Customer Reviews

Between a Wok and a Hard Place: A Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery With Recipes

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

 

 

After driving her husband, Aaron, to the airport, Magdalena Yoder, a Mennonite businesswoman and owner of the prosperous Penn-Dutch Inn, finds the body of an Asiatic woman lying in the street. Since the police chief is incapacitated, he deputizes Magdalena, who has experience investigating murders, to officially examine what happened.

Soon, an Amish boy is shot to death. Magdalena concludes that he must have witnessed the first murder. The other person who was in the buggy with the deceased lad was also shot and lies unconscious in a nearby hospital. Magdalena continues her investigation even as she receives a personal shocker from Aaron.

Tamar Myers is renowned for her Pennsylvania Dutch cozies and the authentic recipes interspersed throughout her books. BETWEEN A WOK AND A HARD PLACE is a well written who-done-it that would please mystery fans as a stand alone or first novel. However, as the fifth book in the Yoder series, this story will disappoint fans because of the radical personality change of Aaron (mindful of Booby wakening up after a nightmare), thereby, negating the past and making the sub-plot seem more like a contrived device. The trademark heroine's acerbic humor and a superb mystery still exist, but may not prove to be enough for Ms. Myer's numerous fans.

Harriet Klausner

I had missed this one in my collection, so I had to buy it and fill in the blanks. As always, Ms. Myers kept me chuckling the whole way through. Once I got started, I literally couldn't put it down. I was glad to find out the details about what happened to Aaron (the rat!). I love her characters (especially Freni) and the humor is terrific. I'm ready for another one!

I don't know how she does it, but Ms. Myers has written yet another truly entertaining book in this - her 5th in her Penn/Dutch mystery series. Her new marriage ends in this one, which is an important reason to read these in order (so why doesn't the publisher put the Number on them?). Each page is engaging; her writing and wit superb. However in this book I found it to be somewhat weak in plot (that's why the 4 stars). The book is not a disappointment, though, as she carries it thru with her unique sense of humor and just plain talent. Don't miss it!

An easy flow opening with a slight edge off Magdalena's humor gave the feel of a contented woman who had recently acquired the warm sharing and weak-kneed stability of freshly hewed married life. She had the best of all worlds and so did her reader, with the Inn in cozy, spicy swing and Magda's bedroom temporarily returned while her "Pooky Bear" was taking care of a few loose ends in Minneapolis. The first leisurely description of the Inn took root in that mood of lazy summer contentment.

Magda was so laid back that Melvin actually invited her to be his sleuthing partner in solving the murder which opened the plot (almost as an effective afterthought) with the clue of a buggy wheel imprint rolling suspicion into Amish territory. Even that situation hadn't shaken Magda's newly arrived cool.

However, it did get shaken.

A few subtle changes occurred in this # 5 in the PenDutch series.

The first change I noticed (and enjoyed) was the release from Melvin immediately posing Magda as his # 1 suspect, and his switch to "hiring" her as his sidekick. His growing respect for her was believable, and warmed both his character and Magda's; and their relationship nearly lost its previous cheese-grater quality (which was hilariously entertaining, but I had no trouble snuggling into this smoother exchange).

Observing related changes, in Magda's notched up sleuthing techniques due to her upgraded, "hired-on" status, was a kick, especially as she tied them to the tether of her value, her lifelong (ancestral) awareness of Amish habits, and her "in" in that culture (as a Presbyterian Melvin was an outsider). One scene in particular brought out that value, as Magda paused to observe surroundings in her approach to the farmhouse of a suspect family. The simple details were informative: Thirty head of dairy cows in a field meant that, even if the family was gone at the moment, they would return by evening to milk; and chickens would not be left unattended, due to various types of predators, which Magda listed with brief, interesting notations of when they hunted.

I felt honored to learn a few more habits and beliefs seated into Amish life, which I hadn't known before, even though I've reviewed several Amish novels by two authors (Tamar Myers and Barbara Workinger) who can be trusted to know their subjects and to detail them without heated investment in idealizing, nor in condemning the subculture. One belief in particular surprised me, yet "I should have known." It had to do with no witch's hats on Halloween. A few habits of intimacy came out indirectly, as a result of Magda's funny asides on sexual subtleties referring to the upstanding member of Aaron's "sleep" interruptions. Also brought out somewhat subtly, with warmth and humor, were varieties of attitudes of wives toward such.

While listing highlights of Amish lifestyle here, I noticed that my thoughts returned periodically to Tamar's latest novel, THE DARK SIDE OF HEAVEN, a literary offering (set outside Ms. Myers' highly successful murder mystery bailiwick) which has been nominated for a Pulitzer. In my opinion, that novel has certainly earned The Prize (see my review). I'm trying to recall the connections I saw while reading DARK SIDE, similarities to this # 5 PenDutch novel. They seemed to relate to Myers' change in writing style, and inclusion of daily realities of Amish life contrasted to English ways; rather than having to do with plot or theme, since Dark Side was not a murder mystery. It was a sensitive, yet humorous investigation into the realities of shunning. Only this author could write gently about such a heart wrenching situation, yet ease the reader into warm smiles and bursting-forth chuckles.

There's no doubt in my mind that Tamar Myers is an author of complex talent which is expressed with such a natural, spirited flair that it seems simply entertaining to many avid fans. It is that. And more. This rich depth of wide-scope talent was exposed in DARK SIDE.

Still, all sides of Tamar Myers authorship could be seen in WOK if the reader were to dig into the flavors, especially by noting the way Myers dramatized Magdalena's changing feelings for Aaron Miller, and her coming to terms with what he exposed in BETWEEN A WOK AND A HARD PLACE. I was amazed at how Myers was able to poke around (both subtly and blatantly) in male/female connections in general, in and outside of marriage, dealing with these human issues with uncanny insight and un-canned humor.

Don't miss the hierarchy presented by an author guest at the PenDutch who arranged publisher, editor, agent, and reviewer in a frustrated writer's order of intelligence. I can identify with the relative genius capacity of each professional position, as seen from viewpoints of each regarding the others. A gem of a book which deals exquisitely with just those perspectives is THE NOVEL by James A. Michener (see my review).

Warm into WOK for another multi-faceted, tasty sizzler from Tamar Myers. Add the bonus of recipes recapturing long lost yums!

Linda Shelnutt

Magdelina is up to her eyeballs again! Believe it or not, the chief of police (Mag's nemesis)requests her assistance in solving a murder! Mags is dumbfounded, but not for long. Once again she sticks her proboscis into so many locations, the story does get a little confusing; a lot of situations seem to go unanswered. However, being a true fan of T.M., I continue to enjoy the escapades of Magdelina, and her usual cast of wacky guests!

I love a good "who done it", and its even better if it adds a little humor. But come on! This story had more loose ends then a ball of yarn that my cat Socks just finished with. Tamar introduces a character and then they disappear. She starts a story line and then stops it. She uses more worn out phrases then 14 grandmothers at a AARP meeting. I did get a laugh here and there, but most of the story was spent trying to understand the lastest branch of her tree. a couple of the sub-characters are ok, the police chief never develops, her sister never develops and the deal with her husband already being married just lays there. Summing it up. A good idea for story line, too many weak characters, and too many side trips. I do have to say that a book is like a work of art, some people love it, some hate it and a few like myself would rather have had eggroll.

Magdelena Yoder has always been the nemesis of police chief Melvin Stoltzfus. It might have something to do with the fact that she tends to solve crimes before he does. In this addition to the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series, Melvin decides since he can't beat her, he'll ask her to join him. Magdelena is called upon to be a temporary deputy in order to help Melvin solve the murder of an Asian visitor who has been strangled and then run over by an Amish buggy. Magdelena has her usual group of interesting guests at the PennDutch Inn and they are suspects along with some local teenage boys who love to drive their buggies around town late at night. She is unwittingly aided by her father-in-law who is in search of aliens and flying saucers and who helps her uncover some important evidence. This one is a bit thin as to the plot, and the murderer's motive is pretty shaky, but it's still good fun if you're a "cozy" fan.

In this one Mags's husband is away while trouble is stirring up in Herina. Mags is a talented detective, but can she eat her way this one? Read it to find out!

This time around Magdalena is assisting the police at their request after she happens upon a dead body in downtown Hernia. She is distracted from her sleuthing efforts by her father-in-law's sighting of a flying saucer, her guests' outrageous offspring, her sister's depression caused by lack of male companionship, and her own mixed thoughts about her marriage and perhaps too much male attention from her very own Pooky Bear. Teenage Amish wild oat sowing, a flash flood, a doctor selling back braces, and Magdalena's new red BMW all help stir the plot, but the solution is Magdalena's own. Now if she can just get Freni to unquit her job as cook again and stir up some more broken-heart healing gingerbread!

Tamar Myers has too many sidelines in this book. Too much about too many other characters and not enough attention paid to the real mystery in question. I found this book an entanglement of Magdelena's relationships (good and bad ones) and the history connected with each one. This book was a downer.