Tea with Jam and Dread

March 28, 2016
In Myers’s rambling 20th Pennsylvania-Dutch mystery (after 2014’s The Death of Pie), Magdalena Yoder’s recently widowed best friend, Agnes Miller, has decided it’s time to attract a better clientele to Magdalena’s PennDutch Inn in Herina, Pa. To the surprise of both, they succeed in luring a titled family from England. When the Earl and Countess of Grimsley-Snodgrass and their three nearly grown children arrive, Magdalena has her hands full providing the advertised authentic Mennonite/Amish experience. Things take a turn for the worse when a body is found on the premises, and Magdalena is forced back into sleuthing mode to solve the crime. Filled with the author’s trademark double entendres and bawdy humor, this tale of deceit, revenge, and murder is sure to please fans of willful, wordy, and winsome Magdalena. Quirky characters, religious lore, and tasty recipes help compensate for the laborious pace. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

May 1, 2016

Thanks to an ad placed in an English newspaper by her best friend Agnes, innkeeper Magdalena Yoder's newest guests are the Earl and Countess Grimsley-Snodgrass, accompanied by their obnoxious children. Soon the disappearances begin. Another silly romp from Myers (The Death of Pie).

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
Without the knowledge of her friend and owner of the PennDutch Inn, Magdalena Yoder Rosen, Agnes Miller advertises Magdalena's inn as a vacation destination for the nobility to experience American life. Soon the Earl and Countess Grimsley-Snodgrass and their adult children arrive and are none too happy with their accommodations. While entertaining the often rude Grimsley-Snodgrass family, Magdalena must also deal with the mummified corpse of Yoko-san, a former guest, found in the inn's elevator shaft; her brother-in-law, a serial killer on the loose; and her irritating mother-in-law, Mother Malaise, founder of her own religion, the Sisters of Apathy. Then one of the Grimsley-Snodgrasses jumps off of Lover's Leap. It's almost more than one woman can take. Magdalena balances her life as a good Mennonite woman with the evil in herself and the world around her, as she solves several mysteries while supporting the town of Hernia, Pennsylvania. Quirky characters, including the ghost of Grandma Yoder, abound in this mystery in which the acerbic, opinionated Magdalena's first-person account drives this at-times laugh-out-loud cozy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)