Assault and Pepper
Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series, No. 13

By Tamar Myers

      Assault and Pepper, the latest installment in the adventures of Magdalena Yoder, innkeeper and town snoop of the rural hamlet of Hernia, Pennsylvania, is sure to please Tamar Myers fans. When the pastor of Beechy Grove Mennonite Church keels over face first into a pot of chili at the church's annual cook off, Magdalena spurs into action. She begins grilling locals while stuffing her face with their coerced hospitality, often generous cups of hot cocoa and plates of sweet nibbles. While readers learn a lot about the town characters, they also get their minds tangled into a knitted mess of infidelities, misplaced romances, missing money, and heresies.

       Myers, who is of Amish background, is able to render authentic, though often amusing, details of this Mennonite community and its Amish neighbors. Each tale is laced with her characteristic wit that often reads like a vaudeville monologue. Each book also has its own set of humorous plot twists and funny escapades. If readers keep Magdalena's traditional portrait in mind (starched white prayer cap on her bun, dark cotton stockings, long skirts, scrubbed bare face), each incident she becomes embroiled in is that much more hilarious. It's one thing envisioning a sleuth trekking for clues in the snow. It's quite another to picture prim Miss Yoder tramping about in her long skirts and men's rubber galoshes!

       As with other Tamar Myers books in this series, there are not one or two, but several recipes tucked between chapters. Assault and Pepper offers readers five chili-based recipes.