Rating: 
Summary: Get a life.
Review: For those who like mysteries but profer light reading the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries should suit them just fine. But to any one who takes their mysteries seriously these books are a joke. This one is no exception. If you want a good belly laugh at how rediculous things can get read on, otherwise go do something else.
Rating: 
Summary: Big foot strikes again
Review: I've always been ambivalent about this series, and because of that I continued to read the entire series even though it would have probably been best for me to give it a skip. I don't like nonsenical slapstick comedy, and Magdalena delivers a lot of that in each of her outings. Also, the writing, character development and plot were fairly thin in all the books. Actually this book is probably one of her stronger ones, but still I felt it a waste of time. I am one that likes to finish a series once I start, but I don't have many reservations about saying that this is it for me. In this book Magdalena is trying to help Melvin capture the killer of one her guests at her bed-and-breakfast. The list of suspects is surprisingly short, but motive is what's hard to find. Magdalena's dead mother gave her the hint while Magdalena paid a visit to her grave (That's what I mean about this series - it's sometimes too silly for words.) Anyway, goodbye Magdalena and may you wail and jump to conclusions to your heart's content, but I won't be there to read about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank Goodness. The last Magdalena Yoder Book for me.
Review: I've always been ambivalent about this series, and because of that I continued to read the entire series even though it would have probably been best for me to give it a skip. I don't like nonsenical slapstick comedy, and Magdalena delivers a lot of that in each of her outings. Also, the writing, character development and plot were fairly thin in all the books. Actually this book is probably one of her stronger ones, but still I felt it a waste of time. I am one that likes to finish a series once I start, but I don't have many reservations about saying that this is it for me. In this book Magdalena is trying to help Melvin capture the killer of one her guests at her bed-and-breakfast. The list of suspects is surprisingly short, but motive is what's hard to find. Magdalena's dead mother gave her the hint while Magdalena paid a visit to her grave (That's what I mean about this series - it's sometimes too silly for words.) Anyway, goodbye Magdalena and may you wail and jump to conclusions to your heart's content, but I won't be there to read about it.
Rating:
Summary: Funny as Always
Review: In this book in Tamar Myers Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries Colonel George Custard has rented the entire Penn Dutch Inn for himself and two of his servants. Magdalena Yoder is happy to have the millionaire as a guest until she realizes he wants to build a five-star hotel that could put her out of business. Outraged, Magdalena calls a town meeting in which residents make it clear they don't want their town turned into a tourist attraction. Shortly after that, Custard is murdered. The chief of police is busy running for office and asks Magdalena for help. Soon Magdalena is sticking her not so small nose in everyone's business. Can she solve the mystery before someone kills her too?
Tamar Myers mysteries are always enjoyable and this book is no exception. The mystery itself was slight, I figured out halfway through who the murderer was. But the real reason to read these books is for the humor, which is outstanding. I loved the subplot with Magdalena's "daughter" (a nice addition to the series) claiming that Magdalena was Bigfoot!
Another funny book in a wonderful series.
Rating:
Summary: All in good fun
Review: Magdalena Yoder is back with another interesting guest, Colonel George Custard, at her inn. She finds him an attractive man until she discovers that he plans to build a 5-star hotel which will be in direct competition with her PennDutch Inn. When the colonel is found dead, there are no end of suspects in Hernia, because many of the townspeople opposed the new hotel which they felt would change the slow pace of the town which they had always enjoyed. Interspersed with the mystery are humorous interludes with a 25-foot snake and Magdalena's intrepid fiance,
Gabe. As usual, it is up to Magdalena to solve the mystery because the town's policeman, her brother-in-law, is not up to the task. This book will not disappoint Tamar Myers' fans.
Rating:
Summary: All in good fun
Review: Magdalena Yoder is back with another interesting guest, Colonel George Custard, at her inn. She finds him an attractive man until she discovers that he plans to build a 5-star hotel which will be in direct competition with her PennDutch Inn. When the colonel is found dead, there are no end of suspects in Hernia, because many of the townspeople opposed the new hotel which they felt would change the slow pace of the town which they had always enjoyed. Interspersed with the mystery are humorous interludes with a 25-foot snake and Magdalena's intrepid fiance,
Gabe. As usual, it is up to Magdalena to solve the mystery because the town's policeman, her brother-in-law, is not up to the task. This book will not disappoint Tamar Myers' fans.
Rating:
Summary: Light-Hearted Fluff
Review: Magdalena Yoder is the owner of the PennDutch Inn, a charming get-away for the wealthy in the little-known town of Hernia, Pennsylvania. Off the beaten path, it caters to a few well-heeled visitors, and the townspeople want to keep it that way. Then Colonel George Custard (no, not Mustard) arrives for a weekend visit, and reveals his plan to build a huge five-star hotel that will put Magdalena out of business. Then, alas, he is murdered. Well, guess who has to solve the crime? That is the story in a nutshell.Between the murder and the solution we encounter the "characters" of this little town-from the bumbling police chief Melvin Stolzfus to the irascible piano teacher Miss Quiring to the Reverend Richard Nixon (no relation to the other one) to the Colonel and his offbeat entourage. Author Myers writes with manic humor, packing every sentence with puns, jokes, word-play, and lots of alliteration. She clearly enjoyed writing this book. Here and there she throws in recipes for various types of custard. If you are looking for a serious mystery, this book is not for you. If you are looking for an easy bedtime read, if you enjoy word-play and funny metaphors, if you are in the mood for light-hearted fluff, well then, Custard's Last Stand might be just what you're looking for. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Rating:
Summary: Get a life.
Review: Mennonite B&B proprietor Magdalena Yoder defies stereotype. She possesses a wry wit, a caustic tongue, and a mind for metaphor. Yet she's not above allowing her thoughts to dwell on people doing "the horizontal hootchy-kootchy" or "the mattress mambo." She knows her Bible and the commandments through and through, but she's got enough common sense to know when circumstances demand that the rules be bent a little. That's always the case whenever she stumbles upon a murder and feels the need to find the perpetrator.
In this episode, millionaire Colonel George Custard comes to the PennDutch Inn in his limo, accompanied by two servants. The bad news is, he has plans to build a huge hotel that will destroy small-town Hernia's ambiance. The good news is, he's soon murdered, and Magdalena leads the investigation. She *has* to, doesn't she? The local law officials -- her dim-witted brother-in-law and his Tammy-Fay-Mimi-Bobeck-clone sidekick -- are clueless and useless. And they're just two of the many unique characters that pepper this community.
I wouldn't want to meet Magdalena Yoder in person. (If any of us did, we'd miss out on all the wonderful thoughts zipping around in her noggin.) I might want to be a small mouse instead and watch her from a distance ... though I'd surely be in trouble if she spied me and raised a size-eleven Brogan to my body.
Another fun addition to a entertaining series.
Rating: 
Summary: This series is just plain fun
Review: Mennonite B&B proprietor Magdalena Yoder defies stereotype. She possesses a wry wit, a caustic tongue, and a mind for metaphor. Yet she's not above allowing her thoughts to dwell on people doing "the horizontal hootchy-kootchy" or "the mattress mambo." She knows her Bible and the commandments through and through, but she's got enough common sense to know when circumstances demand that the rules be bent a little. That's always the case whenever she stumbles upon a murder and feels the need to find the perpetrator.
In this episode, millionaire Colonel George Custard comes to the PennDutch Inn in his limo, accompanied by two servants. The bad news is, he has plans to build a huge hotel that will destroy small-town Hernia's ambiance. The good news is, he's soon murdered, and Magdalena leads the investigation. She *has* to, doesn't she? The local law officials -- her dim-witted brother-in-law and his Tammy-Fay-Mimi-Bobeck-clone sidekick -- are clueless and useless. And they're just two of the many unique characters that pepper this community.
I wouldn't want to meet Magdalena Yoder in person. (If any of us did, we'd miss out on all the wonderful thoughts zipping around in her noggin.) I might want to be a small mouse instead and watch her from a distance ... though I'd surely be in trouble if she spied me and raised a size-eleven Brogan to my body.
Another fun addition to a entertaining series.
Rating:
Summary: The series is improving as time goes on.
Review: Tamar Myers, Custard's Last Stand (Signet, 2002) It's nice to know Ms. Myers listens to her reviews. There's a line buried in this book that sums up every review of every other Magdalena Yoder novel: "It came out as a whine, but my whining is one of my more endearing qualities, don't you think?" Thankfully, Magdalena whines a lot less in this novel (though the repeated-word thing does show up here with a few other terms), and that certainly makes the eleventh novel in the Pennsylvania Dutch (with recipes!) series all the more readable. (Note: the first was published in 1995. That's eleven novels in seven years... and all the while she's also been putting out the Den of Antiquity mysteries, of which the ninth was released in 2002. That's twenty novels in eight years. Mull that over.) This time, Magdalena is confronted with one Colonel George Custard, who plans to build a five-star hotel in Hernia, Pennsylvania, that threatens to put Magdalena out of business. All is well and good, and the townsfolk look forward to a nice big brawl, until Custard turns up dead, with a bullet hole in his head and a few cracked ribs. Magdalena, of course, is on the case. Myers' comedic timing has improved gradually over the years, and there are some unexpected whings in here that actually get the reader to the point of laughing out loud. As with most series fiction, the characters are already drawn, and there are a good number of in-jokes, but Magdalena and company are well-enough portrayed that after about fifty pages, you'll get the in-jokes as if you've been with the series all along. A worthy addition to the series. Now if only Magdalena will stop whining. *** ½
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