Puddin’ on the Blitz
Although the culinary fare at Magdalena Yoder’s new restaurant, Asian Sensations – a unique combination of Asian and Amish cuisine – is not to everyone’s taste, the good citizens of Hernia are unanimously agreed that the desserts concocted by the restaurant chef, Barbara Hostetler, are to die for.
Not literally, however. When a guest at the PennDutch Inn drops dead shortly after consuming a slice of Barbara’s delicious Blitz torte, Magdalena finds herself arrested for murder. Did someone deliberately set her up? To clear her name and protect her nearest and dearest, Magdalena must identify a ruthless killer – before they strike again.
Series: A Pennsylvania-Dutch Mystery – Book 21
Author: Tamar Myers
Genre: Cozy Mystery/B&B/Culinary/
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Page Count: 224
Rating: 
From Severn House http://severnhouse.com/ comes the 21st book in the “A Pennsylvania-Dutch Mystery” series by Tamar Myers.
I had high hopes for this cozy book series, and Puddin’ on the Blitz in particular. The description of the book and the fact that it was the 21st in the series suggested that it was well written, popular, enjoyable, and entertaining. Unfortunately, the enjoyable and entertaining part was extremely disappointing.
I found the main character the most objectionable, even though all of them are not nice or even good people. The entire story from start to finish was confusing, and at times entirely or perhaps deliberately misleading and not in the way a good cozy is meant to be. I thought that this might be due to not having read any of the other books in the series, so I went back and read others. However, this proved to make matters worse. None of the characters are likable; they are undoubtedly unbelievable. The mystery is more or less a side note, with no clues or real suspects, and is so infrequently mentioned as to be non-existent. Usually, I can find at least one good character in a cozy book series that I enjoy, but in this case, I could not find a single one that wasn’t objectionable in one way or another.
The only redeeming part of the book is quite literally the end. There were some action scenes and some semblance of a murder mystery in the last few chapters. But there was never any doubt of the killer’s identity or even the motive behind it. From what I could discern in this cozy book series, the main character of Magdalena is rude, obnoxious, self-centered, has fits of rage, childish, immature, jealous, and vain. She is as far from the good simple Christian woman she professes to be as would be humanly possible and is an insult to Amish and Mennonite women everywhere.
I cannot in good conscious recommend Puddin’ on the Blitz or this cozy book series to anyone. No matter how hard I tried, I simply could not come up with any reason why a mystery and cozy reader would enjoy this book or these characters.
I am happy to recommend other cozy book series readers will enjoy such as, Amanda Flower’s http://www.amandaflower.com/ delightful Amish series “An Amish Candy Shop Mystery” https://www.thecozyreview.com/toxic-toffee/ and her new “An Amish Matchmaker Mystery” series, which I will be posting a review of this week. Or G.A. McKevett’s http://www.sonjamassie.com/ fantastic series “A Granny Reid Mystery” https://www.thecozyreview.com/murder-in-the-corn-maze/.
About the Author:
Tamar was born in what was then the Belgian Congo, Africa, in 1948. Her parents were American Mennonite missionaries to a tribe of head-hunters. Growing up in a very remote part of Africa on the edge of the great rain forest, Tamar had no access to radio or TV, and only a limited number of books, so she turned her imagination to storytelling. She settled in the U.S. at age 15, where she met her husband on the first day of the 11th grade. They have been married for 44 years.
Tamar is a Master Gardener of the State of South Carolina. She is happiest working in her garden with her 20 lb orange tabby cat, Dumpster Boy, purring at her side. She also immensely enjoys traveling and writing cozy book series’.
Contact Tamar: http://www.tamarmyers.com/contact
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