Thou Shalt Not Grill

Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery #12

by Tamar Myers

Hoping to put her culinary skills to work for the celebration of the bicentennial of Hernia, Pennsylvania, innkeeper Magdalena Yoder finds the festivities cut short when one of her guests, Buzzy Porter, is found murdered and she must use her sleuthing talents to find a killer. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Humor, Fiction, Cozy, Amish

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 3, 2004

About the author

Tamar 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

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

SIGH...I've mentioned that Magdalena reminds me very strongly of one of my great-aunts...on further reflection, I've come to the daunting realization that, were I Mennonite, I might well BE Magdalena Yoder!

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute mystery about the infamous Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder. During the town's homecoming activities, one of her guests is killed. She begins investigating, upsetting the town's mayor, her guests, and of course the killer. A cute whodunit with a character who gets into more problems just by being herself!

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

2009 # 92
Tamar Myers - Thou Shalt Not Grill - Finished - 6/30/2009

I picked this one up because it was short to read and finish by the end of the month. I stuck it out, but it was a big disappointment. There is a mystery, but little time was spent on it, rather too much time was spent being way to "cutsy" (my word) with the Mennonite and Amish customs. Unlike Diane Mott Davidson the humor is forced and not all the funny. This is not an author I will follow up. Plus the recipes just don't have the same punch, but instead seem added to make the book a "look alike". Not recommended.
ISBN - 0-451-21113-8, Mystery, Pages - 227, Print Size - R, Rating - 3

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bicentennial of Hernia is being celebrated at Hernia Heritage Days! A time capsule is also supposed to be dug up and opened, and rumor has it that a treasure map, or a list of founders that will lead to the ownership of land overseas will be in the time capsule.

Magdalena's guests include Buzzy Porter, a practical joker, Octavia Cabot-Dodge, an actress, along with her manager Augusta Miller and chauffeur, Father and Mother Norton, and a Japanese student, who took a taxi to the PennDutch and then the taxi left with her suitcases.

Buzzy Porter is found murdered, then his body is switched with the body of Hernia's only Episcopalian (who also called in Buzzy's body), Magdalena participates and wins a greased pig catch contest, Alison adopts and then repudiates the pig (after he ate her hair!), Magdalena and Melvin Stolzfus find Buzzy's body and call in the county sheriff.

Magdalena finds her cow manure pile dug up (she had played a trick of her own), and the piles pointing towards one of her guests, but she thinks something is up - so she double-checks with Doc, the vet, about particular behavioral disorders.......

Augusta and her grandson, the chauffeur, killed Buddy, Augusta's other grandson. Then they killed Ron, Hernia's only Episcopalian. The chauffeur switched the bodies, and then they got their hands on the map; and which was actually plans for Magdalena's former outhouse, with six seats (this had burned down in a prior book).

During all this, Gabe and Magdalena broke their engagement, Doc and Gabe's mother might get together, and then Gabe might get back together with Magdalena. Melvin wins at life!

Recipes:
John and Sharon Wilkerson's Grilled Grouper
Grilled Chicken Breasts with Eggplant, Creole Style
Creole Sauce
Grilled Breaded Veal Chops
Grill-Broiled Green Tomatoes
Jim and Jan Langdoc's Beer Butt Chicken
Homemade Rub

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a book sale for a local library. Being from Pennsylvania I was intrigued this was a Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery. An added bonus is it has recipes throughout the book. The mystery is very good and it's also very funny. The story takes place in Hernia. Magdalena Yoder is the proprietress of the PennDutch Inn. Her guests are all there because they may be related to the founders of Hernia and thereby potential heirs to a fortune. When one of the guests is killed and his body replaced by another one in the morgue Magdalena gets down to some serious sleuthing. That is between dealing with a cook that goes AWOL and competing in greased pig contests. Tamar Myers has cooked up a great mystery. I will be looking for more from Myers.

[Nese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an original and terribly funny cozy mystery that takes place in a small town in Pennsylvania Dutch where the residents are from religious backgrounds. The murder mystery is not a complex one but the relationships in the community and in the inn are. It is entertaining except for the part where the family pet pig is toss away like trash after the adopted daughter gets tired of it and he is sold to be slaughtered. Not funny.

[Linda Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just ok. I really didn’t like anyone in the book. They all were too rude. It could have been funny if I liked the characters but the guests, the host and the whole town were not likable.

[Elliemae · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series has done me in. This is the last book I read, and truthfully I skipped through quite a lot of it just so I could end it. Arrgh!

[Annalisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried but didn’t hold My interest

[April Sterner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storyline kept me reading. The main character is hard to get to know but just think of her as your crazy aunt!

[Lynn Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

She is now on my to read list.

[Phyllis Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book but the Kindle version had a lot of typos

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Tamar Myers mystery! I just love her sense of humor. Her descriptions of people and things are amazing. "...he has clumps of hair that sprouted above the top button of his collar and the eyebrows the size of sparrow wings." (what a visual) Alison, Magdelina's step-daughter, is described as having more faults that the State of California, but "no one can critize her....except me (Magdelina)". (good description of a teen-ager !!) Another time she says someone was "looking at her like she was missing grain in her silo."
In this muder mystery, the town of Hernia, PA is celebrating their bicentennial. "Amish and Mennonite exiles were pouring into town like bees to the hive at dusk." During the celebration, a time capsule will be opened and rumor has it that the capsule contains something that will lead people to the key to a great fortune. Before the celebration barely begins, the time capsule is dug up and missing. As usual Magdelina has a house full of guests at the Penn
Dutch Inn. One of the guests is found murdered.(at least it isn't in the Inn this time)Was he the one who stole the capsule?
Magdelina is Mennonite (her family left the Amish faith) and she certainly has her feelings about other religions.
Receipes are included in the book, such as "Jim and Jan Langdoc's Beer Butt Chicken," but I must confess that I have never made any of them.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thou Shalt Not Grill (Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery #12) by Tamar Myers is an adult mystery I picked up because of an author recommendation from a Goodreads reader. Innkeeper Magdalena Yoder takes her cooking and detection skills outdoors to celebrate the bicentennial of Hernia, Pennsylvania. The festivities are cut short when one of her guests, Buzzy Porter, is murdered. Soon Magdalena has her hands full trying to grill the likely suspects, and smoke out the killer.

I enjoyed some of the humor, the mystery, and the genealogical tie-in. It seemed a bit slapstick to me at times, and the humor was a bit forced on occasion too. The slight romance in this didn't interest me. I liked the idea of the recipies included in the book. I should try some of her earlier books in the series to get to know this quirky character better, though I must ILL to get those.

For Mystery fans, cooking and mystery fans, and fans of Tanar Myers.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, "Thou Shalt Not Grill", has an attractive cover along with that quirky title, so I decided to give it a try. It is the first book of the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series by Tamar Myers that I've read. Even though this book follows several others in the series, it works well as a standalone. The dialogue that Myers uses is terrific! She uses similes, metaphors, analogies, and humor that made me smile and laugh frequently throughout the book. Being from California, one of my favor lines in the book was, "Alison has more faults than the State of California." The sleuth in this book assists her nincompoop brother-in-law aka the Hernia chief of police, runs the PennDutch Inn, and has a fiance and a foster daughter to keep her busy. There is never a dull moment in this book and I highly recommend it to those who love a good mystery!

[Christian Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can a reader not love Tamar Myers' wit? As owner of PennDutch Inn, Magdalena Yoder, the star of Thou Shalt Not Grill, takes it upon herself to discover who had motive to kill one of her guests. Is it coincidence that these particular guests arrived in time for the bicentennial event, or could one of them have motive? Because of the tangled family tree, anything's possible.

For those of you who love a wild ride on a mystery trail, I recommend Myers' books. This is only the second book of hers I've read, but I'm hooked. I can't wait to read her other books. If you love laughing when you read, this is one author you have to read.

[Margaret]

Innkeeper Magdalena Yoder takes her cooking & detection skills outdoors to celebrate the bicentennial of Hernia, Pennsylvania. But the festivities are cut short when her guest, Buzzy Porter, is murdered. Soon Magdalena has her hands full trying to keep community spirits high, grill the likely suspects - and smoke out the killer.
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I thought some of the earlier books in this series were better - Magdalena seemed a little mean-spirited in this one to me.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Penn Dutch series by Tamar Myers! I laugh out loud at all of them. Good, clean murder mysteries (hard to find); it's hard not to fall in love with Magdalena (tall, skinny as a rail), her sister Susannah (short, skinny as a rail, sari-wearing), the chief of police Melvin (resembling a praying mantis, with a dent in his head from where he was kicked by the bull he tried to milk once), and the cook Freni (short, round, and very Amish).

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magdalena doesn't have her usual group of celebrity guests, instead she has guests arriving for the celebration of Hernia, Pennsylvania's bicentennial. She is kept running in circles taking care of her guests and showing up at the events as the current mayor of Hernia. Then one of her guests is murdered up on the hillside near the Hernia time capsule. Does his death relate to the legend of a hidden treasure or is it just coincidence?

[Rose]

F Mye

[Karol · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better ones in the series, but not quite my favorite. As always, very light and a bit of a guilty pleasures. But sometimes even the most avid reader needs a break from "War and Peace"!

[Roxann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book--it's a mixture of mystery with humor.

[grundoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 A better mystery than usual, perhaps better writing as well, but not nearly the preferred subtler delivery of her last outing.

[Jessica Clement · Rating 2 out of 5]

i just could not get into this book. i didn't care about the murder victim and wasn't interested in who the murderer was. the story just failed to hook me.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the very best!

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our library had a "Date A Book" weekend and I picked a mystery. This was a quick read, but the characters sarcasm went way overboard. I'll stick to a Monica Ferris mystery any day.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pig chase won by Magdalena.
Time capsule causes murder.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read. I found that the heroine's attitude and comments about others were distracting and annoying.

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Silly!