Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Books

The Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries series is a series of suspense and cozy mystery novels written by the popular American author Tamar Myers. There is a total of 19 books published in the series till now, which were released between the years 1993 and 2014. All the novels of the series feature the main character in the form of Magdalena Yoder, who is described as the owner of the restaurant PennDutch Inn. Over the course of the novels of the series, it is shown that Magdalena Yoder often gets involved in troubles because of a lot of issues in her life and he restaurant. One of the issues that gives headaches to her is the murder that seems to have occurred in the Inn. Being seen as the prime suspect in the murder case, Magdalena Yoder is forced to carry out the investigations on her own and find the real murderer. Author Tamar Myers began writing the novels of the series in the year 1993 and released the first novel of the series in the same year. Since then, she has gone on to write and publish 18 more novels in the series. The Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries series is still going on as author Tamar Myers is working on the latest novel of the series, which she will be releasing in early next year. The main highlight of all the novels of this series is that they are full of excellent recipes.

The first novel of the series was published by the Signet publishing house in the year 1993. It was titled ‘Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth’. The plot of this novel is set in the United States and revolves around the life of the main character Magdalena Yoder. Being the first book of the new mystery series, author Tamar Myers has tried to make it wickedly funny by creating a memorable cast of interesting characters and suspenseful plot. She has also selected a few Pennsylvania Dutch recipes, especially for the first novel of the series. In the opening sequence of the plot of the novel, Magdalena Yoder is introduced as the proprietor of the quaint PennDutch Inn. Her plan of converting the tranquil family farm into one of the thriving hostelry of the town, seems to have worked very well for her. Now, she is able to cater and serve to the sophisticated people of the town with the Amish ambience and charm. This has helped her to become a well known name of the town. There is great a great demand for the rooms of her hotel by the guests, sue to which she is forced to select only few compatible groups of guests from the long waiting list.

However, the situation takes an ugly turn when an arrogant politician, his wife and their aide arrive at Magdalena’s hotel to participate in the deer hunting season and are witnessed by another group of customers who s turn out to be animal rights activists. This is followed by the discovery of a dead body of one of the guests, who is believed to have died because of the steep staircase of the hotel. Soon, Magdalena Yoder becomes very tensed by worrying about the lawsuits and getting infuriated by irresponsible sister. She is also involved in a conflicting situation when a few vegetarian guests raise their voice against the stubborn Amish cook of the hotel. Magdalena becomes so much tensed that she tries to puzzle out the complicated personal connections of the different types of guests. She even agrees to cook the dinner of the second night on her own after seeing the kitchen turn into a battleground of the culinary lifestyles. As a result, the meal of the night turns into a communal one and another death takes place in the Inn. This time it is not due to an accident, but seems to be a cold-blooded murder. Everyone present at the inn at that time becomes the suspect in the murder, including the proprietor Magdalena Yoder. The stolid and good nature of her does not do any good to her, and hence, she is forced to become a self appointed investigator and begins to find clues that would lead her to the real murderer. Magdalena seems extremely desperate to clear her name of the crime that she knows she has not committed and save the reputation of her inn.

The second novel of the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries series was published by the Signet publishing house in the year 1995. It was titled ‘Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime’. This plot of this novel proves to be another delicious and exciting mystery novel. In the opening sequence of the plot of this novel, the Amish innkeeper Magdalena Yoder is shown not being able to forget the disturbing murders that had occurred at her hotel, PennDutch Inn. Now, she gets contacted by a film making crew to allow them to use the real site of the crimes for the development of their movie. After Magdalena agrees to let them use her inn for the making of their film, the situation once again becomes ugly as the assistant director of the film is found dead and she becomes the primes suspect in the murder. Being the abstemious and the chaste proprietor of the PennDutch Inn, Magdalena initially hesitates to let the Hollywood film crew do the shooting of their film at her inn. But when they keep forcing her to allow them, she asks for an exorbitant price. Little did she know that she will have to pay a heavy price herself for her decision of letting the film crew do the making of their Hollywood film at her inn. The assistant director is discovered dead and his body is found pinned to a barn post with the help of a farming tool. When the dimwitted police chief Marvin Stoltzfus comes to carry out the investigation, he points at Magdalena Yoder as the prime suspect of the crime. Now, she is once again required to use her sleuthing skills and her extraordinary Amish tactics to carry out her own investigation and reveal the identity of the real murderer. She is required to do it as soon as possible before the killer takes the life of another victim and put the blame on her.

One Response to “Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries”

1. Colleen Gannon: 9 months ago

   Love your PennDutch Series! So enjoy the characters and stories. Thanks!
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   Reply