Title | : | No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk (Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery, #3) |
Author | : | |
Rating | : | |
ISBN | : | 0451188543 |
ISBN-10 | : | 9780451188540 |
Language | : | English |
Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
Number of Pages | : | 260 |
Publication | : | First published March 1, 1996 |
No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk (Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery, #3) Reviews
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No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk by Tamar Meyers is a 1997 Signet publication.
This third book in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series has Mags leaving the inn to attend the funeral of her cousin who died in a most unusual way. If that weren’t bad enough, she gets trapped there due to a massive winter storm, giving her plenty of time to get busy working on the mystery of cousin’s death, which puts Mags right in the middle of dairy farm drama and makes her a target.
This was a really fast read, still pretty funny, but not a humorous and the previous two installments. However, there were a few really nice developments for Mags and I’m still charmed by this series, so one the next
3.5 stars -
Tamar Myers is always hilarious! I can't get enough of this series.
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Magdalena Yoder, Susanna Entwhistle, and Freni Hostetler's cousin has died in Farmersburg, OH. They travel from Hernia, PA to Farmersburg where Amish families put them up, as opposed to staying a hotel. The family that Mags and Susanna are staying with uses canned sardines in nearly every one of her recipes, like sardine omelettes.
Magdalena goes around making inquiries after she learns that not only her cousin died from drowning naked in a milk tub, but others in the community have died - mostly after acting crazy or possessed. The Amish in the area are thinking of moving (some aren't, but there's enough to rather deplete the community). The two that died had worked at the local dairy, making Farmersburg cheese. When the previous owner died, his nephew Danny inherited the place. There were allegations that Danny had harrassed an Amish girl-worker, as well as selling cheese that wasn't aged as it should have been..... this enraged the Amish and led by the two now-dead men, created an Amish co-op.
The local police is related to the police back in Hernia, and Mags doesn't trust a Stoltzfus. Danny disappears after dabbling with Susanna's heart, and then Mags and Susanna are kidnapped by the perpetrators of the murders. In escaping, they give a rousing performance at an Amish roadhouse that isn't really Amishlike.....
Recipes
Farmersburg Swiss Cheese Hors d'Oeuvres
Sarah Yoder's Amish Sauerkraut Salad
My Mama's Frankfurter Rafts
Annie Stutzman's Brown Sugar Pie (Milche Flichte)
Catherine Mast's Egg Casserole
Freni Hostetler's Poor Man's Goulash
Ohio River-Bottom Sludge Cake -
Magdalena Yoder receives an upsetting phone call from Amish family in Ohio, her cousin has been found dead. Freni, her cook, is a closer relative to the deceased and is also Amish. Magdalena offers to drive her cousin to Ohio from Pennsylvania for the funeral. Once they arrive she discovers this was no ordinary farming accident, the deceased was found drowned in a tank of milk, completely naked. Magdalena realizes the local police and her Amish kin are willing to call it an accident but there seems to be more going on here and more lives may be in danger. Magdalena ends up in a land war between Amish farmers and a powerful cheese company.
This is book 3 in the Pennsylvania Dutch cozy mystery series. All the books come with recipes.
Added fun for me in reading this series is that the family names of the Mennonites and Amish characters in the book are the same as the Mennonite patrons I assisted at the Osage County Library and their visiting relatives from Pennsylvania and Ohio. The stories give a tiny glimpse into the culture of current day Amish and Mennonite people especially since the author was raised in a Mennonite home. -
A reviewer commented that this series gets better and for me this is true. This is #3 and it's the first one I've really enjoyed. I actually cared about the murdered people and felt that an injustice had been done. And who better than Magdalena to put things things right? Certainly the Farmsburg, Ohio, Amish community couldn't do it. They were ready to move away. And definitely not the Police Chief, Marvin Stoltzfus, cousin to Police Chief Melvin Stoltzfus back in Hernia, PA.
In interesting twists, these murders happened to Amish men and we get to see the reactions within the Amish community. That is, we see the reactions from Myer's zany perspective. -
I'm chortling just a bit, because I have ALL of this series waiting to be read, with the exception of the last three. These books keep me giggling, I don't figure out the mystery too soon, and I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes! What could be better?
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These books make the perfect light weekend read, with their sassy characters and small-town big-scandal plots. Unfortunately this one is the last that I own, so I'll need to be on the hunt to find more.
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Should be a two and a half as the wise-cracks and narrator's voice are often funny; but I won't follow this character further in her travels.
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I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. The PA Dutch theme appeals to me because I live in PA. It was a cute, funny, fast read. I will definitely continue with this series.
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The unintentionally hilarious Mennonite Magdalena Yoder takes on the traditions of the Amish to figure out who and why someone drowned her Ohio cousin in a vat of milk.
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Comical characters centered around a PA Dutch Bed & Breakfast
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This series is beginning to grow on me. I wasn't too enamored of the main character (still don't count her a favorite) when I borrowed the first two PA Dutch mysteries from my local library, but there was a quality about Magdalena near the end of the second book that made me want to read more . . . a kind of softening of her very hard and sarcastic exterior. So, I checked out books #3 and #4 from my local library just to see if they would hold my interest. This novel, "No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk", did.
The main characters are goofy and quite "over the top". Magdalena's sister and her friend Danny in this novel reminded me of characters from a Jeeves (P. G. Wodehouse) story. Magdalena herself remains funny in a cynical and sarcastic way and, unfortunately, still does not possess the most accurate barometer where human nature is concerned. The mystery itself follows the same formula as the first 2 books in the series: Magdalena realizes that a death (or two) was not a mere accident, she begins asking questions, suspects the wrong person, and instead trusts the murderer or accomplice thereby putting her life in danger. It will be interesting to see if the formula continues in the 4th book.
What's keeping me reading? It's the story of Magdalena herself, more than the actual mysteries. Now that she has fallen in love with her neighbor, it seems there will be more sparks in the stories ahead and more layers of Magdalena's personality revealed. There's just something about such a tough cookie calling her guy "Pooky Bear" that is surprisingly endearing. . .
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Tamar Myers writes interesting, irreverent, tongue-in-cheek mysteries, starring a tall, skinny Mennonite who runs a B and B in Pennsylvania. Magdalena, or Mags, as her sister calls her, has been the mother figure to her little sister for most of their lives, and runs her inn in a haphazardly way, in this case leaving it in the hands of her menfolk while she, her sister and their cousin go off to Ohio for a funeral.
While there, Magdalena stumbles across a murder mystery, and being the curious sort she is, cannot stop digging. Ms Myers herself is of Amish background, and brings her knowledge and in some cases what seems to be a dislike for some of the traditional ways of the religion into the Penn Dutch books. The Penn-Dutch is the Bread and Breakfast Mags runs, and her helpers are all either Amish or Mennonite (the Amish and Mennonites are offshoots of the same religious belief).
Fascinating books, sort of like watching a train wreck, but with the mess completely and competently cleared up by the final pages. There are a scattering of recipes throughout the book also, for those who might want to try their hand at making some of the dishes the angly, always hungry, Magdalena devours over her madcap journey through Ohio. -
No Use Dying over Spilled Milk: A Pennsylvania-Dutch Mystery with Recipes
by Tamar Myers
Getting better with every book., October 19, 2013
This review is from: No Use Dying over Spilled Milk: A Pennsylvania-Dutch Mystery with Recipes (Mass Market Paperback)
I don't know what more I can say other than this series keeps getting better with every book. Magdalena Yoder pokes fun at her own Amish/Mennonite background in the most hilarious and heart warming way. That sense of humor combined with mystery as well as the misadventures of her worldly sister, Suzanne, made this romp through Farmersburg, Ohio a fun ride.
Enjoy this well written cozy and the entire series! Comment | Permalink -
I so miss Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series (have read the latest) that I had to find another cozy series that would last me until the next Gamache comes out on August 28th. Tamar Myers' is easy to read and her main character is a hoot. In fact, all the characters are quite endearing. I've become attached to their lives and want to read each subsequent mystery just to find out what's happened in each of them, the murders, the romances, and the recipes. So far haven't tried any of the recipes but some seem palatable, others a bit unusual (frankfurter rafts and sauerkraut salad?).
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Tamar Myers is the consumate culinary cozy writer, and this Pennsylvania Dutch mystery does not disappoint. Magdalena Yoder travels to her Ohio Amish family and finds herself in the middle of a milk mystery - a local creamery wants to source all milk and take over the Amish cheese co-op. Some funny scenes of her cousin's poor cooking, attempts to cook english in appreciation of Magdalena's presumed preference, and as always, some wonderful recipes.
--Ashland Mystery -
When Mennonite Magdalena Yoder learns that the death of one of her distant Amish relatives found naked and drowned in a tank of milk is termed an accident, she smells murder. Magdalena, her sister, Suzannah, and cook and cousin Freni, head to Ohio for the funeral where she also learns that another man died a week before. This is such a fun series with authentic Amish recipes and great characters!
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This is the first book by Tamar Myers I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't feel to be missing anything by starting with book 3 in a series. I loved the Amish elements and the characters were great.
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This is another great Penn Dutch Inn mystery with good suspense, nice recipes, and interesting characters. A perfect cozy read.
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It was pretty obvious who the murderer was, but the story was still good. Of course, very funny.