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Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery #18
Butter Safe Than Sorry
From the national bestselling author of Batter Off Dead, the newest Pennsylvania Dutch mystery!
Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder is at the bank with her four-year- old son when three armed Amish men burst in and start shooting and-more surprisingly-cursing. Magdalena protects Little Jacob, and the robbers flee at the sound of police sirens.
When Jacob wonders why the bandits had mustaches-unlike all the other Amish men he knows-Magdalena springs into action to catch the thieves. They may be armed, but they may not be Amish!
Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder is at the bank with her four-year- old son when three armed Amish men burst in and start shooting and-more surprisingly-cursing. Magdalena protects Little Jacob, and the robbers flee at the sound of police sirens.
When Jacob wonders why the bandits had mustaches-unlike all the other Amish men he knows-Magdalena springs into action to catch the thieves. They may be armed, but they may not be Amish!
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
37 people are currently reading
526 people want to read
About the author
Tamar Myers
63 books293 followersTamar Myers was born and raised in the Belgian Congo (now just the Congo). Her parents were missionaries to a tribe which, at that time, were known as headhunters and used human skulls for drinking cups. Hers was the first white family ever to peacefully coexist with the tribe, and Tamar grew up fluent in the local trade language. Because of her pale blue eyes, Tamar’s nickname was Ugly Eyes.
Tamar grew up eating elephant, hippopotamus and even monkey. She attended a boarding school that was two days away by truck, and sometimes it was necessary to wade through crocodile infested waters to reach it. Other dangers she encountered as a child were cobras, deadly green mambas, and the voracious armies of driver ants that ate every animal (and human) that didn’t get out of their way.
In 1960 the Congo, which had been a Belgian colony, became an independent nation. There followed a period of retribution (for heinous crimes committed against the Congolese by the Belgians) in which many Whites were killed. Tamar and her family fled the Congo, but returned a year later. By then a number of civil wars were raging, and the family’s residence was often in the line of fire. In 1964, after living through three years of war, the family returned to the United States permanently.
Tamar was sixteen when her family settled in America, and she immediately underwent severe culture shock. She didn’t know how to dial a telephone, cross a street at a stoplight, or use a vending machine. She lucked out, however, by meeting her husband, Jeffrey, on her first day in an American high school. They literally bumped heads while he was leaving, and she entering, the Civics classroom.
Tamar now calls Charlotte, NC home. She lives with her husband, plus a Basenji dog named Pagan, a Bengal cat named Nkashama, and an orange tabby rescue cat named Dumpster Boy. She and her husband are of the Jewish faith, the animals are not.
Tamar enjoys gardening (she is a Master Gardner), bonsai, travel, painting and, of course, reading. She loves Thai and Indian food, and antique jewelry. She plans to visit Machu Pichu in the near future.
Series:
* Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery
* Den of Antiquity Mystery
Tamar grew up eating elephant, hippopotamus and even monkey. She attended a boarding school that was two days away by truck, and sometimes it was necessary to wade through crocodile infested waters to reach it. Other dangers she encountered as a child were cobras, deadly green mambas, and the voracious armies of driver ants that ate every animal (and human) that didn’t get out of their way.
In 1960 the Congo, which had been a Belgian colony, became an independent nation. There followed a period of retribution (for heinous crimes committed against the Congolese by the Belgians) in which many Whites were killed. Tamar and her family fled the Congo, but returned a year later. By then a number of civil wars were raging, and the family’s residence was often in the line of fire. In 1964, after living through three years of war, the family returned to the United States permanently.
Tamar was sixteen when her family settled in America, and she immediately underwent severe culture shock. She didn’t know how to dial a telephone, cross a street at a stoplight, or use a vending machine. She lucked out, however, by meeting her husband, Jeffrey, on her first day in an American high school. They literally bumped heads while he was leaving, and she entering, the Civics classroom.
Tamar now calls Charlotte, NC home. She lives with her husband, plus a Basenji dog named Pagan, a Bengal cat named Nkashama, and an orange tabby rescue cat named Dumpster Boy. She and her husband are of the Jewish faith, the animals are not.
Tamar enjoys gardening (she is a Master Gardner), bonsai, travel, painting and, of course, reading. She loves Thai and Indian food, and antique jewelry. She plans to visit Machu Pichu in the near future.
Series:
* Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery
* Den of Antiquity Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
February 10, 2026
In this 18th book in the comical 'Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery' series, the amateur sleuth Magdalena Yoder - a Mennonite woman who eschews things like television and dancing - is on the trail of bank robbers. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Magdalena Yoder, who owns the PennDutch Inn in Hernia, Pennsylvania, is married to a Jewish doctor named Gabe Rosen and they have a 4-year-old son called Jacob. Gabe's eccentric mom Ida is the Mother Superior at the nearby 'Convent of No Hope' run by the 'Sisters of Perpetual Apathy'.....who do nothing useful.
As the story opens, Magdalena and little Jacob are in the bank when three men dressed in Amish garb stage a robbery.
Jacob inadvertently foils the heist, and a teller named Amy Neubruder is accidently winged with a bullet before the criminals escape.
Magdalena is furious about her offspring being endangered, and since the police haven't caught the miscreants, she determines to find them herself. Magdalena gets no help from the bank employees, however, who seem oddly reticent about discussing the stick-up. Thus Magdalena and two of her friends stake out the bank manager's house, to learn what he knows.
The mission goes badly wrong however, when one of the snoops bursts into song right outside the banker's window.
Meanwhile, several mismatched couples from New Jersey - and an exotic Russian woman - check into the PennDutch Inn. Magdalena shrewdly entices the new guests into having an 'authentic Amish experience' which includes making your own bed; cleaning your own room; waking at dawn to milk the cows; eating plain food; etc....for an extra charge. LOL 😉
To add to the mayhem, Magdalena learns that her nemesis, the thief/killer Melvin Stoltzfus (who's married to Magdalena's imprisoned sister), is in the area.
Melvin wants to harm Magdalena and her loved ones, so the innkeeper is constantly on the lookout - hoping to catch Melvin and send him to jail.
When things get too hot for the bank robbers, a murder occurs, so Magdalena has at least two crimes to solve. She does catch the perp(s) after experiencing some serious - but farcical - peril.
The usual array of recurring characters makes an appearance, including: Freni - Magdalena's Amish cook who constantly quits and has a unique vocabulary (she thinks Magdalena has post pardon depression and needs to go to the Clooney bin); Doc - an old Amish gent who likes to proposition women; Grandma Ida Rosen - who speaks in Yiddishisms….Oy Vey!; Magdalena's cousin Sam the grocer; and more.
I like this series and got a laugh from the story, but the puns and jokes are overabundant this time around. IMO the author sacrificed story for jocularity. Still, if you enjoy comic mysteries, the book is worth a few hours of your time.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
July 6, 2010
I had always enjoyed this irreverant murder mystery series with recipes. Magdalena Yoder is a Mennonite innkeeper who charges high rates and caters to the famous and wealthy, who desire to experience the plain no frills Amish lifestyle. Her usual cast of characters were quirky and oddball and for some reason most of them have been removed from the series and the remaining cast are somehow lacking. This book leaves a lot to be desired and if this is the first one for anyone to have read, then you will not read another. Very little plot and is hard to keep focused on the boring characters. The epilogue jumps to the future and makes me believes this is her last book in this series and is probably a relief for readers. Even the usual recipes are not appealing.
September 27, 2012
Magdalena Portulacca Yoder is back again in this eighteenth book in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Series, big as life and twice as ugly. The fifty-something Mennonite inn owner is married to a Jewish doctor, raising a son the age of four, and battling her beloved Amish cook (and convoluted cousin), Freni Hostetler. She's also battling Amish bank robbers, psuedo-nuns of apathy, and her old nemesis, Melvin Stoltzfus (her biological brother and brother-in-law by marriage who she believes to be part insect...or perhaps reptile). Magdalena will do anything to protect her son and put Melvin behind bars, but in doing so she just may put herself and others she loves in the line of fire. Can the lady crime-solver from Hernia solve this crime before she becomes the next victim?
As always, Ms. Myers turns out a fun and laugh out loud book. Unfortunately, as always, the editing is miserable. Not only are there the typical grammatical errors, but at times the author refers to characters saying things they have not said, and in the case of one character the cause of death changes from shooting to strangling, something that makes absolutely no sense given the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body set out earlier in the book. These things bring the book down from something tremendously enjoyable to something at times ridiculous to the point that it becomes worthy of a tremendous eye roll and Grandma Yoder sized sigh. What could easily be a book worthy of at least four stars quickly drops to three stars. If only Ms. Myers would take the input that many readers throughout the years have given her and insist on a better editor, her books would vastly improve, and she just might get the credit her writing truly deserves.
(On a side note, I can't help but wonder if Ms. Myers is intending this to be the final book in the series. The end jumps ahead several years and seems a quick wrap up of many of the main characters and Magdalena's life in Hernia. I find it a bit odd and disconcerting.)
As always, Ms. Myers turns out a fun and laugh out loud book. Unfortunately, as always, the editing is miserable. Not only are there the typical grammatical errors, but at times the author refers to characters saying things they have not said, and in the case of one character the cause of death changes from shooting to strangling, something that makes absolutely no sense given the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body set out earlier in the book. These things bring the book down from something tremendously enjoyable to something at times ridiculous to the point that it becomes worthy of a tremendous eye roll and Grandma Yoder sized sigh. What could easily be a book worthy of at least four stars quickly drops to three stars. If only Ms. Myers would take the input that many readers throughout the years have given her and insist on a better editor, her books would vastly improve, and she just might get the credit her writing truly deserves.
(On a side note, I can't help but wonder if Ms. Myers is intending this to be the final book in the series. The end jumps ahead several years and seems a quick wrap up of many of the main characters and Magdalena's life in Hernia. I find it a bit odd and disconcerting.)
February 3, 2018
I really didn't like this book. The meandering inner dialogue, a ton of obviously forced laugh lines, and a main character that uses her religion to excuse or explain her behavior (or sometimes her avoidance of behavior) on nearly every. single. page.
If I hadn't chosen this book as part of a challenge, then I wouldn't have finished it. Thankfully, I have a friend who enjoys this author so I will be passing the book on to someone who will enjoy it!
If I hadn't chosen this book as part of a challenge, then I wouldn't have finished it. Thankfully, I have a friend who enjoys this author so I will be passing the book on to someone who will enjoy it!
October 7, 2019
Not that this book will win a Pulitzer Prize for its incredible prose, but it was a decent story and did actually make me chuckle a good bit. If you’re looking for a silly and quick, lighthearted read, this one will do the job!
May 9, 2019
I am surprised I even finished his book. I didn't like Magdalena, she was rude, mean, a little selfish and did not talk like a true Mennonite. A little too bossy even with friends. Not interested in reading any more in this series.
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April 22, 2015How does anyone get 78% done with a book and then toss it? I am of two minds about this series. On the positive side, there are places where her word plays and other bits of silliness are really funny. Her irreverence is enjoyable when at its best.
On the downside, it's so far over the top that I find myself doing an eye roll from time to time. Yes, it's intentionally so, and yet...well.
And there are recipes. I ignore them, but it always suggests to me that the author (in this case one with a million books already published and a well-established career) hasn't the confidence to peddle her stories without something else to assist her along the way.
I got my copy free, and at the time, I had nothing else that was not either too riveting, too exciting, or too complex to read at bedtime. Unless it is very straight-forward, I won't read a galley as I am about to nod off, because I am afraid I will miss something in my drowsy state and fail to laud the author for what s/he has accomplished. Or, in more practical terms, I may forget everything I read and have to start over. Thus, this became the bedtime book because if I didn't attend to it carefully or forgot some stuff, hey, who cares, right?
Now I have a nice mix of literature I really enjoy and some of it is linear enough that I can read it before I turn off the light. If I forget some details, I will just reread, because it's good stuff.
Ms. Myers has lots of other readers, and when I was about twenty years younger, I just loved her work. I guess we all evolve and our tastes change over time.
On the downside, it's so far over the top that I find myself doing an eye roll from time to time. Yes, it's intentionally so, and yet...well.
And there are recipes. I ignore them, but it always suggests to me that the author (in this case one with a million books already published and a well-established career) hasn't the confidence to peddle her stories without something else to assist her along the way.
I got my copy free, and at the time, I had nothing else that was not either too riveting, too exciting, or too complex to read at bedtime. Unless it is very straight-forward, I won't read a galley as I am about to nod off, because I am afraid I will miss something in my drowsy state and fail to laud the author for what s/he has accomplished. Or, in more practical terms, I may forget everything I read and have to start over. Thus, this became the bedtime book because if I didn't attend to it carefully or forgot some stuff, hey, who cares, right?
Now I have a nice mix of literature I really enjoy and some of it is linear enough that I can read it before I turn off the light. If I forget some details, I will just reread, because it's good stuff.
Ms. Myers has lots of other readers, and when I was about twenty years younger, I just loved her work. I guess we all evolve and our tastes change over time.
November 26, 2018
Can I give this zero instead of a "1" rating?
Always on the lookout for an undiscovered cozy series, and this title was at a library sale.
Pennsylvania Mennonite innkeeper? Seemed promising and different, so $2 was a pittance to try "Butter Safe..."
The writing was off-putting from the first page, the characters cartoonish. But I persisted for a few chapters, until the introduction to Magdalena's Jewish mother-in-law, who heads a convent named The Sisters of Perpetual Apathy.
Parody? Farce? Who cares? That was the fastest start and finish to a cozy series.
Better to have used the $2 to buy half a pound of butter.
Always on the lookout for an undiscovered cozy series, and this title was at a library sale.
Pennsylvania Mennonite innkeeper? Seemed promising and different, so $2 was a pittance to try "Butter Safe..."
The writing was off-putting from the first page, the characters cartoonish. But I persisted for a few chapters, until the introduction to Magdalena's Jewish mother-in-law, who heads a convent named The Sisters of Perpetual Apathy.
Parody? Farce? Who cares? That was the fastest start and finish to a cozy series.
Better to have used the $2 to buy half a pound of butter.
January 4, 2014
A crazy book.
Pa. Dutch Amish country.
A 52 year old mother and detective.
A bank robbery.
2 murders by family members.
Apple recipes.
Unlikely plot turns.
But very clever, by the author of a dozen previous Pa. Dutch books.
Pa. Dutch Amish country.
A 52 year old mother and detective.
A bank robbery.
2 murders by family members.
Apple recipes.
Unlikely plot turns.
But very clever, by the author of a dozen previous Pa. Dutch books.
Currently reading
December 15, 2017Butter Safe Than Sorry is a Pennsylvania Dutch mystery book written by Tamar Myers who has written other Pennsylvania Dutch mystery books. The story takes place in a Dutch neighborhood in I was given this book by my mothers friend. What grabbed my attention is that the book includes recipes for food like lemongrass snowballs and Thai Coconut-Ginger Sticky Rice Jumbles.
The main character, Magdalena who is the Mennonite Innkeeper, is at the bank with her son Jacob. While they were at the bank three Amish men burst inside the bank and start shooting. Her only goal was to protect her son Jacob who started talking to the robbers and almost got shot. Jacob was wondering why the men had mustaches after the men had ran away when they heard the sirens. The story takes place in Pennsylvania in a Dutch community and it starts off with Magdalena and her son going to their cousins grocery store to buy poster boards for her son. After she leaves the market, she goes to the bank and there, her son spots two robbers. Magdalena was skeptical that the men were not Amish because Amish men don’t carry guns. She sees that one man had the gun is pointed at a young girl named Amy’s head. Once her son yelled to the robber not to shoot Amy, Magdalena sprung to Jacob so that he would not be shot.
The last chapter of the book ended with a recipe for a Sour Cream Pound Cake. I enjoyed this last chapter because it was about a cake that my grandmother had made for me when I was younger. I helped her cook the cake so it took me on a nostalgic trip. The ingredients for the cake were the exact same ingredients I remember her having in order to make the cake. I like the fact that the book gave a clear description about what is needed to make it and how long it should stay in the oven and the temperature the oven needs to be set to. The cooking directions are perfect for people who cannot cook, like myself.
I did not enjoy this book because I am not a fan of mystery books. The only thing that I really enjoyed were the recipes of different baked goods and the fact that it provides you with cooking directions. Tamar Myers has a collection of books like, The Death of Pie, Batter off Dead, etc. People who may enjoy the books she writes are people that really enjoy books about solving mysteries and people who like cooking.
The main character, Magdalena who is the Mennonite Innkeeper, is at the bank with her son Jacob. While they were at the bank three Amish men burst inside the bank and start shooting. Her only goal was to protect her son Jacob who started talking to the robbers and almost got shot. Jacob was wondering why the men had mustaches after the men had ran away when they heard the sirens. The story takes place in Pennsylvania in a Dutch community and it starts off with Magdalena and her son going to their cousins grocery store to buy poster boards for her son. After she leaves the market, she goes to the bank and there, her son spots two robbers. Magdalena was skeptical that the men were not Amish because Amish men don’t carry guns. She sees that one man had the gun is pointed at a young girl named Amy’s head. Once her son yelled to the robber not to shoot Amy, Magdalena sprung to Jacob so that he would not be shot.
The last chapter of the book ended with a recipe for a Sour Cream Pound Cake. I enjoyed this last chapter because it was about a cake that my grandmother had made for me when I was younger. I helped her cook the cake so it took me on a nostalgic trip. The ingredients for the cake were the exact same ingredients I remember her having in order to make the cake. I like the fact that the book gave a clear description about what is needed to make it and how long it should stay in the oven and the temperature the oven needs to be set to. The cooking directions are perfect for people who cannot cook, like myself.
I did not enjoy this book because I am not a fan of mystery books. The only thing that I really enjoyed were the recipes of different baked goods and the fact that it provides you with cooking directions. Tamar Myers has a collection of books like, The Death of Pie, Batter off Dead, etc. People who may enjoy the books she writes are people that really enjoy books about solving mysteries and people who like cooking.
October 21, 2019
Magdalena has had Jacob for four years now. He is inquisitive and an event at Yoder's market makes them late for depositing money in the bank.
While they are at the bank, three robbers come in to rob the bank. Magdalena foils them after Jacob scares her nearly to death by walking toward the robbers! Magdalena sees that the security guards are no help. The manager and the teller aren't helpful either.......
Magdalena continues her search for the fake Amish robbers.....
The teller, Amy, takes a promotion at the bank; then comes to work for Magdalena. But it's not long until she is murdered.
Susannah, Mag's sister by adoption, warns her that Melvin Stoltzfus is planning something (evidently he escaped again) and is a danger to Jacob.
Magdalena enlists Sam Yoder to help hide Jacob - and then Melvin and his cohort drop their disguises and try to get Mags to tell them where Jacob is (because they think he recognized some of them).
Magdalena leads them on a harrowing chase, but never reveals Jacob's whereabouts until the FBI catches the group, not including Melvin.......
The epilogue reveals that It's been a few years, so Mags is going on a vacation to another country. She receives a phone call from Alison, her adopted daughter, and some additions are being made to the family.......
Recipes
Sea Turtles
Rosemary Blue Cheese Ice Box Cookies
Lemongrass Snowballs
Thai Coconut-Ginger Sticky Rice Jumbles
Sea-Salted Coffee Toffee Bars
Lavender Sugar Cookie
Sour Cream Pound Cake
While they are at the bank, three robbers come in to rob the bank. Magdalena foils them after Jacob scares her nearly to death by walking toward the robbers! Magdalena sees that the security guards are no help. The manager and the teller aren't helpful either.......
Magdalena continues her search for the fake Amish robbers.....
The teller, Amy, takes a promotion at the bank; then comes to work for Magdalena. But it's not long until she is murdered.
Susannah, Mag's sister by adoption, warns her that Melvin Stoltzfus is planning something (evidently he escaped again) and is a danger to Jacob.
Magdalena enlists Sam Yoder to help hide Jacob - and then Melvin and his cohort drop their disguises and try to get Mags to tell them where Jacob is (because they think he recognized some of them).
Magdalena leads them on a harrowing chase, but never reveals Jacob's whereabouts until the FBI catches the group, not including Melvin.......
The epilogue reveals that It's been a few years, so Mags is going on a vacation to another country. She receives a phone call from Alison, her adopted daughter, and some additions are being made to the family.......
Recipes
Sea Turtles
Rosemary Blue Cheese Ice Box Cookies
Lemongrass Snowballs
Thai Coconut-Ginger Sticky Rice Jumbles
Sea-Salted Coffee Toffee Bars
Lavender Sugar Cookie
Sour Cream Pound Cake
April 8, 2021
I liked the first few of these, identical though they are. I recall thinking the first one was silly, original and a fun read. I got tired of them and stopped reading them. Recently, I picked this book up for a change of pace and... it just was boring and I realized in today's culture, offensive. Myers stereotypes Mennonites, the Amish, Black people (prison guard), Asians (taxi driver), Jews and her work comes off racist and mean-spirited. I read the whole thing because I wanted to be fair. Like a soap opera you've missed for years, so little had changed that I didn't need to catch up. I laughed a little here and there. Overall I just felt annoyed. The jokes are the same as ever. Little factoids were repeated in different contexts as if the author forgot she used them already. No redeeming value. And a stupid epilogue that gave me hope she was about to conclude the series but noooooo.
July 9, 2017
I'm not sure which was odder – how neither the cover summary blurb (especially) nor the one above really bear much resemblance to the actual story, or how she managed to combine hands-down the most enjoyable writing of the series (its sole 3rd star saving grace) with the least coherent plot. I mean, the early completely out-of-the-blue chapter on depression was outright jarring – I dunno, maybe something personal or a bring-up-important-issue teaching moment? – but I'd almost swear the final third was just throwing in the towel entirely... "I got nothing, let's just end this, maybe the entire series".
April 30, 2018
Magdalena the local innkeeper is in the bank, with her 4 yr old son, when 3 Amish men enter and start shooting. In protecting her son, a a teller is wounded and the robbers flee. After giving descriptions to the police, Magdalena collapses and is made to rest at the local convent, run by the crazy Jewish mother-in-law. When her son asks why the bandits had mustaches, unlike Amish men, Magdalena comes out of her stupor and springs back into action to discover who the thieves really are as they are definitely not Amish.
August 6, 2017
Great book!
Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder is at the bank with her four-year-old son when three armed Amish men burst in and start shooting and -- more surprisingly -- cursing. When the robbers flee at the sound of police sirens, Jacob wonders why they had mustaches -- unlike all the other Amish men he knows -- Magdalena springs into action to catch the thieves. The may be armed, but they may not be Amish!
Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder is at the bank with her four-year-old son when three armed Amish men burst in and start shooting and -- more surprisingly -- cursing. When the robbers flee at the sound of police sirens, Jacob wonders why they had mustaches -- unlike all the other Amish men he knows -- Magdalena springs into action to catch the thieves. The may be armed, but they may not be Amish!
May 20, 2017
The author has the characters often using the wrong words, making it humorous, but every page is so loaded up with that kind of thing that it's too much and becomes annoying rather than funny. Was disappointed because I used to enjoy this series but couldn't even get through half the book this time.
November 16, 2017
I don’t know what happened while she was writing this, but it wasn’t nearly as good as her first books in this series. It got old at the beginning, went further downhill in the middle, picked up for a couple chapters at the end just to head out in left field for the epilogue. That made no sense at all.
March 18, 2018
Cute and sometimes funny cozy mystery. The main character could be kind of annoying sometimes or I’d read more of these. I started the series at number 18 because that’s all my library had, but I mag try to find the beginning books to give it a fairer shake.
July 6, 2021
This is the first book I've read in this series and it will be the last. I forced myself to finish because once I start a book I hate to just stop. I did not find it funny. And would rank it as one of the 10 worst books I have ever read.
May 18, 2017
Had me laughing at Mrs. Rosen antics.
June 9, 2019
This was a painful read. Magdalena Yoder is painful.
November 25, 2020
A little too lite! Not much of a plot. But there are recipes!
July 26, 2021
Splendid!
March 15, 2022
I didn't read this I read "Safe, Sorry" from webtoon
June 26, 2022
This book was terrible. The Mennonite Community should sue the author. Even the recipes are not Pennsylvania Dutch.
April 7, 2023
On the far side of ridiculous. I put up with it for a long time, then finally had to put it down.
Read
June 15, 2025Some great writing but didn't connect with the story.
February 27, 2017
The sarcasm and bad jokes are getting "old". Too bad, as I enjoyed the first 5-6 books and often laughed out loud. She has two other series, perhaps the one in Africa will combine her talent as a writer with her childhood memories of living in the Congo.
August 31, 2010
From the first line of Tamar Myers’ latest hilarious mystery, “Butter Safe Than Sorry”, I was hooked. What’s not to like about another adventure in Pennsylvania Dutch country starring the Queen of Puns, innkeeper Magdalena Yoder? In a word, nothing!
This time, proud mother Magdalena takes her four-year-old son, little Jacob, to the local bank and while they are there—you guessed it—the bank is robbed by three gun-toting, Amish men. Wait a minute…gun-toting, Amish men? Hey, as little Jacob points out to his mom later, Amish men don’t carry guns. Who were these guys really? And are little Jacob and Magdalena in danger because they can identify them? As Magdalena’s Jewish mother-in-law, Ida, would say, “Oy vey!”
With the usual supporting cast—husband Gabe, cook/cum/relative-in-many-ways Freni, cousin Sam the grocer—who actually delivered little Jacob when Magdalena went into labor in his store—sister Susannah’s—now languishing in a prison cell and pining for her beloved Melvin—best friend Agnes and a roster of guests from New Jersey who would try the patience of any innkeeper, Magdalena springs into action to protect her beloved son and solve the crime.
This is the latest one in a series guaranteed to deliver laughs in every chapter, right until the very end.
Reviewed by: Susan Santangelo, Author of “Retirement Can Be Murder” for Suspense Magazine
This time, proud mother Magdalena takes her four-year-old son, little Jacob, to the local bank and while they are there—you guessed it—the bank is robbed by three gun-toting, Amish men. Wait a minute…gun-toting, Amish men? Hey, as little Jacob points out to his mom later, Amish men don’t carry guns. Who were these guys really? And are little Jacob and Magdalena in danger because they can identify them? As Magdalena’s Jewish mother-in-law, Ida, would say, “Oy vey!”
With the usual supporting cast—husband Gabe, cook/cum/relative-in-many-ways Freni, cousin Sam the grocer—who actually delivered little Jacob when Magdalena went into labor in his store—sister Susannah’s—now languishing in a prison cell and pining for her beloved Melvin—best friend Agnes and a roster of guests from New Jersey who would try the patience of any innkeeper, Magdalena springs into action to protect her beloved son and solve the crime.
This is the latest one in a series guaranteed to deliver laughs in every chapter, right until the very end.
Reviewed by: Susan Santangelo, Author of “Retirement Can Be Murder” for Suspense Magazine
September 4, 2010
The PA Dutch series has been one that I've pretty much enjoyed, although I was never particularly enamored of the main character, Magdalena.
I don't know if this is the last book in the series . . . but it is the last one I'll likely read. I always felt that the author didn't quite know what to make of Magdalena herself, given the fact that there were often huge changes from the end of one installment of the series to the beginning of the next.
Still, I enjoyed the books because of the quirky characters that seemed believable in the first few books, along with some humor that (in some of the books) made me laugh out loud. By the end of this one (and really in the last 2 or 3 of the series), there's not a whole lot left that is believable. And nothing that was particularly funny.
Sad to say, but this is a series that has seemed to run its course. I've read all 18 of them and enjoyed some much more than others. If I were to stack them all up in order with the ones I liked most on top, this one would be on the very bottom.
I don't know if this is the last book in the series . . . but it is the last one I'll likely read. I always felt that the author didn't quite know what to make of Magdalena herself, given the fact that there were often huge changes from the end of one installment of the series to the beginning of the next.
Still, I enjoyed the books because of the quirky characters that seemed believable in the first few books, along with some humor that (in some of the books) made me laugh out loud. By the end of this one (and really in the last 2 or 3 of the series), there's not a whole lot left that is believable. And nothing that was particularly funny.
Sad to say, but this is a series that has seemed to run its course. I've read all 18 of them and enjoyed some much more than others. If I were to stack them all up in order with the ones I liked most on top, this one would be on the very bottom.
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