Death by Tart Attack by Tamar Myers

A new development is being planned in the middle of an Amish-Mennonite community.  If that isn't bad enough, it's being done by her ex-husband who lied to her...

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can get a copy now.

Magdelena is mad at him for trying to ruin her community and she starts gathering groups and friends to protest.

He wants to show the town his project and she agrees if he will bring it to town and display it in the hall.  He agrees thinking he can sell the people on it.  She intends to work against him.

Instead, he comes, eats several tarts and dies!

They don't know who made them but there are several suspects.  As she attempts to sort it out (the sheriff has her as a suspect), she gets closer and closer to the killer.  Now if she can stay alive long enough to prove it...

Puddin' on the Blitz by Tamar Myers

Magdalena agrees to run a restaurant that has been shut down for a bit since the owner is in jail.  She will transfer ownership to her and her daughter with Magdalena get 60% ownership and her daughter 40%.  The daughter needs the money to go to college so Magdalena agrees.

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you.  It will be published December 3rd.

It starts as an Asian/Amish restaurant and it goes real well at the start.  There are lots of customers, reservations are taken in advance and the restaurant is always full.  Then the newness and charm wear off.  She'll have to some up with a new idea.

She and her mother-in-law don't get along.  Mom thinks she stole her son and she'd like to run Magdalena's life.  She's also like to be head chef at the restaurant but Magdalena already had one picked out.  That creates more static between them.

Then a couple from a famous magazine want to come and see her new restaurant.  She cancels reservations so they are the only guests.  Her husband gets food from the restaurant and then puts it in their glassware so the guests won't know.  They eat well and enjoy the desserts (which is now the restaurants specialty).  Unfortunately, in the morning, the woman is dead.  Magdalena finds herself in jail because she was poisoned.  How did that happen?

It turns into a real mess.  She was killed by mushrooms.  They are common mushrooms and they can be used in different ways to cause death.  Then Magdalena finds out they both were frauds.  The magazine is defunct.  So who are they?  And why did she have to die?

Magdalena finally tracks the truth down but in the final stand off, the killer is threatening her two year old.  Can she figure out what to do next?

Tea With Jam and Dread by Tamar Myers

Magdalena Yoder has decided she needs to make her Inn a little more upscale.  Then she could charge more and offer more things.  So she's excited to book the Earl and Countess Grimsley-Snodgrass and their family as honoured guests,  Maybe she can start to pick up some international customers!

Severn House and Net Galley allowed to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published June 1st.

Magdalena isn't the most confident person and she wants to put her best face forward.  She goes all out for them and they arrive as snobs who mistreat all the help, eat her out of house and home, and demand activities she hasn't done before.  She accommodates them the best she can, but they still complain. When they take a trip to a local mountain and one of the sons falls off the cliff and dies, she's devastated!  How could this happen?

When she starts trying to work out how he died and who was involved, it gets even more complicated.  She has a real surprise coming before the end of the story.  Nothing this couple has been telling her is true.

I enjoy Magdalena as a character.  She's trying hard to keep her business going and be a successful entrepreneur.  Now if everybody else would just stop trying to mess with her...  

The Death of Pie: The new Pennsylvania Dutch mystery by Tamar Myers

It's Hernia's 110th Annual Festival of Pies.  Everyone brings a pie and hopes to win the big prize.  Magdalena is hoping her apple pie will take the big prize when a visiting author falls into it face first...

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this story for review (thank you).  It will be published July 1st, so make a note on TBR list.

To me, this is almost a parody of Amish/Mennonite life.  This community has set several rules aside from the religious life and they have lots of secrets to hide.  The dead woman author had visited and stayed long enough to dig out the dirt, then went home and wrote a very successful book.  Most of the town hated her.  But just who killed her?

Magdalena not only owns the local bed and breakfast, she is the Mayor of the town.  She has a hateful mother-in-law, a handsome loving husband and a young child she's fascinated with.  When the local police chief (who is also quite young and a bit foolish) asks her to help him solve the mystery, she jumps into action.  

In her investigation she learns truths and untruths, gets told off by her mother-in-law, almost gets arrested by the police chief, and she comes to the conclusion that quiet little Hernia has a lot of secrets.  She also finally determines who killed the author.

My favorite character is Magdalena.  She's tall, a bit clumsy in detective techniques, but she gets the job done.  After all, she charges her bed and breakfast customers more money for "experiencing the Amish/Mennonite life".  There are additional charges for being allowed to clean your own room, take care of the animals,  or muck out the stalls.  That's why she has enough money to keep the town alive.  Obviously she's not dumb!  Reading about her will make you smile.