Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gabe, a retired Jewish physician, is married to Magdalena, a conservative Mennonite woman, and while they may have their differences, they both agree Magdalena has serious detective chops.Magdalena Portulacca Yoder Rosens PennDutch Inn in Hernia, Pennsylvania, makes big bucks serving up plain rooms and fattening food and charging guests extra if they help with chores like mucking out the barn. Now that she and Gabe have one daughter studying pre-med and a clever 5-year-old, the only fly in the ointment is Gabes mother, Ida Rosen, whose Jewish-mama act is unbelievably over-the-top. When Ida invites Miriam, her niece from Australia, to stay at the inn, she sets a dangerous chain of events in motion. Miriam, whos used a wheelchair ever since a crocodile bit her leg off, immediately bonds with Magdalenas sister, Susannah, who was just released from prison after plotting with her boyfriend to kill Magdalena. Meanwhile, Police Chief Toy, who often teams up with Magdalena (whose wealth pays his salary) to solve murders in Hernia, reports that two people have been found dead in a dumpster. Worried about the discoverys possible impact on the Billy Goat Gruff Festival, a cash cow that draws visitors from a wide area, Magdalena calls on Gabe and her friends for help and soon becomes the killers next target.Depending on your sense of humor, youll find Magdalenas cross-cultural adventures hilariously funny or totally meshuggeneh. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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Business is thriving at the PennDutch Inn in Hernia, Pa., in Myers’s zany 22nd Pennsylvania Dutch mystery (after 2019’s Puddin’ on the Blitz). Many are eager to enjoy the Amish experience, which means cellphones are confiscated at the door, and there are no electric outlets or lights in the guest rooms. For a few hundred dollars more, guests can clean the bathrooms, muck out the barn, and pluck chickens. Magdalena Yoder, the inn’s owner, has just welcomed some new guests when the town’s police chief arrives to whisk her to a crime scene. The bodies of a man and a woman have been found in a dumpster. With Sherlock Holmes–like precision, Magdalena analyzes the scene. She then heads back to the inn, where a surprise guest awaits her: her husband Max’s long-estranged Australian cousin, Miriam. Other improbable but amusing people turn up in Hernia for the annual Billy Goat Gruff Festival, which is soon plagued by unpleasant pranks. Magdalena maintains her wry sense of humor, even as she becomes the target of a killer. Fans of wackier culinary cozies will have fun. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (May)

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gabe, a retired Jewish physician, is married to Magdalena, a conservative Mennonite woman, and while they may have their differences, they both agree Magdalena has serious detective chops. Magdalena Portulacca Yoder Rosen’s PennDutch Inn in Hernia, Pennsylvania, makes big bucks serving up plain rooms and fattening food and charging guests extra if they help with chores like mucking out the barn. Now that she and Gabe have one daughter studying pre-med and a clever 5-year-old, the only fly in the ointment is Gabe’s mother, Ida Rosen, whose Jewish-mama act is unbelievably over-the-top. When Ida invites Miriam, her niece from Australia, to stay at the inn, she sets a dangerous chain of events in motion. Miriam, who’s used a wheelchair ever since a crocodile bit her leg off, immediately bonds with Magdalena’s sister, Susannah, who was just released from prison after plotting with her boyfriend to kill Magdalena. Meanwhile, Police Chief Toy, who often teams up with Magdalena (whose wealth pays his salary) to solve murders in Hernia, reports that two people have been found dead in a dumpster. Worried about the discovery’s possible impact on the Billy Goat Gruff Festival, a cash cow that draws visitors from a wide area, Magdalena calls on Gabe and her friends for help and soon becomes the killer’s next target. Depending on your sense of humor, you’ll find Magdalena’s cross-cultural adventures hilariously funny or totally meshuggeneh. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Magdalena Yoder, mayor of Hernia, Pennsylvania, is ready for the fourth annual Billy Goat Gruff Festival. She is less excited about the fact that her grouchy mother-in-law is going to be named citizen of the year and wants to be designated as queen of the festival. She is also unhappy when her husband Gabe’s long-estranged cousin, Miriam, arrives from Australia, full of demands and rancor. Then Magdalena learns that some important guests due to arrive at her inn were murdered and discovered in a dumpster in town. When the festival begins, further vandalism makes it clear that someone wants to stop the event. Magdalena and her friends and family do their best to sort out who is behind the mayhem, and it becomes clear that the target is Magdalena herself. Plenty of humor and twists fill Myers' latest Pennsylvania-Dutch mystery. An entertaining addition to the series, though readers may want to read the previous entries for background on the various connections among characters.