Play It Again, Spam

Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery #7

by Tamar Myers

Struggling to cope with the discovery that her husband is a bigamist and the destruction by a tornado of her Amish country inn, Magdalena Yoder must turn sleuth when the reunion of a group of World War II buddies and an old vendetta lead to murder. Original.

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

262 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

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]

Oh, this was fun. SO much fun. It even inspired me to ~BLUSH~ try a couple of Spam recipes. Now, before you go off the deep end, in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, a precious church group dropped off a (much needed) box of canned goods, and it included two cans of the stuff, and since I HATE wasting food, it's a good time to try these!

[Yvette]

Since I am from PA, this is a great series for me to read.

[Karol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a feeling Tamar Myers didn't know quite what to do with Magdalena Yoder. Early in the series, she gets married at the end of one book. At the beginning of the next her marriage has already ended - just when I thought having her interact with a love interest would all a third dimension to her otherwise 2-dimensional character. Now, at the beginning of this book, her famous inn that had been so popular with "Babs" and other celebrities has been lost in a tornado and she is starting over with a new type of customer, the famous folks that she loved so well having abandoned her.

Despite such upheavals, Magdalena covers the same old ground over and over again in each book - same jokes, same ponderings, same descriptions of people in her life, same formula for mystery.

One thing that gave her previous books some charm were the "Pennsylvania Dutch" recipes scattered throughout. In this book, it's all about how to make things with Spam. Oh, "yum". (I mean "yawn").

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is hard for me to read, as it is filled with "unlikable" characters. I find almost all of them shallow, rude, kind of silly, and just plain not likable. The mystery is somewhat preposterous ... and the Spam recipes about made me gag.

[Mary (Biblophile) · Rating 2 out of 5]

You'll find after awhile that if you've read one of these, you've read them all. Same old tired jokes and the author recycles entire paragraphs from one book to another. It gets tiresome.

[bex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't really like it. I think partly I am suspicious of the presentations and attitudes shown by Amish, Mennonite, and other Pennsylvania Dutch. It seems more stereotypical than realistic to me.

[Vernell Schutte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have given it a 3 stars as an ordinary cozy (and I do like Tamar Meyers writing) but the extreme overuse of 'dear' and 'wailed' started to drive me batty!!

[Hali Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best of Tamar Myers books but was okay. It was slow in getting going.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

hmmm, just so.... thrown together at the end, I thought wtf, there's more? and more? how much can she fit in 5 pages that wasn't dealt with earlier in the whole book? not even red herrings, just random crap thrown together to see what sticks in the wall
3 stars, except for the ending, downgraded to 2. I'll share it back, since I got it for free


Published in 1999, maybe the genre was terrible then? not sure why she "wailing" so much, or saying "dear"... is that like "bless your heart"? but in every single response she has? Maybe this was dealt with in books 1-6, is it such a big deal to constantly say she's Mennonite? maybe because she's living in an Amish community? Maybe the author didn't want to leave Amish genre for the lesser known Mennonite? Confusing and uber annoying to have it said all the time, over and over about how they are all intermarrying anyways.

She hides a Nazi war criminal and lies about the other one to save the Nazis's Amish family from humiliation, and because torture and killing is genetic, so hide it from the family, what they won't know to spook the Amish/ Mennonites family members into also killing? What backwards logic is that? just to say she's a pacifist?
but the main thing is that she can't begrudge him if he Found God, I can buy that for this genre of story. but it seemed like such a throw away. never once did this guy, a pillar of the community, who told her not to let out rooms to soldiers... because he's a Nazi war criminal! not because he's so worried about her being a pacifist. Sam also doesn't do much but hang out listening to the story of the soldiers hunting him down! love interest, or not, meh.

I guess since he was only killing Allied/American soldiers in WWII it's no big deal when she stars dating a Jewish guy. eyeroll.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magdalena's very successful retreat for the rich and famous has run its route. She's not sure if it's because of the tornado that destroyed her house, and her barn, requiring a rescheduling of the guests until things could be rebuilt, or if everyone has just moved on.

The rebuilding has been completed, but the PennDutch is completely empty. Until Magdelena gets phone calls from guests - one group of WWII veterans and their wives and another couple - a retired concert pianist and her husband.

As Susanna and Melvin Stoltfus arrange their marriage, and Barbara and Freni deal with her pregnancy, Magdalena deals with how guests keep coming up missing, and then a local woman is missing as well!

Johanne Burk was the Scorpion of Tunis, and his brother, the Butcher of Tunis, Samuel Burkholder had turned Amish and was known as Strubbly Sam. The veterans were tracking them down. Irma Yoder was a German operative. John Burk was killed when the mill fell on him, after he kidnapped Strubbly Sam and Big Magdalena.

Magdalena also finds out the reason for her parents' deaths, and a handsome Jewish doctor buys the Miller farm.

Recipes:
SPAM Jambalaya
SPAM Western Bean Soup
Hearty SPAM Breakfast Skillet
SPAM Stuffed Potatoes Florentine
Singapore SPAM Salad
Ragin' Cajun SPAM Party Salad

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is a slower paced cozy mystery. This book as well as others take place in a Pennsylvania Dutch Amish-ish community. No curse words( only offensive words that would be found in the Bible). No sexual themes as well as close to zero trigger warnings. This book has a Christian religious theme.

[April Suter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little edgy for Amish fiction but definately full of a few laughs and smiles. I will read more of this series with Magdalena, her B&B and adventures. In this book a group of WWII vets bring disappearances and a few secrets uncovered.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOOPLA E-BOOK

[Lynda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok but not the greatest. The main character is rude and supposed to run a B&B. The story has all the Amish and Mennonites constantly yelling at each other. Doesn't feel real.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny mystery set in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

[Ana on the Shelves]

This was way too much fun!

[DORIS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LIKE THIS BOOK

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Play It Again, Spam (Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery)

Play It Again, Spam (Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery)
by Tamar Myers
Edition: Mass Market Paperback

108 used & new from $0.01




4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to the wonderful world of the Amish, October 3, 2013








This review is from: Play It Again, Spam (Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery) (
"Play It Again, Spam" by Tamar Myers

Have you ever wondered how life goes on inside an Amish community? Well then, welcome to the wonderful Amish world of Magdalena Yoder. The owner and manager of the PennDutch Inn located in Hernia, Pennsylvania. The original 100 year old homestead was destroyed during an horrific tornado and now a rebuilt B&B was ready to open for business.

The phone started ringing and Miss Yoder started taking reservations. In no time at all the PennDutch Inn was booked. The diversity of guests were kept in check by Magdalena...or so she thought. And then a guest can not be found anywhere. The search begins and our reading of this marvelous story brings us that much closer to the inside workings of the Amish.

This book was an eye opener for me into the Amish practices and beliefs. It was also a new beginning for me in a fun series that I intend to continue. If you are searching for a new series with fun as its middle name...look no further. You have arrived. Enjoy!

[Birgit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Going through my towering stacks of mystery novels I came across this book by Tamar Myers. As I've never read any Amish books before I was certainly curious about it, especially because I always assumed Amish novels would be mostly of the contemporary/romantic kind.
Starting off with an unexpected humorous introduction to the main character, Mrs Yoder, it was all downhill from there. Her snippy personality already started to annoy me by page two. And as far as the story goes, well, there isn't much of a story. Unless you count Mrs Yoder's constant quarrels with the guests of her B&B and other town folk a story. And when "finally" a dead body showed up, as one might expect in a mystery novel, it was the “bad guy” that got killed through a collapsing roof (divine intervention, definitely) on the last few pages.
It's safe to say that I won't look out for more books in this series.
In short: An Amish mystery with Spam recipes which turned out to be the best part of the book.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny enough that I looked forward to picking it up again when I had to put it down.I both liked and found annoying the main character. It's like she can't decide if she wants to be genteel or snarky and mean. It was well written with good pace and sense of place. The other characters were drawn to adequate depth to make the story interesting and they played well off each other. I really liked the ending. I'll definitely try another in this series.

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best thing I can say about this book is that I might want to try some of the recipes, substituting almost anything for the spam. The plot is thin, the writing is awkward, and I don't much like the main character. There is a tenuous connection to WWII in the plot, so the fourth book I've read recently with that subject involved.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another good new cozy mystery to seek your teeth into, literally. It even features recipes you can do and make at home. I was also introduced to this series by a group read via an Internet egroup on cozies.

[Joan Schrock · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Pennnsylvania Dutch mystery with recipes. This mystery has mostly Spam recipes and I truly do not like Spam but the mystery was fun and if you like sarcasism Magdelena Yodel has plenty to spare as she rules over her Amish Bed and Breakfast . Light reading .

[Lori Schiele · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries centered around a bed and breakfast in Amish country run by a Mennonite and local gossip, Magdalena Yoder. When one of her guests goes missing, she takes it upon herself to solve the mystery.
An okay story, nothing special.

[benebean · Rating 4 out of 5]

somehow this series has weaseled its way into one of more liked series. I can always depend on it to make me smile. I've grown used to Magdelena's snarky humor and often unkind but still hilarious personality.

[Jennifer Fosberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Campy Spam Amish Country fun

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was humorous enough, but I'm still not sure what was going on.

[Kitty Tomlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magadelena has a group of war veterans check into the newly refurbished Pennsylvania Dutch Inn as her sister, Susannah, prepares to marry Magadelena's foe, Sheriff Melvin Stoltzfus. Fun read.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amusing, but not a page-turner. Something to read while I was lying on the couch moaning with morning sickness, especially since the paperback was so lightweight. Easier on the wrists that way! :)

[Cindy Beach · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting