoiler alert***

I have enjoyed Mags' detective work for years, though at times, her naivety has been a bit unbelievable (and annoying). However, what began as a top notch story, suffered from the author's lapse of not accounting for all the dead bodies. Maybe the discovery of the perpetrator is so surprising that people don't care why he/she did what they did, but motives have always been important to me. Myers only explains one of the deaths, which leaves me to wonder, why did the killer kill the other person? That kinda ruined the story for me. To me that speaks of laziness and whereas in real life we may not know why criminals do what they do, in a work of fiction, that question should be answered. If Myers didn't want to answer it, then she could have at least said, "We'll never know why ###### killed ######" or "##### killed ####*# to throw me off the scent." But she doesn't do this. It's like that other murder never happened.

It's been awhile since I read Assault and Pepper and maybe after some time off I'll discover this lost motive. If Myers really didn't put it in, then I may be done with this series. How can you read a mystery and not be confident that all questions pertaining to the mystery will be wrapped up at the end? Books (like movies) should make sense...and yes, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about what I've just read (or watched) to see it all makes sense. Yes, I need help! lol

ASSAULT AND PEPPER suffers from a severe case of the cutes, which is too bad because its author, Tamar Myers, is capable of sharp comic writing. The beloved minister of Beechy Grove Mennonite Church in Hernia, PA dies of an overdose of peanut butter and topples into the pot of chili he has just blessed. His widow asks Magdalena Yoder, proprietor of the PennDutch Inn and amateur sleuth, to investigate his death and then goes bonkers.

If James Bond is a post-pubescent male fantasy, Magdalena Yoder is his female equivalent. She is tall and thin, even though she subsists on a diet of chocolate cake, cookies, and hot chocolate laced with marshmallows. Self-described as flat chested, long nosed, and middle aged, she nevertheless sparks the libidos of several male citizens of Hernia, including a hunky doctor. She talks and acts like one of the tough broads in pre-code movies, but thinks of herself as a pious Mennonite. To top it off, she is wealthy.

Magdalena is no Miss Marple, even though she is a lifelong resident of ingrown Hernia. Otherwise, she would not be so surprised by uncovering the peccadilloes of her fellow villagers. Myers has created a town filled with exaggerated cartoon characters, some of them wildly funny.

Another reviewer suggests that this book may be Magdalena's swan song. There is certainly a touch of Gotterdammerung in its ending. Let's hope Tamar Myer has a better creation waiting in the wings.